Tourism's City Of Gold

Johannesburg was the most popular destination city in Africa in 2016

- Wesley Lazarus

Johannesburg welcomed 4.57 million international overnight visitors in 2016 – an impressive 24% increase on the previous year’s 3.69 million visitors. Cape Town rose from third place in 2015 to become the second most popular African destination city in 2016 with 1.52 million visitors. Lagos (1.04 million), Casablanca (961,694) and Cairo (820,959) rounded out the top five African cities, while Durban remained in sixth place, attracting 758,057 international overnight visitors.

Johannesburg also topped the rankings in Africa in terms of international visitor expenditure, with travellers spending R34.4 billion in 2016. Shopping accounted for the largest percentage of visitor spend, followed by accommodation and dining out.