Stats SA reports a drop in inland travel

There was a significant drop in the number of people travelling within South Africa between December 2008 and February 2009, Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday. It blamed the effects of the economic downturn experienced across the globe from 2008.

An estimated 8.7 million day trips and 12.3 million overnight trips were taken across the country during the three month period, according to data released by Stats SA.  The data shows that 41 percent of households did not take day trips and 47.3 percent overnight trips due to financial constraints. Some households cited that they were too busy at work to take day or overnight trips.

Gauteng was the most visited province on day trips recording a 24.2 percent of visitors while KwaZulu-Natal had the highest portion of overnight trips at 22.7 percent.

Surprisingly, eating out at restaurants and cafes was a very popular activity on both day and overnight trips. An estimated 1 467 million people ate at restaurants and cafes on day trips while 2 648 million ate at restaurants on their overnight trips. - BuaNews