Cape Town, 27 January 2012 - The number of online flight bookings in South Africa has grown at an unprecedented rate in recent years. According to Travelstart, South Africa’s largest online travel agency, domestic online flight bookings on their website increased by 35% between 2010 and 2011 with Johannesburg as the most popular domestic destination.

A number of factors have contributed to the positive growth including marked improvements in the marketing and facilitation of online travel bookings on the Travelstart website, as well as a greater variety of payment options and a mobile flight booking website making it easy and convenient to book travel online. In addition, travel related Google searches in South Africa grew by more than 50% between 2010 and 2011.

In terms of international travel, London was still the number one destination in Europe for South African travellers in 2011 despite stricter UK Visa regulations and tightening of travel budgets.  Munich, Amsterdam, Zurich and Athens were the other most popular European destinations in 2011 while New York was the most visited destination in America according to Travelstart data.

Regional international travel bookings increased in 2011 with most passengers travelling to Windhoek (bookings increased by 30% since 2010) and Harare (bookings increased by 31% since 2010). Slightly further afield, Mauritius was a popular regional destination with an 81% increase in flights booked in 2011 compared to 2010.