“Who are the Twitter nomads in South Africa?” was a recent question we received, noting that a ‘Twitter nomad’ is a person who gets to travel quite a bit and Tweets about it.
Incidentally, Twitter users in South Africa have doubled in the last year (up from 2.43-million in 2012 to 4.8 million in 2013) and according to Arthur Goldstuck of World Wide Worx, this number is projected to continue growing. Keep an eye on his Twitter feed for the full annual South African Social Media Landscape report due out 10 September.
An understanding of Twitter is becoming increasingly important for Bloggers, Journalists, Marketers and Freelance Writers in the travel space looking to make a name for themselves; and thanks to the 140 character micro-blogging site you don’t have to travel too far to be influential these days. Today, some of the leading travel minds and experts are actively sharing their views on social networks, especially Twitter.
We have compiled a list of the top 100 South African travel focuser’s on Twitter (it is not an ordered list) consisting of locals, expats, journalists, bloggers, companies, celebrities, magazines and TV shows doing it for travel on Twitter in South Africa.
Travel Tweeters
1. Meruschka Govender, @MzansiGirl
2. Cape Town, @CapeTown
3. Gautrain, @TheGautrain
4. South African Tourism, @GoToSouthAfrica
5. Ryan van Zyl, @concierge_ryan
6. Cape Town Tourism, @CapeTownTourism
7. Ben, @sa_tourguide
8. SA Weather Service, @SAWeatherServic
9. CapeTownMagazine.com, @CapeTownMag
10. Table Mountain Cable Way, @TableMountainCa
11. US Embassy Pretoria, @USEmbPretoria
12. Ryan Sandes, @ryansandes
13. Black Coffee, @RealBlackCoffee
14. James Costello, @jamescapetown
15. Ryan Mackie, @SATourismCo
16. SATravelTrade, @SATravelTrade
17. Clare Appleyard, @clareappleyard
18. Clare Townsend, @BloodyClarey
19. William Price, @william_price
20. Jonker Fourie, @FireflyAfrica
21. Mariette dT-Helmbold, @MariettedTH
22. Sarah Duff, @SarahDuff
23. Dawn Jorgensen, @DawnJorgensen
24. Getaway Magazine, @GetawayMagazine
25. Jan Hutton, @janinehutton
26. Narina Exelby, @NarinaExelby
27. Peregrine Magazine, @PeregrineMag
28. Skye Grove, @SkyeGrove
29. Sarah Khan, @BySarahKhan
30. Thando Moleketi, @JoziFoodieFix
31. eTNW, @eTNW_SA
32. Chris Von Ulmenstein, @whalecottage
33. Adel Groenewald, @Adelgreen
34. Whale Watching, @SAwhalewatching
35. SouthAfrica.TO, @southafricaTO
36. Seb Hermanns @travelcomments
37. Tanya Kovarsky, @TanyaKovarsky
38. Kerry de Bruyn, @KerrydeBruyn
39. Stephanie Be, @StephanieBe
40. Fatima Mangera-Minty, @oh_my_golly
41. Emma Jackson, @MissEmmaJude
42. Stuart Parker, @capturingafrica
43. Anton Crone, @antoncrone
44. Ranger Diaries, @rangerdiaries
45. Hazel Dickens, @hazeldickens
46. Sid Kane (not her real name), @sid_kane
47. Lucy Corne, @LucyCorne
48. Roxanne Reid, @RoxanneReidSA
49. Laurice Taitz, @todoinjoburg
50. Go2Africa, @Go2Africa
51. Lisa Huang, @bestcapetownSA
52. Gena Stander, @genevievedoull
53. Philly Girl, @philly_girl
54. Jo Buitendach, @PastExperiences
55. Hasmita Nair, @Hasmita
56. Heather Mason, @2Summers2010
57. Linda and Mike, @moving_sushi
58. Dax Villanueva, @RelaxWithDax
59. Tyson Jopson, @TysonJopson
60. Bridget Williamson, @BridgeeW
61. Raeesah Vawda, @raeesahv
62. Jeanette Verster, @jenty
63. Karisa Nicholls, @CTmylove
64. Jenna Finch, @Jenna_Finch
65. Alex van Tonder, @CapeTown_Girl
66. Misha Cristina Barcelona, @brandslut_
67. Andre Bothma, @ControlFreakTra
68. TravelGround, @TravelGround
69. Safari Now, @SafariNowSA
70. Chris, @TGadventure
71. Marishka Diebold, @PeroxideB
72. Katherine de Villiers, @KathDv
73. Chantelle Marais, @Karoo_stories
74. Brigid Prinsloo, @The_B_Boss
75. News24 Travel, @News24Travel
76. Hotel & Restaurant @HR_magazine
77. Gary Koetser, @GaryKoetser
78. SA Venues @savenuescom
79. Rhino Africa @rhinoafrica
80. Safari Interactive @ag_safari
81. Safarious, @safarious
82. Cape Town, @allcapetown
83. ecoAfrica Travel, @ecoafrica
84. Andre Van Kets, @andrevankets
85. Top Travel, @TopTravel_SA
86. Janez Vermeiren, @Janez_Vermeiren
87. Jeannie D, @Jeannieous
88. Bridget McNulty, @bridgetmcnulty
89. Caspar Lee, @Caspar_Lee
90. Discover Africa Group, @discoverafrica
91. Shark Spotters, @SharkSpotters
92. Marisa Crous, @stealinglucy
93. Travel Wires, @travelwires
94. go! magazine, @gomagSA
95. Nomad Tours, @NomadTours
96. Dalene Ingham-Brown, @AdventurousDee
97. Vicki Smith, @CITY_VICKI
98. Cameron Ewart-Smith, @justcam
99. Rita-Sue Meintjes, @RSMeintjes
100. South Africa, @SouthAfrica
Here is a Public Twitter list of the top 100 travel Twitter accounts in South Africa.
How’d We Come Up With Our List?
To formulate our list, we first had to decide on a few criteria we feel make a travel focused Twitter feed exciting. This isn’t an exact science, but with the help of a few online tools such as Twitter search and our own observations, we’ve been able to arrive at a fairly inclusive list. Active participation on Twitter was a significant part of the selection criteria, as was location (South Africa), number of followers as well as social authority.
Recommended by Travelstart followers
We do realise there are many more Travel Tweeters that we could include – it’s likely another 100 names will eventually appear in the comments section of this post so please let us know who else you think should be on the list.
Here are some, recommended by our fans who rightfully deserve some recognition:
101. Caroline Hurry, @Travelwrite1
102. JoburgPlaces, @JoburgPlaces
103. Joburg City, @JoburgCity
104. Yshay Governder-Ypma, @Foodandthefab
105. Tourism Update, @Tourism_Update
106. Lauren Manuel, @thetravelmanuel
Got other South African based tweeters you think should be on the list? Tweet us and let us know!