With the pandemic-induced lull in travel wearing off, Indians are taking to the skies once again, with many of them headed to South Africa. Among Asian countries, India sends the highest volume of tourists to South Africa. In the first seven months of this year, over 28,000 Indians visited South Africa, a jump of 273 percent as compared to the year 2021, when the numbers were low.

What’s more, many Indians now prefer solo travel to the African country, including an increasing number of women solo travellers.

In India, the city of Chennai sends the highest percentage of solo travellers—since 2015, approximately 76 percent travellers from Chennai to South Africa have gone on solo trips for either business, leisure or visiting friends and relatives, said South African Tourism’s Neliswa Nkani who visited India recently.

On the other hand, Mumbaikars largely prefer to travel in company, the data indicates. A recent trend that has caught on is that of female solo travel. “While pre-pandemic, 16% of all solo travellers from India to South Africa were women, the number has increased to 23 percent post-pandemic,” Nkani said.