Johannesburg, Apr 26 (IANS): More than 2.44 million travellers, including arrivals, departures and transits, went through South Africa's ports of entry and exit in March, official data revealed.

There were more arrivals, departures and travellers in transit for both South African citizens and visitors from other countries when compared to the movements in February, Statistics South Africa said in its latest tourism and migration report.

About 28.5 per cent of all tourists in March were from abroad, Xinhua news agency reported citing the data.

Holiday continues to be the main purpose of people visiting the country as 96 per cent of all tourists in South Africa last month were for holiday purposes, the report said.

For business purposes, the report said Asia accounted for the biggest percentage of business travellers visiting South Africa in March, which stood at 6.6 per cent, followed by Central and South America at 3.9 per cent, and the Middle East at 2.3 per cent.