In the first five months of 2026, 4.8-million tourists arrived in South Africa. It’s the highest number for this period since at least 2018, which suggests 2026 could be a bumper tourism year for the country.

But most of the tourists are arriving from South Africa’s neighbours in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

We're using January to May because that's the most recent data Stats SA has released, and the data is telling. SADC arrivals over this period didn't just bounce back from the pandemic in 2020. They have overtaken pre-Covid levels, up 12.8% on 2018's January-to-May total.

Overseas tourism hasn't managed the same comeback. It's still down almost 8% on where it was in 2018, even as global travel has broadly recovered.

SADC tourists now make up 76% of all arrivals to South Africa, up from around 73% in 2018.

South Africa's tourism boom, in other words, is really a regional one.