Stats SA says the number of international visitors to date declined by 1.4 percent.  The Tourism Business Council says restrictive policies played a part in the drop.

Tourism Business Council of South Africa CEO Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa says the country's image abroad has been tainted by the recent violent attacks on foreign nationals.

"Our image internationally is tarnished if you talk to a lot of people. Remember, we have been operating in this business for the past 25 years with issues of crime and we've been navigating as an industry now with social media where everyone can report what's going on."

"We have to work even harder, our PR has to be even more robust, online presence, more robust so we can counter the messages that are going into the market. We need to put in more resources to be able to see more tourists coming into the country."

eNCA