GOOGLE SEARCH reveals which tourist sites in South Africa are most popular with international visitors

WITH the Fifa World Cup fast approaching, football fever is taking over. People around the world are using the Internet not only to learn about the tournament, but also to decide on which tourist sites they will be visiting.

It's no secret that the tourism sector will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the tournament - with international visitors to South Africa indulging in the country’s natural beauty and appreciating its historical sites. Last year the South African public voted on the country’s most popular tourist sites for Google's Street View Trikes campaign that ran in conjunction with SA Tourism - as reported on our Africa Blog.

This month's Zeitgeist shows the countries that are demonstrating the most interest in visiting these South African sites, and reveals that three of the top five coincide with those countries buying the most tickets for the World Cup.

These rankings are included in the tables below, which show the country's top tourist sites, source markets and top ticket buying countries:

Most globally popular tourist sites in South Africa in 2010

1. Kruger National Park
2. The Garden Route
3. Wild Coast
4. Robben Island
5. Cape Peninsula
6. Blyde River Canyon
7. Cape Winelands
8. Durban Beachfront
9. Mandela House
10. Apartheid Museum

Top countries searching for ‘South Africa tourism’ in 2010

1. India
2. United Kingdom
3. United States
4. Germany
5. Zimbabwe

Top World Cup ticket buying countries

1. United States
2. United Kingdom
3. Germany
4. Australia
5. Brazil

• Create your own Zeitgeist at Google Insights for Search

Zeitgeist Explained
Google reveals the Internet "Zeitgeist" (German for "the spirit of the times") through an exploration of the billions of search queries they receive each year. They also have several tools that give insight into global, regional, past and present search trends. Google Zeitgeist tools can never be used to identify individual users because they rely on anonymised, aggregated counts of how often certain search queries occur over time. These tools are available year-round for you to play with, explore, and learn from. You can create your own lists and rankings on www.google.com/zeitgeist

** More News and Media Articles **

NATIONAL ARTS FEST: The National Arts Festival

ATTENDANCE at this year’s National Arts Festival was dismal in comparison to previous years. It seems that the recession really is affecting people’s annual trips and touristy activities. There were, however, far more foreign festival goers than before, which created a nice multi-national vibe.

The Village Green stalls were pretty much the same as they’ve always been
– a lot of vendors selling the same stuff. Besides relocating closer to campus, the same array of colourful clothing, prickly pot plants, interesting art, fast food, musical instruments and CDs could be found. The most popular items this year: brightly coloured beanies.

Overall people seemed very reluctant to buy anything and not a lot of collectables seemed to be selling. One actually had to be careful not to look too interested in anything for fear of being pounced upon by a desperate vendor.

The notorious Eggman

Other daily sightings included clowns on stilts, magic sideshow tricks, freaky street mimes, an annoying guy walking around blowing a bird whistle, and the notorious Eggman.

The shows on the other hand were a sell-out, at least in the case of the main festival programme. I saw one play on the fringe which was somewhat embarrassing to watch as it was so appalling. I won’t mention any names.

Apart from these regular festivities, there was one place that grabbed everyone’s attention. A new enterprise called Pirates Pizza has fast become the new most popular hangout for Rhodents. The man behind the establishment started off by selling pizza from his res room back when I was still a student. Well let’s just say that he turned things up a notch and is doing pretty well for himself.

The business is thriving, especially since the addition of a bar, a dance floor and a stripper pole. The founders could quite easily retire before they hit thirty. Pirates Pizza could very well be the student entrepreneur endeavour of the decade. Unfortunately their website is still under construction, but you really have to head down there yourself to experience its omnipotence.

Pirates Pizza at National Arts Festival

Pirates Pizza - the new no.1 hangout at Rhodes

So make your bookings for next year’s Grahamstown Festival now as 2010 and the much anticipated end of the economic crisis promises to result in the biggest National Arts Festival in South African history.

PS: I didn’t take my camera this year as I was on holiday this time round, but there is a great collection of videos and photo-slideshows on the Cue website.

** More Promotions and Events **

PROUDLY SA VIDEO: Your weekly mood-booster

There’s a song I often listen to on my way to work that not only psyches me up for the day ahead, but reminds me what a great country we live in. I’ve been wanting to create a video around this song for a while now with the aim of instilling patriotic sentiments and warm & fuzzy feelings in the hearts and minds of all South Africans near and far.

My hope is that this video will give new vigor to what it means to be proudly South African, will make foreigners to our shores feel welcome, and will keep all South Africans positive about their country. Enjoy.

Proudly South African

Proudly South African featuring Mango Groove:
SA sport, SA wildlife, SA tourism, SA celebrities, SA landscapes, SA flowers, SA food and drink, SA products, SA films, SA television, SA heroes, SA historical moments, SA national Arts Festival, SAB, SA culture, SA sunsets, SA music, SA theatre, SA art, SA natural wonders, SA beaches.

Related video: Proudly Pietermaritzburg
Even better: “Stand as one” 2010 Fifa World Cup Song

** More Happy Friday Videos **