According to the online travel shop, Travelstart, travel and tourism continue to show strong signs of recovery as the world looks forward to the start of the travel season and global pandemic travel restrictions are lifted.
The company, which provides travel deals ranging from accommodation to flights, revealed that the first half of 2022 recorded an estimated 474 million international tourists, compared to 175 million in the same months of 2021.
It also said that the first quarter of the year welcomed 1,7 million travellers through South African ports of entry, a 136% increase compared to the same period in 2021 and that while the recovery of the tourism and travel industry will support the economic recovery of the overall continent, experts agree that travellers can expect record-high price increases across travel-related categories.
Travelstart founder, Stephan Ekbergh, said that as demand for travel goes up, unfortunately, prices follow.
“In South Africa, the increase in travel fares, from flights to hotels, can be attributed to lack of capacity, the weak currency and fuel hikes. Globally, fare increases are due to the travel rebound and higher demands, which results in fewer affordable flights, and more people looking for hotel rooms than there are rooms available,” said Ekbergh.
He said that to mitigate the soaring costs of travel, Travelstart and Mastercard have partnered to offer discounted travel to Mastercard holders in Africa.
“The partnership comes at a time when demand for business and leisure travel is bouncing back vigorously,” said Ekbergh.
The Travelstart founder also revealed that the partnership between the two businesses would see Mastercard holders saving up to 30% on base international and domestic airfares and hotel costs, with the discounts available to all Gold, Platinum, World and World Elite Mastercard cardholders as well as debit, credit, prepaid and commercial Mastercard cardholders.
The Travelstart discounts are currently available to Mastercard holders in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.
“As the African travel season fast approaches, we advise travellers to book as early as possible and to ensure they have adequate travel insurance and cover in place to avoid incurring additional costs,” said Ekbergh.
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