The tourism sector continues to shine in the Western Cape with tourist arrivals via air to Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) exceeding pre-pandemic levels in the first six months of 2023.
Figures show that tourism, especially in the Mother City, has recovered better than in the rest of South Africa and that the number of tourists arriving has increased above those figures for 2020.
In addition, international two-way passengers remained strong between January and June 2023, reaching 1.4 million, exceeding pre-pandemic levels by 104% and growing by 76% year-on-year.
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This is according to a monthly tourism report compiled by Wesgro, the Western Cape Government’s official tourism, trade and investment promotion agency.
‘The tourism and hospitality sector continues to show remarkable resilience and growth in the Western Cape and is cause for celebration,’ said Western Cape Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities Mireille Wenger in a statement.
‘Despite suffering greatly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to see that we have moved beyond recovery and into growth, contributing to job creation in the province,’ added Wenger.
According to the latest data from Statistics SA’s survey on tourist accommodation, income generated by businesses offering accommodation increased to nearly R11 billion in the first five months of 2023.
This is 42% higher than the R7.7 billion spent in the same period in the previous year, reports Moneyweb.
Other highlights from the Wesgro report include:
- 3.2 million domestic two-way passengers passed through CTIA between January and June 2023, representing a year-on-year growth of 9%.
- Between January and June 2023, 90% of tourist arrivals via air originated from overseas markets and 10% from the African continent.
- The European market remains the largest contributor to tourist arrivals into Cape Town, with six out of the top ten source markets originating from the continent.
- Footfall to 24 participating attractions across the six regions of the Western Cape recorded a total of 271 653 visitors in June 2023, a 16% year-on-year growth in the number of visitors when compared to June 2022 and 65% of what it was in June 2019.
The report highlighted that the United Kingdom led as the top source market to Cape Town (via air), closely followed by the USA, Germany, Netherlands and France in the top 5 positions.
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Wesgro also tracks the number of visitors to several tourist attractions in the Western Cape.
The attractions that recorded the highest growth in visitor numbers in June 2023 were the Cape Agulhas Lighthouse (92%), Table Mountain National Park: Boulders (61%), Bontebok National Park (60%), Cango Caves (42%) and Table Mountain National Park: Cape of Good Hope (36%).
Wenger commented that attracting more tourists to the Western Cape forms part of one of the Priority Focus Areas of the Western Cape Government’s new economic action plan, ‘Growth For Jobs’.
‘Because more tourists mean more jobs,’ she added.
‘Working with tour stakeholders, including the private sector, we will continue to ensure that the Western Cape remains top of mind for both international and domestic tourists and I look forward to what promises to be another impressive summer season in the province,’ concluded Wenger.
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Picture: Sharaan Muruvan