5% of Indian visitors to SA from Bengaluru: Official

BENGALURU: Travellers from Bengaluru constituted one of the highest number of tourists and business visitors from India to South Africa last year, with a sizeable number of flyers making use of the e-visa option, a tourism official from the African nation said.

More than 55,000 Indians visited South Africa in 2022 as travel picked up post-pandemic. “After the US and Europe, India accounted for the largest number of visitors, mainly young travellers, to South Africa last year and 5% of them were from Bengaluru, who flew for business or leisure,” Neliswa Nkani, hub head, Middle East, India and Southeast Asia for South African tourism, said.

“We are in the midst of talks with SA Airways to resume flights from India as it will boost tourism. We are also expecting airlines in India to come forward and operate flights to SA cites as there is a huge potential with the tourism boom post-pandemic,” she added.

According to Nkani, travel to the country has tripled, following the lifting of Covid-related restrictions globally.

“We had nearly 5.7 lakh tourists visiting South Africa last year, which is a welcome sign of tourism picking up, following the big dip during the pandemic,” Nkani said, adding that Indians have always formed a big chunk of tourists to South Africa. According to the South African tourism official, Kruger National Park in Limpopo and Mpumalanga were among the most-favourite tourist spots among visitors.

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