While smaller Western Cape towns dominate the coastal holiday traffic, it is the lush province of Limpopo that sees the biggest trek of people going home over the December festive season.
This is according to data sourced from vehicles fitted with Tracker devices from across the country on an aggregated and anonymised level to determine which areas showed the highest increase in traffic in December 2019.
Compiled by data collection company Lightstone, it found that areas in the Limpopo region made up nine of the top 10 towns that experienced the largest inflow of “going home” traffic – people travelling to reconnect with family over Christmas – with Polokwane taking the top spot, followed by Collins Chabane, then Makhado.
Home ties are strong for people from Limpopo
While smaller Western Cape towns dominate the coastal holiday traffic, it is the lush province of Limpopo that sees the biggest trek of people going home over the December festive season.
This is according to data sourced from vehicles fitted with Tracker devices from across the country on an aggregated and anonymised level to determine which areas showed the highest increase in traffic in December 2019.
Compiled by data collection company Lightstone, it found that areas in the Limpopo region made up nine of the top 10 towns that experienced the largest inflow of “going home” traffic – people travelling to reconnect with family over Christmas – with Polokwane taking the top spot, followed by Collins Chabane, then Makhado.
Smaller Western Cape towns dominate the coastal holiday traffic.
The towns with the highest increase in activity compared to their November averages are Struisbaai at a 358% increase, Stilbaai at a 331% increase and Southbroom on the KZN south coast at a 310%.
Plettenberg Bay and Mossel Bay recorded the highest inflow of visitors, taking the number one and two spots respectively, with activity in the areas doubling compared with their November positions.
“Though the smaller towns show a smaller inflow, the volume of activity compared to their November averages are trebled,” said Michael du Preez, Tracker’s product and marketing executive. “It’s quite clear that areas in the Western Cape seem to be a holiday destination favourite.”
Lightstone said using analytical insights into the mass movement of SA's population over the festive period means towns across the country, as well as the businesses and retailers that were operational there, can forecast and better prepare for their December seasons.
-TimesLIVE