Forward bookings for the Mother City’s cruising season are extremely positive, according to Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, James Vos.

He addressed guests at the official opening of the City’s 2023/2024 cruise season, which was marked by the docking of the Vasco Da Gama at the Cape Town Cruise Terminal last week. The event was organised by the Transnet National Ports Authority.

Vos pointed out that the gains didn’t come out of nowhere. “It’s by design, where we work around the clock on clever campaigns that drive more bookings. We are now landing 215 international flights every week in Cape Town. These flights are bringing 31 000 passengers per day.

“Now we are looking to build on this growth and to exceed these figures of the previous great season. Through tourism, we can continue economically empowering communities while showcasing and sharing South Africa’s rich culture, natural beauty, adventure, luxury, and heritage with visitors,” he said.

“Because of the wide-ranging and far-reaching impact of this market, cruise travel is a foundational pillar of my mission to help create a tourism-related job in every Cape Town household. This is why the City supports and funds the Cruise Cape Town initiative administered by Wesgro.

“An economic impact study by this initiative found that, for every 30 arriving cruise passengers, the provincial cruise industry created one full-time job. It also found that the sector injected R1.2 billion (€61m) into the Cape economy in the previous cruise season, between November 2022 and May 2023,” said Vos.

The Vasco Da Gama is the first of at least 59 cruise liner calls scheduled for Cape Town.