Cape Town - Despite the crippling effects of the country’s controversial visa regulations, the Western Cape tourism sector has experienced one of its best seasons yet, with international and domestic tourist arrival numbers continuing to rise.
Releasing the summer season visitor numbers for the period between November 2015 and March 2016 at Cape Town International Airport on Tuesday, Economic Opportunities MEC Alan Winde said the tourism sector had experienced another phenomenal year.
Winde said figures for the city’s biggest attractions were up from last year, with the V&A Waterfront welcoming 11.8 million visitors during the period under review. “This is up 5.8 percent from the same period the previous year.”
Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens reported a 1.3 percent increase, logging 466 646 visitors.
But it was the 24 percent increase in visitor numbers to Robben Island that was the most encouraging for Winde. “During the period under review, we note the 24 percent increase in visitor numbers compared with the previous year. Just under 200 000 people visited the World Heritage Site between November last year and March 2016.”
Winde said an analysis of air arrivals into Cape Town, conducted by Wesgro, illustrated the importance of air access.
“We achieved growth in international arrivals and departures from several markets. There has been an impressive 60 percent increase in origin and destination (O&D) passengers coming through Qatar for the time period, from 34 951 to 55 772 passengers.”
According to Winde, this can be attributed to the provincial partnership with Qatar Airways.
He also reported an increase of 53 percent in O&D passengers from Turkey from 36 348 to 55 714, linked to the landing of Turkish Airlines flights into Cape Town.
European markets also continued to make up a significant portion of tourist arrivals into Cape Town, accounting for about 45 percent of arrivals.
“We observed increases from Germany, the Netherlands and France during the period under review,” Winde said.
Deon Cloete, Cape Town International Airport’s general manager, said overall passenger numbers continued to show robust growth of more than 10 percent for the financial year. International passengers increased by 7 percent, while the domestic arrivals increased by 10 percent for the same period. Regional growth also showed solid performance, growing by 20 percent.
“On an average day the airport processes close to 26 000 passengers, handles approximately 11 000 bags and uplifts nearly 1.2 million litres of aviation fuel. On the busiest days these numbers are closer to 36 000 passengers, 18 000 pieces of departure bags and 1.8 million litres of aviation fuel,” Cloete added.
DA MPL Beverley Schäfer, the chairwoman of the Standing Committee on Economic Opportunities, Tourism and Agriculture, said the tourism sector was making a comeback after the visa concessions. “We are pleased that the job-creating tourism sector has succeeded in fighting back against the onerous visa regulations.”
Looking ahead, Winde anticipated several key trends for the period between April and August, which include:
l US passenger bookings are up 23 percent from 10 844 to 13 301 passengers. The length of stay of US passengers coming to Cape Town is up 16 percent over the same period (measured for stays of at least 22 days). The number of four-person per booking numbers are up 25 percent over the same period, from 1 004 to 1 252 people.
l In Europe, the UK, Germany and Netherlands, passenger numbers on bookings are up 18, 19 and 44 percent, respectively, over the upcoming period.
l Passenger numbers on bookings from China are up 52 percent.
“These figures are great news for jobs and growth in the province. Tourism is our fastest-growing sector, employing 204 000 residents in formal jobs.”
Cape Argus