New data reveals the world’s most popular bucket list destinations in Africa for 2019.
Released by hoppa, a ground transportation specialist, their report surveyed travellers across the globe to find out what their bucket list destinations, attractions, and events in Africa are for 2019.
Cape Town topped the list as the most popular bucket list destination in South Africa, despite the fact that South Africa ranked as the fourth most bucket listed country among those surveyed. The Cape Town International Jazz Festival also topped the list for African events on the bucket lists of travellers.
As far as African countries go, Kenya ranked the highest, followed by Madagascar and Tanzania, possibly due to the great year-round weather conditions in those countries. Top tourist attractions on the continent include the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, the Kruger National Park in South Africa, and the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya.
The top ten African bucket list countries, cities, attractions, and events for 2019 include:
| Country | City | Attraction | Event |
| 1. Kenya | Cape Town | Serengeti | Cape Town International Jazz Festival |
| 2. Madagascar | Nairobi | Kruger National Park | Festival-au-Desert, Mali |
| 3. Tanzania | Johannesburg | Maasai Mara | International Festival of the Sahara, Tunisia |
| 4. South Africa | Cairo | Mount Kilimanjaro | Cape to Rio Ocean Race |
| 5. Egypt | Accra | Table Mountain | Cairo Jazz Festival, Egypt |
| 6. Botswana | Casablanca | The Great Pyramid of Giza | Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, Morocco |
| 7. Morocco | Durban | Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe | Durban July Horserace |
| 8. Namibia | Dakar | The Great Sphinx | FESPACO – Film Festival, Burkina Faso |
| 9. Zambia | Lagos | Virunga National Park | Meskel, Ethiopia |
| 10. Ghana | Entebbe | Lake Malawi | Timkat – Feast of Epiphany, Ethiopia |
South Africa featured quite strongly in the survey, revealing how highly regarded the country is by tourists across the globe. Johannesburg and Durban also featured on the top 10 list for African cities alongside Cape Town, while Table Mountain was named a top tourist attraction, and the Cape to Rio Ocean Race and Durban July were included as top events.
Tourism is vitally important to the South African economy, and according to Stats SA, one in every 22 working South Africans are employed in the tourism sector. The tourism sector directly contributes 2,9% to South African gross domestic product (GDP) making the tourism sector a larger contributor than agriculture.
The full African report can be found here, while the global overview can be found here.
