South Africa Wants 100,000 Indian Travelers — Here’s the Plan
Photo Credit: An Indian family at the Monkeyland Primate Sanctuary in South Africa. South Africa Tourism
Skift Take
The goal from South African Tourism is ambitious given the recent declines in visitors from India.
South African Tourism is aiming to attract 100,000 Indian visitors this year — a return to pre-Covid levels. That's an ambitious goal: Indian arrivals slipped to just 69,700 last year, down from 79,000 in 2023.
“Yes, there has been a dip in travel, which is why we're trying to sort of better ourselves,” Mitalee Karmarkar, marketing and communications manager for South African Tourism told Skift. “And hopefully 2026 will be the year for us.”
One problem is global uncertainty. “We have seen that travel globally slowed down a bit because of multiple reasons like geopolitical issues, airlines becoming expensive, and political tensions between India and Pakistan at one point,” she said.
But there are other issues, and the tourism organization is focusing on three key areas for improvement.
1: Direct air connectivity. “Australia, for example, was down on its arrivals in 2024. In 2025, they got a direct airline and they moved
