Easter travel: the inside scoop

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The data shows a huge surge in searches for departure the week before – from 17- 19 March searches for departures are up a whopping 925%. This points to most travellers wanting to take a holiday of a week or more, starting when the schools break up, with the Easter weekend at the end.

The busiest place to be

Not surprisingly, with the Two Oceans Marathon in town, Cape Town looks to be the busiest destination in South Africa over the Easter holidays, with Durban at a close second. Data shows domestic searches for Easter departures to Cape Town are 72% higher than travel the previous week, especially for those staying for up to ten days, and it is by far the most popular destination for both short and medium stays over this period.

For those wanting to avoid the Cape Town crowds, try staying in town after the Easter weekend – searches on Cheapflights show that more people having a longer break in the city prefer having the Easter weekend at the end, and departing for home by Easter Monday.

Not all people are looking to escape to the coast, though. Searches for travel over this period point to Johannesburg being the third most popular destination, showing that many are travelling there to be with family or have a city break.

Where to avoid the crowds

For those wanting to avoid the crowds, choosing destinations that are not traditionally holiday destinations may be the best bet.

The data shows that Pretoria, Phalaborwa and Ulundi are the least searched for destinations over the Easter weekend, with the later only being searched for twice, compared to over 12,000 times for Cape Town over the same period.

Busiest day for travel

Cheapflights data show that by far the majority of travellers will be looking for a two to five-day break, departing just before or over the Easter Weekend, from Thursday, 24 March.

An earlier, slightly smaller burst of travellers is evident the weekend before when schools break up, for breaks that extend for over a week into the Easter weekend. So those wanting to avoid the crowds and airport queues should look to travel mid-week or extend their trip to after the Easter weekend.

Best days to book flights

Being flexible on flight dates can often mean getting the best deals. This Easter, the best deals for domestic flights can be found on Saturday 26 March.

Flying on Thursday 24 March is the most expensive day to travel for the Easter weekend.

Travel over the weekend before – on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 March – is also expensive, likely due to school holidays starting, and pointing to a trend of travellers taking a ten-day or more holiday, with the Easter weekend at the end.

International travel

As usual, the country can expect an influx of foreign visitors over the Easter weekend. However, it’s not just the international visitors that are coming to South Africa, locals are also travelling abroad, with searches for international travel from South Africa up 300% from previous weeks.

The top international destination searched for by South Africans are Zimbabwe, followed by Namibia, which points to nationals from those countries who are living and working in South Africa wanting to travel home for the holidays. The other international destination in the top five searches for the travel period are India, the United Arab Emirates and Mauritius.