The United States replaced the United Kingdom as South Africa's top tourism market for the first time in 2021, according to South African Tourism.
The British had been in the pole position since South Africa gained independence in 1994.
Tourists from the North American country contributed R2.3 billion ($143.8 million) in tourism revenues during the period under review.
SA Tourism said a US tourist spent R31,100 on average, which was higher compared to the pre-pandemic levels of R22,900 in 2019.
It said the Americans were interested in leisure tourism activities and shopping, which rose 17% and 22%, respectively.
The US also registered a 14% increase in arrivals to 82,020 tourists in 2021 compared to a year earlier.
This, however, was lower than the pre-pandemic level of 373,694 tourists from the US in 2019.
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