The festive season is traditionally one of the highest spending periods in South Africa. Experts do not expect a significant deviation from this trend this holiday season, despite what has been reported and speculated by some economists and sections of the media.

“The holiday season in South Africa is likely to be as buoyant as ever,” says Garth de Klerk, CEO of Coface South Africa.

“One of the main drivers for the expected continued spend will be an increase in local holidaying and a fall in international travel over the festive season.”

“Whilst the recession has hit South African’s hard this year, we are expecting to see people cutting back on their holiday spending by staying in South Africa for the festive season. This is a positive for the country’s economy, because money that would have been spent abroad will be spent locally.”

“We are beginning to see green shoots in the South African economy as well as internationally. This positive sentiment in the market is likely to encourage spending,” says de Klerk.