WC towns thriving on tourism

TOURISM in some of the province’s smallest towns is growing, Economic Opportunities MEC Alan Winde said yesterday, with guest houses frequently booked out.

Robertson, Montagu and McGregor, about 150km from Cape Town, recorded the highest tourist numbers to the Cape Winelands region with 60 302 visits to the information office.

In Wellington, about 70km from Cape Town, there was a 7.1% increase in tourism, and

a 100% increase in people visiting the tourist information desk compared to the previous year.

Along the West Coast, 90% of tourists were domestic.

Paternoster was one of the busiest towns in the region with a 93% increase in tourists recorded by the tourism offices.

There was more than a 100% increase in domestic tourist information requests and a 24% increase in international tourist information requests.

Visitors to the West Coast Fossil Park near Langebaan increased by 23%, which was a clear indication of growth and increased awareness, Winde said.

The West Coast National Park also saw growth over the festive season with an increase of 18% from the previous year.

SANParks spokesperson Merle Collins said they were pleased about the growth, and were planning to upgrade the gate into the park, for a better visitor experience.

“The entrance along the R27 often gets congested, and we are working on improving the gate for a better visitor experience. Summer is not over yet, and we look forward to more visitors,” Collins said.

Earlier this month Cape Town Tourism said the most popular sights had exceeded expectations for visitor numbers, and figures for traffic at Cape Town International Airport reached 10 million passengers in one year for the first time.

The Robben Island Museum had hosted 49 738 visitors over the festive season, a 4% increase compared with 2015.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Groot Constantia, and Cape Point also experienced a record December, while the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway received 150 201 visitors in December – a 0.3% increase.

“The brand of Cape Town is growing tremendously, we can see that from the numbers. Historically, repeat visitors explore other regions, outside of Cape Town, and these regions need to prepare themselves for the second wave of growth.

“To respond to these trends, we need to build our tourist asset base by increasing investment into new attractions.

“As government we are building three new attractions, namely the Cape Cycle network, the Madiba Legacy route and we have repackaged our food and wine offering across the province.

“We’re also rolling out our province-wide skills drive to ensure we offer quality service. Our job is to help every region to realise its full tourism potential,” Winde said.