The Western Cape’s record December 2016 figures are largely being attributed to the provincial air access programme and increased collaboration between government and the private sector.
Foreign tourist numbers increased by 29.8% in December, year on year, while major attractions in the province have achieved a 19.8% growth in visitor numbers over the last three years. Nine out of 10 of the province’s top attractions also had record visitor numbers in December.
Sharing the figures recently, Alan Winde, Minister of Economic Opportunities, said the upsurge demonstrated the Western Cape’s emergence as a leading destination.
“The record numbers we are seeing come on the back of the focused approach taken to growing tourism in the province through our Project Khulisa programme,” he said. This included the Cape Town Air Access programme launched in 2015 that has to date secured an additional 250 000 direct airline seats into the province.
Wesgro CEO, Tim Harris said ongoing efforts to broaden the air network had paid off significantly and the city now had 15 direct non-stop flights into destinations including Dubai, Istanbul, Zurich, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. “Whilst we have worked tirelessly to increase direct flights to Cape Town, much has also to be said for the efforts of the team at Cape Town International Airport itself,” said Harris.
Direct flights to Ethiopia and Botswana are reportedly in the works as well as additional flights to Gatwick, while non-stop routes to the US and Asia are under negotiation.
Harris said increased collaboration between the government at national, provincial and local level as well as improved collaboration between the public and private sectors had further contributed to the growth.
Winde agreed. “A good example of this collaborative approach is the soon-to-be-launched Cape Investment Centre,” said Winde. “Having partnered with the Tsogo Sun, the centre will be situated at the Cape Sun and will house 11 different government departments, including the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Trade and Industry as well as provincial and local government officials to provide a service to investors in our province from one central place.”
“It is the same approach we want to take when addressing the impact of what many cities term disruptors in the tourism environment,” said Winde, referring to the increasing number of non-traditional services such as Airbnb and Uber. He added that there was no intention to ban disruptions. “We are not dividing a cake, we are busy baking a bigger cake for everyone to share.”
Winde said business travel was also on the up, thanks to the creation an environment where the MICE sector could grow, including investment by government in conference and event facilities.
He said this, in turn, had resulted in major private-sector investment in the city, including the extension of the Cape Town International Convention Centre planned for the middle of this year.
“In 2015/16 we secured 30 conference bids with an estimated economic impact of R387 million (€27m). This equals 26 585 delegates and 127 conference days.”
He said with R331 million (€23m) set to be invested at Cape Town International Airport over the next three years and a further R996 million (€69m) on the international terminal expansion at the airport as well as plans to grow major tourist attractions, the Western Cape was open for business.
