More than 70 percent of South Africans plan to travel abroad within the next year, MasterCard said releasing the results of its Consumer Lifestyles Survey on Wednesday.

This is despite a recent decrease in consumer confidence in the country.

Seventy three percent of the respondents indicated that they plan to travel abroad for personal reason and/or business reasons, displaying an increase from the 70 percent recorded last year.

Of the respondents planning to travel for personal reasons, half intend to spend more than they did last year, while 60 percent of those travelling for business purposes indicated that would spend more, citing that they anticipate to spend up to 100 percent more than they did last year.

"South Africans are robust travellers," says Robyn Christie, chief executive officer of the Association of South African Travel Agents, adding that it had always been expensive for South Africans to go overseas, so it came as no surprise that the current economic conditions haven't done much to discourage them from holidaying or conducting business abroad.

"The trends highlighted by this survey mirror what we're seeing across the travel and tourism industry, she said.

The survey showed that in the space of one year, the United States has surpassed the United Kingdom as the South African market's most frequently cited destination of choice.

On their choice of airlines, 57 percent of the respondents indicated that they preferred SAA, citing reasons such as the carrier's safety record, the number of direct and convenient routes that it provides as well as the affordability of its tickets.

An increased number of South Africans said they preferred going to a travel agent to organise their trips.

Going through agents

"There has been a marked increase in the number of respondents saying that they plan to book their tickets through a travel agency, and a corresponding decrease in the number of people saying that they plan to book either directly with an airline or online," said Craig Thomas, chairperson of the Board of Airline Representatives of South Africa and Etihad Airways' country manager for South Africa.

When paying for their expenses while abroad, South Africans expressed that the safest and most convenient payment option was credit and debit cards.

The MasterCard Worldwide Consumer Lifestyles survey, which took place between March and April this year, is part of the bi-annual MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence, a survey commissioned by MasterCard Worldwide across eight markets in the South Asia, Middle East & Africa (SAMEA) region.

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