South Africa’s tourism sector is showing encouraging signs of recovery, with January 2026 arrival figures now exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

According to the latest International Tourism Report from Statistics South Africa (StatsSA), total arrivals increased by 6.1% compared to January 2019 and were 11.8% higher than January 2025. Overseas arrivals rose 0.9% above 2019 levels and climbed 11.6% year on year. Europe led the growth, with arrivals up 9% on 2019 and 16% compared to last year.

Despite the positive momentum, the recovery is not consistent across all markets. Asia continues to underperform, with arrivals down 37.6% compared to January 2019 and declining 6.8% year on year.

Lee-Anne Bac, Advisory Partner: Tourism at BDO South Africa, described the January performance as “very exciting,” particularly the strong rebound from Europe, which has now surpassed 2019 levels. However, she cautioned that some key markets remain under pressure.

“The priority now is to sustain and build on this momentum. There is concern around markets that have declined compared to last year, especially the American and Asian markets. The American market is down 3% on 2025, which is disappointing but not entirely unexpected given ongoing geopolitical tensions and domestic challenges in the US,” Bac told Tourism Update.

She added that the Asian market is particularly worrying. “We are still 37% below 2019 levels and 7% down year on year, despite initiatives such as the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme and the new Electronic Travel Authorisation. We need to better understand why we are not gaining stronger traction in this significant market.”