East London - The number of locals visiting the Eastern Cape has plummeted over the past five years, according to Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom.
In a written reply to a parliamentary question, tabled on Thursday, he said 5.7 million so-called “domestic travellers” visited the province in 2009, while a total of 2.1m did so in 2013.
This is a drop of more than 60 percent.
According to a table included with the reply, the number of local visitors has dropped consistently over the five-year period, from 5.7m in 2009, to 4m (2010), to 2.8m (2011), to 2.3m (2012), to 2.1m last year.
Hanekom said no data was available for this year.
The number of international travellers visiting the Eastern Cape over the same period had risen slightly, from 315 000 in 2009, to 323 000 last year. - Sapa