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The South African travel industry is in a healthy state and saw steady growth over the four years from 2002 to 2006, new figures reveal.

According to South African Tourism, the group responsible for marketing the country, a total of 35.4m foreign visitors arrived in the African nation over the four-year period.

In 2006 alone some 8.4m tourists visited South Africa, representing growth of 13.9% on the previous year.

This level of expansion means that the country exceeded the growth of the world travel market in 2006, which stood at 4.5% last year.

Some 23m people who came to South Africa between 2002 and 2006 came purely for leisure purposes, while others came to visit friends and family or for business reasons.

According to Moeketsi Mosola, chief executive of South African Tourism, the statistics confirm the important part that the travel industry now plays in the country's wider economy.

The figures also provide a valuable insight into how tourism can continue to contribute to South Africa's growth in the future, Mr Mosola said.

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