Paris‚ London and New York were put on the back-burner as more budget-conscious South Africans took a “Shot Left” to local destinations for the summer holidays.

Sun City‚ the Kruger National Park and the traditional holiday cities of Durban and Cape Town topped the list of favourite destinations for domestic travellers.

While the tourism and hospitality industry are still collating figures in terms of tourist numbers and the economic impact‚ they are confident of a bumper festive season.

Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa‚ head of the Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa (Fedhasa) said: “In all of the major holiday cities like Durban‚Cape Town‚ Port Elizabeth and East London‚ the numbers are looking good in terms of occupancy rates”.

For the second quarter of 2016‚ Fedhasa saw a 26% increase in leisure tourism.

“This is a good figure we hope that it will be maintained and that South Africans will continue to explore their own country.”

Tshivhengwa believes the various campaigns encouraging South Africans to travel locally and government’s R110-million pledge towards the domestic tourism market has impacted positively.

“The prime locations remain Sun City‚ Kruger National Park‚ Durban and Cape Town. Johannesburg is not a prime location for leisure tourism but we are trying to encourage people to stay in Joburg hotels through various campaigns‚” he added.

According to Sun International’s statistics‚ Sun City had 38 560 guests over December at its four hotels including Cabanas‚ Soho Hotel‚ Cascades and the Palace.

Table Bay hotel in Cape Town enjoyed an 80% occupancy rate‚ said Sun International spokesman Michael Farr.