Cape Town delighted at almost 10% growth in international visitors

DESPITE several challenges facing Cape Town in the past year, its international airport continued to be a hive of activity with passengers showing a 9.6% increase from the previous year.

The City and province said that 2.6 million international passengers were recorded by Cape Town International Airport last year. Overall passenger numbers grew from 10693063 in 2017 to 10777524 last year.

“The City of Cape Town is delighted at the growth in international passenger numbers for 2018. Busy peak season and tourism growth to the region is encouraging in terms of sustainability, especially following what has been a challenging time for the tourism sector. More visitors mean increased benefits for the city and its residents,” said James Vos, the City’s mayoral committee member for economic opportunities and asset management.

He said there was a slight decline of 1.4% in domestic passengers for the year. In December last year, international passenger numbers grew by 3.7%, while domestic passenger numbers declined by 0.8%, year on year.

“Together with our partners, we need to build on our tourism success as a city to ensure this translates into investments in programmes and projects that drive demand and make business sense,” Vos said.

MEC for Economic Opportunities Beverley Schäfer said the tourism industry was hard hit by the drought last year, but reports from many tourist offices had been largely positive.

“The growth in international traffic at Cape Town International Airport, despite the drought factor, is testament to the good work of the Air Access partnership. International traffic numbers at the airport for the whole of 2018 reflect solid growth, which can be attributed to the launch of several new routes throughout the year, and our sustained focus on ensuring growth in our tourism industry,” Schäfer said.

She said events like the Rugby Sevens held in Cape Town in December, and the Queen’s Plate in January, helped stimulate the city’s tourism and hospitality sector. The chief executive of Cape Town Tourism, Enver Duminy, said: “Cape Town is a mustvisit destination that is a key feature on the global travel itinerary. I firmly believe that tourism remains one of the most lucrative sectors in terms of its contribution to the local economy and job creation. With an increase in the number of flights and passenger arrivals, we are optimistic about what this means for future business and investment benefits.”

The Wesgro Cape Town Air Access initiative (a partnership between the City, the provincial government, Airports Company South Africa, Wesgro, Cape Town Tourism, South African Tourism and the private sector) has helped land 13 new routes to Cape Town International Airport, adding more than 1.5 million seats to Cape Town. This has resulted in a R6 billion boost to the economy since 2015.

More visitors mean increased benefits for the City and its residents. James Vos Economic Opportunities and Asset Management