Destination Gauteng Marketing Forum Performance Dashboard
One Destination · One Story · Multiple Voices · Multiple Channels
The shared performance view of the Gauteng Marketing Forum (GMF) — the province's destination marketing coordination platform under the stewardship of the Gauteng Tourism Authority. Structured on the Forum's outcomes-based performance framework (TOR §15), it tracks the destination indicators the Forum exists to move: visitation, stay, spend, brand, digital reach and partnership delivery.
TORs: July 2026 (draft)Forum cadence: Quarterly · Working Committee: MonthlyData compiled: 10 July 2026
Attribution note (per TOR §15): destination-level KPIs such as arrivals, spend and investment cannot be credited directly to the Forum. This dashboard reports destination outcomes the Forum collectively works to influence, alongside partnership and ecosystem measures that are directly attributable to Forum activity.
1 · Tourism PerformanceTOR §15: visitor arrivals · length of stay · visitor spend · tourism revenue · domestic trips · event attendance · MICE rankings. Live data from official sources.
International visitors — Gauteng, 2025
≈4.7 M
≈40% of all SA arrivals
Calendar year · SA Tourism (GMF, 10 Jul 2026)
International arrivals — Gauteng
3.8 M
▲ from 2.6 M prior year
FY 2024/25 · Gauteng Prov. Gov.
Foreign direct spend — Gauteng
R41 bn
▲ target was R29 bn
FY 2024/25 · Gauteng Prov. Gov.
Domestic trips to Gauteng
6.4 M
R21 bn domestic spend
FY 2024/25 · Gauteng Prov. Gov.
Share of national foreign spend
45.1%
R13.0 bn in Q4 2025 alone
SA Tourism Q4 2025
Gauteng arrivals Q4 2025
1.2 M
▲ 23.9% YoY · above 2019
Largest provincial share · SA Tourism
Gauteng international arrivals & spend
Financial-year comparison, Gauteng Provincial Government (Aug 2025).
Q4 2025 arrivals by province
Gauteng received the largest share of international arrivals of any province — the gateway role the Forum's "market conversion" objective builds on. SA Tourism Q4 2025 (thousands).
South Africa tourist arrivals — recovery trend
Stats SA Tourism Report 2025: 10.5 M tourists in 2025 (+17.7% vs 2024; +2.6% vs pre-pandemic 2019).
Where visitors come from (2025)
Stats SA: 75.2% SADC, 1.9% other Africa, 22.8% overseas. Overseas visitors deliver 57.1% of spend from 25.2% of arrivals (SAT Q4 2025) — key to the Forum's market development priority.
Stats SA Tourism & Migration (P0351): Jan–May 2026 up 12.8% YoY; 4.2 M+ foreign tourists in five months.
Length of stay by market (typical nights)
Stats SA 2025: SADC 2–3 nights, other-Africa 4–7, overseas 8–14. SAT Q4 2025 national average: 16.2 nights (+19.8% YoY), 45.0 M bed nights.
Why they visit & how they spend
Gauteng travel is VFR-led (50%+) with strong business & retail participation (SAT Q4 2025). Nationally, holiday purposes dominate (Stats SA 2025).
Domestic tourism — Gauteng's two roles
SAT Domestic Tourism Survey 2025: Gauteng is SA's biggest source of domestic travellers, but weakened as a destination in mid-2025 (−25.8% Q2, −33.4% Q3) — a headline challenge for the Forum's domestic campaign collaboration. Q1 2025: 4.4 M bed nights in Gauteng, stay up 49.6% to 5 nights.
National foreign direct spend Q4 2025
R28.8 bn
▲ 51.7% YoY
Average spend per tourist
R10,800
▲ 24.1% YoY
Total bed nights
45.0 M
▲ 44.1% YoY
Average length of stay
16.2 nights
▲ 19.8% YoY
Visitor satisfaction
4.6 / 5
▲ 1.2%
SA Tourism Insights — presented to the ForumAnalytics from South African Tourism's destination performance presentation to the GMF (Vongani Sambo, 10 July 2026). Figures approximate, as presented; arrivals measured per calendar year (Jan–Dec), which differs from the financial-year figures above.
Gauteng share of SA international arrivals
≈40%
Above pre-COVID levels since 2023
"No longer recovery — sustaining growth"
Q1 2026 international visitors
≈1.3 M
≈29% of the full 2025 total already
Jan–Mar 2026
Average length of stay in Gauteng
≈15 nights
≈16 nights in Q1 2026
Fluctuates 15–16 nights
Top source market
Zimbabwe
African land markets dominate
Top-10 all up YoY except Eswatini & Botswana
Domestic trips to Gauteng, 2025
≈5.3 M
▼ ≈24% vs 2024
Q1 2026: ≈1.4 M trips · ≈R3.3 bn spend
Gauteng international visitors — 2025 vs Q1 2026
2025 closed at ≈4.7 M international visitors; the first three months of 2026 already delivered ≈1.3 M (≈29% of the 2025 total), pointing to another record year if momentum holds.
