International tourists to South Africa increased by nearly half last year, boosted by new favorable visa policies and increased arrivals from BRICS countries, the country's tourism ministry said.

South Africa received 8.5 million international tourists last year, a 49 percent increase compared with the previous year, South Africa's Minister of Tourism Patricia de Lille said.

Africa accounted for 6.4 million visitors, or 75 percent of all arrivals, while about 200,000 people from Asia arrived in South Africa, which is a 69 percent increase from 2022, she said.

"This recovery can be attributed to consistent efforts to showcase South Africa as a welcoming, responsible tourism destination, highlighting experiences that align with intrepid, green economy conscious travelers," de Lille said.

The country also received a surging number of tourists from Kenya. Effective from Jan 1, 2023, South Africa allowed Kenyans to visit the country visa free for up to 90 days within a calendar year. This contributed to the surge in the overall number of international tourists, de Lille said.

South Africa was the BRICS chair last year and hosted the 15th BRICS Summit, attracting a number of tourists from the five BRICS countries. There was a 44 percent increase in Indian tourists visiting the country last year with about 80,000 arrivals, South Africa's tourism ministry said.

A new member of the BRICS family, more than 6,500 tourists from the United Arab Emirates visited South Africa, an 110 percent surge compared to 2022 figures.

Chinese tourists in South Africa increased by 205 percent last year, with 37,164 visiting the country. De Lille said direct flights between China and South Africa boosted tourist arrivals in the country. Air China resumed its direct flights between South Africa and China last year. This week, de Lille addressed a Chinese New Year gala where she invited visitors from Asia.

"I am meeting with the Minister of Home Affairs and the Presidency's Project Management Office this week to see how to improve South Africa's visa processing and enable more Chinese visitors to travel here," she said.

De Lille also said South Africa is eager to remove all barriers that prevent tourists from visiting the country.

Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa, said the country is showing some post COVID-19 recovery across the board.

"We are recovering as a country from COVID-19 and this could be as a result of the appealing destination marketing we have been doing," he said. "This year, we should beat the pre-COVID-19 levels and do even better."

South Africa had been doing some vigorous marketing in various expos in Africa, Asia, Middle East, Europe and the US. In 2019, South Africa received over more than 10 million international tourists.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.