South Africa's safari parks are popular with tourists

The number of overseas arrivals to South Africa rose by 1.8 million - or 20% - last year, the ministry said.

This growth defied continuing fears among key European and American customers of longhaul travel, and bad press over South African crime statistics.

The head of South African Tourism, Cheryl Carolus, said that hosting the Cricket World Cup had boosted the sector, and helped showcase some areas less well known than the holiday hotspots of Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.

The 2002, the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg also helped promote South Africa as a destination.

Success story

South Africa's landscape, wildlife, culture and heritage helped attract 6.4 million holiday makers last year in total, making tourism South Africa's best performing sector, Ms Carolus said.

"Our cabinet has, for the third year running, identified tourism as one of our top five economic sectors from which we expect economic growth," she said.

She added that South Africa was striving to improve its reputation as crime hotspot.

"Where you have poverty you will have crime," she said.

"So for us, one element of dealing with our concerns around crime is making sure that there are credible jobs, so that people are employed.

"Our policing efforts have also been stepped up."