How affordable is it to travel South Africa?

For many South Africans, travel inspiration often starts beyond our borders - the cities, beaches, food, culture, sporting moments and experiences seen on social media, television and travel platforms around the world. Tourism Month is an opportunity to turn that same curiosity closer to home and ask a different question: how affordable is it to travel South Africa, and how much of Mzansi are we still yet to discover?

South Africa offers its own mix of experiences worth travelling for, from food and culture to sport, wellness, heritage, nature and lesser-known local gems. The question is not whether South Africans should choose domestic travel over international travel, but whether we fully understand the range of experiences, value and possibilities available within our own country. 

"Our initiatives are aimed at affordability. Travel Week encourages people to plan and budget for their trips: they can book during the campaign and do not need to travel at that time. We have seen 4.1% growth since last year in people travelling around the country," said Mashoto Mokgethi, Head of Domestic Tourism at South African Tourism.

During Sho't Left Travel Week, held from 7 to 13 September 2026, South Africans were able to explore domestic travel deals and specials, including flexible offers that allowed travellers to book during the campaign period and travel later. The campaign provided a practical reminder that planning ahead, comparing value and looking beyond the obvious can widen the choices available to travellers.

Travel can also begin with a reason rather than a destination. A football match can become a weekend of food, culture and local discovery. A heritage experience can strengthen your children's sense of identity. A food experience, road trip, safari, coastal break, cultural tour or city escape can become the starting point for spending more time exploring the people, places and businesses that make a destination distinctive.

The realities of affordability

Speaking at the Tourism Month Sho’t Left Great Debate at Rosemary Hill, Mashoto Mokgethi, Head of Domestic Tourism at South African Tourism, said only 11% of South Africans plan their holidays properly, highlighting the need to encourage more travellers to budget, plan and book ahead.

That puts planning at the centre of the affordability conversation. What works for one

household may not work for another, and pressure on household budgets is real. For travellers, the practical question is how planning, value, discovery and better information can help them make travel choices that suit their own circumstances.

For personal finance expert Mapalo Makhu, affordability starts with knowing the numbers and planning intentionally around what a household can realistically afford.

"Do not be afraid of numbers. If you know a holiday is going to cost R10,000, save R1,000 every month. You have to be intentional about those types of holidays," Makhu said Her point was that affordability should be measured against the household budget, with financial obligations covered first and travel planned for deliberately rather than treated as an unplanned extra.

Affordability also extends beyond the household budget. Sport, music, food, family and

entertainment can provide the reason to travel, while travel storytelling can broaden what South Africans picture when they think of a domestic trip.

For content creator and traveller Fari Sanyika-'Gophari', discovery increasingly starts before the trip itself, with travellers using TikTok, comments, maps and other digital tools to research places and gauge whether an experience fits their interests and budget. "People go on TikTok to check out places, way before they go there," Sanyika said. She recalled sharing a waterfall in Limpopo where entry cost just R15, prompting followers to ask where it was. "We have all these things at our disposal."

Sanyika said some of her most memorable journeys began with road trips around Mpumalanga while she was working in Secunda, where she discovered hidden gems that challenged the idea that memorable travel has to be expensive or far away.

For tourism businesses, affordability and value also depend on how easily travellers can find, understand and book what is on offer. Stronger partnerships across accommodation, transport, food and experiences can help create a clearer overall value proposition for domestic travellers.

Technology is increasingly part of that visibility equation. Creator recommendations, reviews, search, maps and AI-enabled planning tools are changing how travellers compare options and how smaller businesses can become part of the consideration set.

Food can be a reason to travel

Food offers another way to understand why people travel. At Rosemary Hill, Chef Ayanda Seseli used local and indigenous ingredients, fermentation and cultured foods to show how food can carry stories about heritage, producers and place. The experience reflected a wider opportunity for destinations: a memorable meal, ingredient or food tradition can be a reason to travel in its own right. A traveller may arrive because of a particular meal, producer, market or food experience, but

that visit can extend into accommodation, transport, attractions, craft, culture and other local businesses. In this way, food becomes part of the wider tourism value chain and another reason for South Africans to explore more of their own country.

Value is more than the price

Price is only one part of value. Travellers also weigh what is included, the quality of the

offering, when the trip is booked, how it is planned and what they are able to experience once they arrive. The practical question becomes: “Am I getting enough for what I am paying?” Travel Week demonstrated one practical route to value: book during a defined offer period and travel later. Planning ahead can give travellers time to compare options, budget deliberately and build a fuller experience around what matters to them. For destinations and tourism businesses, the opportunity is to package and communicate value clearly enough for travellers to see what they are getting, not simply the headline price.

Tourism ultimately benefits a much wider ecosystem. For travellers, it creates opportunities for meaningful experiences and lasting memories. For accommodation providers, transport operators, guides, restaurants, food producers, craftspeople and community attractions, domestic travel brings customers and supports local livelihoods. Making those businesses visible, bookable and easy to understand is part of strengthening domestic tourism. This Tourism Month, the invitation remains simple: look again at what is around you, find something that fits your interests and budget, and discover more of the country you call home.

It's Your Country. Enjoy It!