Cape Town tourism ‘continues an upward trajectory’
Tourism in Cape Town is recovering steadily from the devastation of the Covid lockdowns and associated travel restrictions, the city’s tourism body has reported,
Last month, international arrivals reached a level of 74% of what they were in the last “normal” month, April 2019. Domestic arrivals were at 76% of what they were in the same period in 2019.
Cape Town Tourism said the recovery “continues an upward trajectory in local and international passenger movements seen since January.
“Easing of Covid restrictions, coupled with the lure of a South African summer, has meant many booked their bucket-list trips to the Mother City. And Cape Town Tourism has launched a first-ofits-kind experience to keep the visitors coming,” it said.
Cape Town Tourism CEO Enver Duminy noted the phenomenon of “revenge travel”, which refers to people “rebelling” against the lockdowns of the last two years, and consciously choosing to explore more.
“We expect to see a surge of people coming to Cape Town this year, as the industry opens, and people feel safe to set forth and travel with purpose.
“The numbers are looking extremely positive and we hope to keep the momentum going, even with the inevitable impact of winter,” said Duminy.
Cape Town MMC for economic growth James Vos added: “The recovery of Cape Town’s visitor economy is a major gain for the city’s economy even though we haven’t yet fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
“Given that the sector contributes between 2% and 3.5% annually (pre-Covid) to the local economy and sustains up to 5% of all jobs in the city – not to mention those working in affiliate industries – we must do all we can to support local tourism.
“These positive figures are the result of targeted and effective campaigns and strategies implemented by the city and Cape Town Tourism that capture the variety of our destination and we will continue working hard to ensure we reach greater heights.”
Alongside this, the Cape Town Tourism accommodation report indicates that the Mother City is also looking good with occupancy rates for March, reaching 66.6% – up from 39.8% in March 2021 – with the average room rate for that month rising to R1 972, up from R991 in 2021.
And last year, despite the ongoing pandemic and lockdowns, tourism drove R5.8 billion into the Cape Town’s economy.