There’s no doubting that South Africa is a world-renowned destination, especially when you consider that Lufthansa added a direct flight from Frankfurt. Recent data has revealed that 60 countries have shown interest in the park.
Even though the rest of the world might be waking up to the wonders of the park, Kruger has been no secret for South Africans, regarded as a top leisure destination and even more so since the pandemic.
‘We are very grateful to notice an incredible uptick in bookings by locals,’ notes Anton Gillis, CEO of Kruger Gate Hotel. ‘This spike started during the pandemic, of course, when South Africans were unable to travel internationally. But now, even with a return to normal in the travel space, we continue to see locals flock to the Park – some with laptops as they take full advantage of the ‘work from anywhere’ phenomenon.’
This sentiment is proven to be true when one looks at stats for bookings by South Africans for holidays in or around the Kruger National Park. According to Thompsons Holidays, in the Kruger node the company has achieved its 2019 room nights in just the first eight months of this year.
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What’s more, however, is that Mpumalanga has a 5% province market share, exceeding pre-pandemic numbers, when it was 4% in 2019.
There has also been a massive spike in searches from South Africa to all airports near the Kruger National Park. Numbers indicate that there has been a 229% increase in flight searches made by South Africans in the first half of the year when compared o the same pre-pandemic period.
‘While we’re delighted to see this increased interest from South Africans for the Kruger National Park, we are not all that surprised,’ explains Gillis. ‘A trip to the Kruger has long been on many South Africans’ bucket lists and with an increased push from destination marketing organisations to explore closer to home, locals have moved this trip towards the top of their lists, with many not only ticking it off once but multiple times.’
‘Once you visit the Kruger National Park, it’s tough to stay away. We see this with our returning guests and we ourselves experience it when we’ve been away from the Park for too long. The call of the wild is strong,’ concludes Gillis.
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