Province's delights draw the tourists

Cape Town - 110101 - Firewqorks Usher in the New Year at the V&A Waterfront. Thousands of people crammed into the waterfront to watch the display leaving sevre traffic congestion as they left shortly afterwards. Photo: Matthew jordaan

Cape Town - 110101 - Firewqorks Usher in the New Year at the V&A Waterfront. Thousands of people crammed into the waterfront to watch the display leaving sevre traffic congestion as they left shortly afterwards. Photo: Matthew jordaan

Published Jul 28, 2014

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Cape Town - The Western Cape is the second-most visited province in the country with visitors spending longer in the province than those visiting other parts of the country, according to the Final Scoping Report for the airport’s possible runway renovation released by Airports Company South Africa last week.

According to the report, the Western Cape and Gauteng account for the majority of tourism revenue in South Africa, making up more than 64 percent of foreign tourism in 2011. The report, however, also highlighted the negative effects the realignment of the runway could have on surrounding communities, particularly in terms of air pollution and noise.

The report has been released for public comment, with a deadline of Friday.

“Travel is the most important mode of transport for visitors to Cape Town and for the transportation of perishable or high-value goods. Key sectors that rely on air connectivity include tourism, business travel, events and trade,” the report said.

Statistics released in December by the City of Cape Town showed arrival figures at Cape Town International Airport reaching levels last summer of more than 780 000 passengers.

Cape Town Tourism also reported an 8 percent growth in international arrivals between October and February, with a record number of international arrivals in the month of February. Regional Africa arrivals also increased each month, culminating in a 17 percent increase in February.

Revenue per available room – a hotel metric which multiplies room rates by their occupancy – also increased by an average of 16 percent a month between October and December last year, when compared with the same period the previous year, according to Cape Town Tourism.

“Based on our observations, a cocktail of the weak rand, our great value-for-money offering, position as World Design Capital 2014, and continued recognition of ‘desirable Cape Town’ through a slew of international accolades has made Cape Town a top spot,” Cape Town Tourism chief executive Enver Duminy said.

But foreign travellers are not the only people flying to and from Cape Town.

The report noted that companies based in Cape Town, which conducted business in Joburg and abroad, had helped drive domestic air travel, as demonstrated by the popularity of peak-hour flights between Cape Town and Joburg.

“For many of these companies air travel is the most important mode of transport,” the report said.

“Air travel is also crucial for the execution of parliamentary and government duties, which often require officials to fly between Cape Town and Johannesburg.”

According to the Cape Town Tourism Development Framework for 2013-17, domestic trips to the Western Cape amounted to 2.4 million in 2011, compared with 1.4 million foreign travellers who visited in the same year.

International trade has also contributed to the growing demand for flights to and from Cape Town recently, with export growth of agribusiness products such as wines and citrus fruit exceeding 20 percent last year, according to the City of Cape Town.

The

MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Alan Winde said: “The benefits of this thriving industry are spreading across our province, resulting in increased job opportunities for urban and rural residents. The tourism industry contributes more than R18 billion to our region’s economy annually and employs 150 000 people. It’s a crucial sector of the Western Cape economy.”

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Cape Times

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