Preferred Sources for Exploring New Destinations Among South Africans 2025

In just two years, the way South Africans discover new travel destinations has flipped entirely. Back in 2023, travel company websites and platforms like YouTube and TripAdvisor shaped most itineraries. But in 2025, Facebook takes the lead at 28%, with YouTube and TikTok following close behind, signaling a major pivot from curated to crowd-sourced, from official to personal. The fall of travel websites (now just 15%) is not a failure of content, it is a shift in trust. Social media now acts as the algorithmic compass, pointing users to destinations through reels, comments, and shared nostalgia. TikTok’s rapid rise, nearly matching YouTube, reflects a younger, mobile-first generation craving raw, unfiltered travel previews.