The Western Cape government will invest in new tourism attractions as well as addressing congestion at existing popular attractions in the coming months to attract more visitors.

According to Alan Winde, Minister of Economic Opportunities, increased numbers of tourists to the province have put pressure on existing attractions.

“If one is hitting a traffic jam already at 08h00 in the morning because of the queues at the cable car, then we have some serious questions that we need to find answers for.” He said if queues at attractions became too long, visitors wouldn’t have a good experiences and the province would ultimately lose them.

Winde said a strategy was being developed to deal with the congestion at attractions such as the cable car, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and the V&A Waterfront.

“Firstly it requires us to invest in infrastructure at the attractions themselves to match the capacity of tourists coming into the country, and upgrading logistics so that attractions are not negatively affected by congestion,” Winde said. “Secondly it means investing in new attractions and extending our offering across the region.” This would also benefit repeat visitors who want to explore new areas on a return trip.

Winde said government was also committed to building new attractions in the next financial year, including a Cape Cycle network, the Madiba Legacy Route and a repackaged food and wine offering across the province.

“The Madiba Legacy Route includes a statue of Madiba delivering his world-famous inauguration speech at the Cape Town City Hall as well as a route tour that ties in the prisons where he spent time and a museum focusing on Nelson Mandela’s legacy,” he said. This initiative connects established attractions such as Robben Island with new experiences and also allows visitors to leave with a “concrete and authentic Madiba legacy experience”, said Winde.

Winde said food and wine played a big role in the Western Cape tourism package and pushing it to become a R25 billion (€1.75bn) industry in the next eight years was a key target. “We are working closely with the wine and food sector to repackage our offering.”

The third investment would be developing cycling tourism – a market that was growing internationally.

“In March we are launching the first of these tracks – the Plettenberg Bay to Cape Town cycling route, which will be off the beaten track, taking tourists on to gravel roads and into small villages along the way,” said Winde. “We are joining the mass movement of cycle tourism around the world and believe that our particular offering will be extremely attractive.”

He said once the first network of routes had been established it would be extended into the West Coast and Karoo and even into other provinces such as the Eastern Cape.