Millions are expected to be injected into the Western Cape economy as the cruise Cape Town is gearing up for one of its biggest seasons to date.
Wesgro announced that Ships 108 to 295 meters in length, carrying between 100 and 2 500 passengers are booked for the upcoming season into the Port of Cape Town.
The official tourism, trade and investment promotion agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape said following a successful lobbying to restart the cruise season, the South African cruise industry was opened on 1 October 2021, with 32 confirmed ship visits for Cape Town for the 2021/22 season. However, they said, due to global Covid-29 travel restrictions in November, the season received cancellations from world cruises, leaving it with 16 ship visits made up of 12 cruise ships.
They said that a total of 104 ship visits, made up of 26 cruise ships carrying more than 195 000 visitors, will be expected to dock at the Port of Cape Town Cruise Terminal over the upcoming 2022/23 season, which kicks off in October.
They added that with almost R100 million in total estimated passenger spend per port visit – an estimated R20 million for international passengers and R45 million for domestic passengers – Cruise Cape Town is also expecting a number of jobs to be created in both downstream and upstream industries.
Wesgro CEO and official spokesperson for the Cruise Cape Town Initiative, Wrenelle Stande said: “it’s an exciting time for the tourism sector in the province, as a number of recent indicators show pent-up travel demand finally being unleashed in a surge of bookings. Cruise ships are a crucial part of the Western Cape tourism sector, injecting millions into the economy each year, and boosting investment into Cape Town and the Western Cape.”
City’s mayoral committee Member for Economic Growth, Alderman James Vos, said building Cape Town’s profile in the cruise market was a key focus of our Tourism Development Framework because the economic benefits of this area of travel are significant yet still somewhat untapped locally
“These economic benefits arise from a number of sources, such as the spending power by passengers and crew, shore-side staffing for tour operations, spending for goods and services necessary for cruise operations, and spending for port services and maintenance. This is why the City has its pooled resources with sector stakeholders,” he said.
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Picture: Cape Town ETC