Cape Town – More than 5 million visitors flocked to the Western Cape during a bumper festive season, the Western Cape’s official tourism, trade and investment promotion agency (Wesgro) said yesterday.
Judy Lain, Wesgro’s chief marketing officer, said the province remained a big drawcard for domestic and international visitors.
“The increase in visitor numbers throughout the province is reassuring to an industry that contributes more than R18 billion to our provincial economy annually and employs about 150 000 people. The fact that the province has experienced a good season is encouraging and reflects the hard work done by the industry to promote tourism.”
With 5 028 362 visitors recorded during November and December, the V&A Waterfront experienced its best year to date, exceeding 24 million visitors for the year.
Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens saw a spike in numbers, attracting 86 117 and 116 986 people in November and December, respectively.
“The continued increase in visitor numbers is confirmation that our beautiful scenery, amazing activities and friendly people edged throughout our province continues to draw visitors from far and wide…”
Visitors who arrived at Cape Town International Airport in December increased by 3.2 percent, while regional arrivals, including from Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Namibia, increased by 13.8 percent.
Meanwhile, a Mossel Bay survey indicated that visitor numbers to its information offices had also increased from previous years.
Mossel Bay tourism’s Marcia Holms said 39.7 percent of visitors arrived for holidays between one and five days, 29.2 percent for six to 10 days; 11 percent for 11 to 14 days; and 12.4 percent for 15 to 21 days.
Domestic visitors made up 74 percent, while overseas visitors made up 26 percent. “Our largest domestic source markets were Gauteng (34 percent), Free State (18 percent), Western Cape (13 percent) and the Northern Cape (10 percent).”
Other key attractions, including the West Coast National Park and Wilderness National Park, experienced good year-on-year growth from December 2013 to 2014.
The West Coast National Park welcomed 36 598 visitors in 2014, compared with 35 852 in 2013, while the Wilderness National Park increased its December figures by 21.7 percent, hosting 25 495 visitors.