Johannesburg Surpasses Lagos As Most-Visited African City

Lagos, Nigeria is the 4th most visited city in Africa according to the 2014 MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index. The reports ranks Johannesburg as the most popular destination city in Africa for the second year running, followed by Cape Town.

The 13 top most visited African cities are Johannesburg, Cape Town, Cairo, Lagos, Durban, Casablanca, Accra, Nairobi, Beira, Dakar, Kampala, Maputo and Tunis

MasterCard Index of Global Destination Cities ranks 132 cities in terms of the number of their total international visitor arrivals and the cross-border spending by these same visitors in the destination cities.

Johannesburg expects 4,3-million international overnight visitors in 2014, a 4,9% increase on last year’s 4,1-million visitors.

“The City of Gold’s status as the most popular destination city among visitors to the African continent is significant for the economic prospects of the city. Visitor spend is an increasingly important source of revenue for the city’s hospitality, retail, transport, sports and cultural sectors,” says Mark Elliott, Division President, South Africa, MasterCard.