Nigerian and Ghanaian tourist numbers fall as SADC visitors drive SA tourism growth
· Citizen
Stats SA’s June 2026 international tourism report showed West African arrivals declining even as visitors from neighbouring countries pushed overall tourist numbers to a near decade high.
South Africa welcomed 823 365 overnight visitors, or tourists, in June 2026, marking a 9.8% increase from the 750 177 recorded in June 2025, according to Statistics South Africa’s latest international tourism release.
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The growth was driven almost entirely by neighbouring countries, while two of West Africa’s largest source markets, Nigeria and Ghana, both recorded fewer arrivals than the previous year.
Nigeria sent 1 459 tourists to South Africa in June 2026, down 30.3% from 2 092 in June 2025, according to Stats SA.
Ghana followed a similar pattern, with 2 609 tourists in June 2026 compared with 3 173 a year earlier, a drop of 17.8%.
Together, the two countries accounted for just over a third of all “other” African tourists, a category Stats SA defines as non-SADC African arrivals, which totalled 12 007 for the month.
Neighbouring countries see mixed but stronger performance
South Africa’s four largest SADC source markets showed a very different trend.
Mozambique remained the single biggest contributor of tourists in June 2026, with 216 355 arrivals, up 32.8% from 162 900 in June 2025.
Stats SA attributed this to Mozambique alone accounting for 32.4% of all SADC tourists that month.
Zimbabwe was the second-largest source market, sending 182 567 tourists, an 11.2% rise from 164 218 in June 2025.
Lesotho posted the sharpest percentage increase among the top SADC countries, climbing 22.8% from 106 697 to 130 980 tourists year-on-year.
Eswatini, by contrast, moved in the opposite direction, falling 12.7% from 70 954 tourists in June 2025 to 61 960 in June 2026, according to the report.
Holiday travel dominates purpose of visit for neighbouring markets
Stats SA’s data on purpose of visit showed holiday travel remained overwhelmingly the main reason tourists from neighbouring countries entered South Africa.
Mozambican tourists were almost entirely holiday visitors, with 214 315 of 216 355 arrivals, or 99.1%, categorised under that purpose, which Stats SA’s definition extends to vacationing, visiting friends and relatives, shopping and personal occasions such as weddings.
Zimbabwe showed a similar pattern, with 178 400 of its 182 567 tourists, or 97.7%, travelling for holiday purposes, according to the report.
Business travel made up a small but notable share of Zimbabwean arrivals, at 3 838 tourists, roughly 2.1% of the total.
Lesotho’s tourists were also predominantly holiday travellers, accounting for 130 124 of 130 980 arrivals, while Eswatini recorded 59 201 holiday tourists out of 61 960, with a further 2 687 travelling for business, the highest business-travel figure among the four countries.
West Africa’s broader decline mirrors Nigeria and Ghana
The West Africa sub-region as a whole, which Stats SA groups separately from East and Central Africa and North Africa, recorded 4 727 tourists in June 2026, down 23.8% from 6 201 in June 2025.
Nigeria and Ghana together made up more than 86% of that sub-regional total, meaning their declines weighed heavily on the wider West African figure.
Purpose-of-visit data for the two countries also diverged from their SADC counterparts.
Of Nigeria’s 1 459 tourists, 1 316 travelled for holiday purposes, but the country recorded 100 tourists on study visas, the highest student figure among West African countries in the release.
Ghana’s 2 609 tourists were similarly holiday-dominated, with 2 559 travelling for leisure, while business travellers numbered just 36.
Longer-term trend shows a more complex picture
Looking at the first six months of 2026 against the same period in 2025, Stats SA’s cumulative figures softened the picture somewhat for West Africa.
Nigeria recorded 14 307 tourists between January and June 2026, up 3.1% from 13 880 over the same months in 2025, suggesting the June decline may reflect monthly volatility rather than a sustained downward trend.
Ghana’s year-to-date figure also rose, reaching 21 126 tourists in the first half of 2026 compared with 19 253 in the same period of 2025, a 9.7% increase.
By contrast, the four neighbouring countries maintained their growth over the longer period.
Mozambique recorded 1 267 205 tourists in the first half of 2026, up 30.6% year-on-year, while Zimbabwe rose 13.1% to 1 255 923.
Lesotho grew 11.7% to 784 491, and even Eswatini, which fell in the single-month comparison, posted a modest half-year increase of 0.5%, reaching 444 947 tourists, according to Stats SA.