BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – In October 2024, 72 243 tourists managed to visit Eswatini.
This number shows that travellers planned fewer trips to Eswatini last month, marking a sharp contrast to the positive growth trend experienced in earlier months of the year. Eswatini’s arrival figures show that arrivals fell by 12.6 percent year-on-year for the month of October, to register 75 243. Significant declines were noted from all world regions with the exception of strong showings from the Americas.
The rising costs of international travel have deterred some European tourists from long-haul travel (-18.7 percent), a trend which is anticipated to persist in the next few months. Closer home, some of Eswatini’s key source markets held national elections in October. An example of these markets is Mozambique and Botswana. This saw the respective citizens prioritising staying in their home countries to participate in the elections. The downturn highlights Eswatini’s vulnerability to exogenous elements, underscoring the dampeneing effect of geopolitical and economic factors to inbound travel. On a positive note, the Americas interest to travel to Eswatini continued to surge, up by 12.6 percent from last year.
Regional Performance
Arrivals from the African region to Eswatini experienced a decline of 4.4 percent, as key source markets faced challenges in growth. Notably, both major source markets South Africa and Mozambique struggled, with signifcant drops of 10.7 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. In the instance of Mozambique, Eswatini’s second largest source market, the decline has been exacerbated by the political turmoil. On the converse, the silver lining was the strong performance from several African markets, these comprised of Zimbabwe (+53.4 percent), Malawi with triple-digit growth of 100.6 percent, Kenya (+73.7 percent) and Lesotho, Zambia, and Tanzania also showing notable growth, with increases of 34.4 percent, 19.3 percent, and 2.7 percent, respectively.
The overall visitor performance from the Eurozone was marked by declines, with Germany registering a sharp decline of 34.8 percent, France dropping by 8.1 percent, the Netherlands by 25.1 percent, the UK by 10.1 percent, and Belgium by 26.6 percent. The Middle East also experienced a downturn in traveller volumes, with a considerable 66.3 percent decrease in arrivals as key region markets, Israel and Iran, experienced declines of 91.9 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
Travellers from the Americas visited in increased numbers, with all source markets in recording sterling performances. Key American markets that remained central to monthly growth, include Brazil (+127.4 percent), followed by Canadians (+20.0 percent) and visitors from the United States of America (+3.2 percent).
Year-to-date
Overall, inbound arrivals for the year-to-date were up by 12.2 percent from last year to just over 780 000. The African region led the way, with a robust increase of 12.9 percent, followed by Australasia at 10.9 percent, the Americas at 8.6 percent, and the Eurozone at 5.8 percent with all regional and overseas source market performing outstandingly. These figures highlight the ongoing global recovery and the resilience of Eswatini’s tourism sector, even in the face of regional and global challenges.
This is still 23.2 percent below the comparative 2019 figure of 1 million, leaving the country stretched towards reaching its target of exceeding pre-COVID figures by the end of the year. The ongoing marketing efforts are expected to revive the positive momentum established at the beginning of the year, boosting the country’s visibility, accessibility and appeal as a rich blend of traditional and cultural experience that is set apart in the world of travel.