Fastest-growing overseas markets (YoY)
Among Gauteng's top overseas source markets: Australia +19%, UK +12%, with Germany also up. Only Eswatini and Botswana declined across the top-10.
Who contributes Gauteng's visitor spend
Africa contributes ≈66% of total visitor spend (high volumes, lower average spend); Europe is second at ≈18%. The Middle East has the highest average spend per visitor (≈R21,500), with other overseas regions above R10,000.
Domestic tourism — trips & average spend
Domestic trips declined ≈24% in 2025 to ≈5.3 M. In Q1 2026 average spend per trip dropped to ≈R2,300 from ≈R3,900 in the same quarter last year — the affordability squeeze the Forum's domestic campaigns must confront.
Visitor behaviour highlights
As presented to the Forum — international and domestic visitors do largely the same things in Gauteng.
VFR growingVisiting friends & relatives keeps growing its share year-on-year; holiday travel rose in Q1 2026 while business travel declined; MICE showed a slight increase.
Shopping · Eating out · SocialisingThe top three activities for international visitors in Gauteng, ahead of attractions and cultural & heritage sites.
Friends & family firstMost visitors stay with friends and family, followed by hotels, guest houses and self-catering — mirroring the VFR-led travel mix.
Same reasons, both marketsHoliday, VFR, business and MICE drive both domestic and international visits — one story told to two audiences.
Gateway & AccessBorder Management Authority & ACSA — Gauteng's role as the gateway into South Africa and Southern Africa (TOR §3.1).
Border & airport gateways — festive season 2025/26 (10 Dec – 15 Jan)
BMA: 4,902,269 travellers processed across 71 ports of entry. OR Tambo International (Gauteng) was the single busiest port in the country.
20.9 MPassenger movements at OR Tambo International, FY 2024/25 (ACSA) — Africa's busiest airport, 100+ direct destinations.
4.01 MACSA network passengers in Dec 2025 festive peak, +8% YoY and ~98% of pre-pandemic volumes.
7,787Aircraft processed by the BMA during the 2025/26 festive season, alongside 340,876 private vehicles.
–46%Drop in attempted illegal entries vs 2024/25 festive season (25,080 interceptions), credited partly to drone deployment.
2 · Brand PerformanceTOR §15: awareness · share of voice · brand sentiment · reputation indicators · brand index & health. To be populated from GTA destination research and media monitoring.
Destination awarenessAided & unaided awareness of Destination Gauteng in priority source markets.Awaiting GTA research feed
Share of voiceGauteng's share of destination media coverage vs competing destinations.Awaiting media monitoring
Brand sentimentNet sentiment of earned & social coverage of the Gauteng story.Awaiting media monitoring
Brand index & healthComposite brand equity tracking, reported quarterly to the Forum.Awaiting GTA research feed
3 · Digital Performance — the GTA Digital EcosystemTOR §15 & §13: reach · engagement · website traffic · audience growth · content consumption. An integrated awareness → engagement → conversion network, per the GTA Digital Ecosystem Partnership Prospectus (2026).
What's On G — views
3.7 M
2 M users · 2 M active users
GTA's lifestyle & entertainment magazine
Facebook — @ilovegauteng
106,000
Largest consumer channel
Visit Gauteng destination brand
Combined social following
≈146,800
Across 7 consumer & corporate channels
Facebook · Instagram · TikTok · LinkedIn · X
Owned platforms
5
Site · magazine · app · podcast · social
One integrated content & conversion network
Social media reach by channel
Consumer-facing Visit Gauteng channels (gold) drive awareness; GTA corporate channels (blue) serve industry, stakeholders and government. Follower counts per the 2026 Partnership Prospectus.
The ecosystem's three strategic functions
Each platform plays a defined role in the visitor journey — content published on one platform is amplified across all others.
1 · Awareness & DiscoverySocial media, What's On G editorial and search-optimised content draw domestic and international audiences into the Gauteng narrative.
2 · Engagement & ConsiderationLong-form storytelling on the Gauteng Lifve Podcast, lifestyle content and events discovery deepen interest.
3 · Conversion & RetentionThe Visit Gauteng App and gauteng.net drive bookings, registrations, deal redemptions and repeat engagement.
gauteng.net — Official Destination HubThe authoritative online home of Destination Gauteng: attractions, accommodation, events and experiences; hosts partner campaign microsites. Central node of the ecosystem.
What's On G — Lifestyle MagazineDiscovery engine for events, experiences and culture. 2 M users, 3.7 M views — funnels audiences from inspiration into planning and booking.
Visit Gauteng App — Conversion LayerListings, deals and packages, event registration and push notifications — the intent-driven, repeat-usage layer keeping Gauteng top of mind.
Gauteng Lifve Podcast — StorytellingLong-form audio/video conversations on YouTube — destination profiles and cultural narratives, amplified through GTA's social channels.
Website traffic & app usagegauteng.net sessions and Visit Gauteng App active users/downloads — reported quarterly to the Forum.Connect analytics feed
Forum amplificationMember re-shares of ecosystem content across their own channels — the Forum's multiplier effect (TOR §13).Forum secretariat to log