South Africans travelling in record numbers

A survey conducted by MasterCard has showed that people in South African are continuing to plan and book vacations despite the looming credit crunch.  It was also noted in the results of the survey that the people who were planning to travel were intending to spend larger sums of money that when they travelled last. 

The survey was designed to give researchers a better view on how select countries travelled abroad and is conducted every other year in 8 countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and India.

In the survey over 70 per cent of respondents claimed that they would travel internationally during the year.

The chief executive officer of the association of South African Travel Agents, Robyn Christies, said “South Africans are robust travelers.  It has always been expensive for them to go overseas, so it comes as no surprise that the current economic conditions haven’t done much to discourage them from holidaying or conducting business abroad. The trends highlighted by this survey mirror what we’re seeing across the travel and tourism industry.”

The survey noted that South Africans were choosing to fly not to one particular location but all over the world with the United States being the most popular choice at the moment.  The chairman of the board of airline representatives of South Africa, Craig Thomas, said “This may be due to the comparative cost advantage that the US presently enjoys over Europe.  It may also be attributed to the increased availability of direct flights between SA and the US.”

www.asata.co.za