The Taj Cape Town expects a “reasonably good” summer season with leisure visitors starting to pick up, growing international recognition and a series of festive season events being planned. “We’re very positive about January, February and March,” says GM, Michael Pownall. “Occupancies are beginning to recover and most airlines landing in Cape Town are reporting good load factors in the main cabin and premium classes.” He says as the snowstorms hit the UK, phones at the hotel started ringing twice as often as tourists looked for sun and warmth. The five-star hotel hasn’t yet traded through a peak tourism season because it opened in January this year but wasn’t fully operational until March. “We don’t really have a peak season benchmark, other than the World Cup, when we were pretty full,” Pownall says. Over the past eight months, the focus was on securing corporate business. The focus now is on attracting a fair share of the domestic and international leisure markets and festive season functions and events. Early next year, the hotel will also sell off or make available on long-term leases at least 12 of its 22 sectional title suites, known as the Taj Residences. Original plans to sell them this year were postponed because the real estate market was too soft. Pownall says the hotel’s first year of trading was “hugely successful” and the hotel was well received in the local and international market. Within months of opening, the hotel received numerous international awards and endorsements. Its success is also due to a growing realisation overseas that its location in the historic city centre is a desirable place to be. Pownall says the World Cup’s success was followed by an expected drop in bookings after the tournament – a usual pattern after a global event. It coincided with the Cape winter, always a difficult trading time, and was exacerbated by the current overcapacity of hotel rooms in Cape Town. The latter is having a positive spin-off for consumers with value for money being driven harder than ever before. To be competitive, the hotel’s entry-level prices remain within reach of the widest possible market segments. Pownall says owners, Taj Hotel Resorts and Palaces, took a long-term view when they invested in Cape Town, knowing that “in the first two years of a business you’re going to be hit with peaks and lows”. Since the hotel’s opening, Taj’s global marketing network kicked into gear promoting the property in key markets such as India, the USA, UK, Europe and at large international travel trade shows.