On Friday, organisational development consultancy owner Sue Welman will board a plane to Thailand as, like many other South Africans, she heads out for the festive season.
Welman's mission this year, as an avid twitcher, is to spot the highly endangered spoon-billed piper, a Siberian bird that is notoriously difficult to spot, but every year a few are known to winter in Thailand.
Thailand, along with Mauritius, Zanzibar, Bali and Dubai, remain the firm favourite destinations for South Africans' end-of-year hols. And for those staying local, Cape Town, Ballito and Umhlanga are the popular choices.
Welman, who has booked a guided solo trip, will also be going to Bangkok and Chiang Mai — all in the quest to spot the rare bird. She does several trips a year and has been to Sierra Leone to spot an emerald starling, to Liberia to see a Nimba flycatcher, and in March this year was involved in a plane crash in Cameroon “where fortunately none of us was hurt, we were able to duct tape plastic over the smashed window, locked the door back in place and managed to fly out again”.
But unlike Welman, most South Africans are less focused on a specific quest or mission, and instead want guarantees in terms of what they will get for their money.
“Value is a major theme for the 2024/2025 season,” Flight Centre GM Antoinette Turner told the Sunday Times. “All-inclusive resort packages are particularly popular as South Africans want to know what they’re in for — they don’t want any unexpected surprises, which is understandable when travelling on the rand. They’re also embracing group travel, in other words travelling with extended family or friend groups to maximise group discounts and stretch their spending power.”
In terms of trends, she said cruising was the standout winner, with more interest from first-time cruisers than ever before.
International travel adviser Mandy Peacock of Travelstay said there had been a drop in the number of holidaymakers wanting to go to Mozambique due to the crime there. However, Mauritius and Zanzibar remained popular for South Africans. “A lot of people are also heading to Europe for the Christmas markets, and there are people heading off to Australia to see family,” she said.
While more of her clients were opting for overseas travel, those choosing local destinations were favouring Cape Town, Ballito and Umhlanga, she said.
National carrier SAA announced a significant increase in its flight frequencies to key African destinations as of last month, an increase in flights to Mauritius (twice daily for the peak holiday season) this month, and an increase to five flights a week to Perth from January.
We’ve also had interest in Dubai, Thailand, Victoria Falls and exploring the Christmas markets in Europe
— Thompsons Travel marketing manager Celeste Muir
Flights to Harare and Lusaka have been increased from 10 flights a week to 12; and flights to Lagos and Accra are up from three a week to four. Domestically, SAA has increased its flights to Gqeberha to three times a day.
But this week the carrier was forced to ground 60% of its flights as pilots went on strike.
On Friday, the SAA Pilots' Association reported it had reduced the frequency of flights from Johannesburg to Cape Town, Durban, Gqeberha and international destinations such as Mauritius, Lagos, Lusaka and Windhoek in a week when thousands of travellers were set to make their way to different destinations for the festive season.
Flights resumed yesterday after pilots agrees to a 9% pay hike offer.
Meanwhile, FlySafair's Kirby Gordon said they were tracking slightly down on the previous high of 2019 stats, but this December was seeing about 86% of that in terms of availability of seats. “Compared to last year we’re pretty even,” he said. “Part of the reason we are optimistic is that demand seems to have been a little hotter the past few months with the, albeit small, interest rate drops and people accessing their funds through the new retirement reforms.”
In terms of travel to Mauritius, Gordon said the airline was offering 49% more seats to Mauritius this December than last. He said Zanzibar connectivity was also up.
“Last year we did two flights a week and then strategically put in a few third flights, but this year we’re consistently flying three times a week, so that raises the number by 31%. However, the base is still a lot smaller than Mauritius, which is the big island fave for South Africans.”
Thompsons Travel marketing manager Celeste Muir said Mauritius remained a favourite, along with the Maldives, the Seychelles and Zanzibar. “We’ve also had interest in Dubai, Thailand, Victoria Falls and exploring the Christmas markets in Europe. Looking ahead, many travellers are already setting their sights on 2025, and planning well in advance,” she said.
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