The Gauteng province – home to the metropolitans of Johannesburg and Pretoria – is placing a strong emphasis on events tourism to further bolster the province’s status as a leader in key metrics such as overall bed nights, foreign spending, and length of stay.
The latest statistics from South African Tourism show, unsurprisingly, that 44.4% of all international arrivals to South Africa landed at the country’s main gateway of OR Tambo International Airport between April and September 2023.
Despite OR Tambo International Airport being traditionally regarded as a transit point to destinations such as the Kruger National Park and Cape Town, the data showed that tourists were staying longer in Gauteng (with an average length of stay of 13.7 nights) than any other province bar the Eastern Cape.
In addition, total foreign direct spending was at R20.8 billion (€1b), more than double that of the nearest competitor – the Western Cape. Similarly, the province recorded 23.8…
