Nicolette Dirk
THANKS to the late arrival of the south-easter, Cape Town’s main tourist attractions had busier than normal festive seasons.
Robben Island had a 43 percent increase in visitors in December 2015 compared to 2014. Spokesperson No-monde Ndlangisa said they had 47 000 visitors in December compared to the 31 000 visitors over the same period in 2014.
While some of the increase was due to their social media campaign, the weather played a major role.
“This season we had reliable boats and contracted out the rest from private companies,” Ndlangisa.
“We had no cancellations related to lack of boats for the whole of December.”
Robben Island also had a big drive towards digital exposure which Ndlangisa said also contributed to the influx of visitors.
A total of 20 extra people had to be employed on a casual basis to assist with the extra number of people during the peak season.
But the south-easter’s late arrival this year also made a huge impact on the smooth running of trips to the island.
Ndlangisa said they only had to close business for two days this festive season because of the wind.
“We cancelled trips to the island today (Thursday) because of the strong winds,” Ndlangisa said.
Table Mountain Aerial Cableway also had a record 28 percent more visitors this season.
The favourable weather, minus the strong south-easter, was why they remained open every day in December.
Managing director Sabine Lehmann said it was the first time since 1929 that the wind had not forced them to suspend operations over December.
The angle at which the south-easter hits the Cableway is what causes problems along the route because it hits the cable wires directly.
The Cableway was 66 percent operational in December 2014 compared to December 2015, when they were open every day.
“We had 32 000 more visitors in December 2015 than the same time in 2014 and 80 percent of them were local,” Lehmann said.
The V&A Waterfront also experienced an increase in visitors this season.
Waterfront spokesperson Carla White said they welcomed just over 3.05 million people, the highest number for December on record.
“We attribute the increased numbers to external events such as Cape Town 7s at the beginning of December and then the Boxing Day cricket Test which saw a strong contingent of English supporters taking advantage of the strength of their currency,” White said.
“A further effect of our weakened currency is more up-country visitors not travelling overseas, opting to ‘stay-cation’.”
Cape Town Tourism communications manager Nicole Biondi said they were looking forward to a successful continuation of the summer season this year.