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Campsites and farm stays among SA's favourite accommodation

Cape Town - Following a dip in holiday bookings after the 2008 economic downturn, it seems like South Africa's tourist accommodation industry is slowly but surely getting back on track. 

According to a recent survey conducted by Stats SA, total income for the tourist accommodation industry increased by 3,7% in February 2015 compared with February 2014. 

The survey is conducted monthly and straddles a sample of public and private enterprises involved in the short-stay accommodation industry, with the results used to compile estimates of tourism satellite accounts, as well as the gross domestic product.

In February 2015, caravan parks and camping sites were the type of accommodation that recorded the highest year-on-year growth rates at 7,5%. In December 2014 guest-houses and guest-farms also featured, showing a 18.3% growth rate in income and caravan parks and camping sites, 16.7%.

A similar survey conducted by IAB.SA confirmed this trend, showing a strong preference for Self-Catering stays at 58%, followed by 42% choosing to stay in B&Bs and Guesthouses, with hotel stays coming in third with 37%.

Nicolette Kruger, country manager at NFS Technology, a company supplying range of software solutions for the hospitality and video conferencing industries, said that the positive growth in income from tourist accommodation showed that the hospitality industry “might finally be shrugging off” the hangover of the 2008 financial markets meltdown, which precipitated a global recession.

“The figures are looking promising and we are certainly noting a fair amount of positivity amongst our client base in South Africa and abroad.”

Despite all this, domestic tourism stats indicate that South Africans are doing less travelling with 2013 figures showing 200 000 less travelled South Africans than in 2012 and a recent poll run on News24 also indicates travellers consider SA’s top attractions simply too expensive for the average local family. 

Have you travelled domestically lately? Did you find it exceptionally expensive? What part of your trip was most expensive: accommodation, activities, sightseeing, travel? Tell us in the comment section below.

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