The past weekend’s Two Oceans Marathon gave another boost to Cape Town’s tourism and hospitality sector, providing an estimated economic injection of R627m (€31.5m) to the Western Cape.
Attracting over 20 000 local and international participants for the half and ultra-marathon, the race is Africa’s biggest running event by economic impact.
South African Olympic athlete Gerda Steyn won the women’s race for a fourth consecutive time, breaking the record she set last year. Zimbabwe’s Givemore Mudzinganyama won gold in the men’s race.
“Reports are that it was an incredibly successful weekend for the tourism and hospitality industry in Cape Town. The Two Oceans Marathon is a key event in the sporting calendar and the Mother City put her best foot forward with great weather and another successful event,” Rosemary Anderson, National Chair for hospitality association FEDHASA, told Tourism Update.
Anderson said accommodation establishments were already reporting good growth for the first half of April, however the past weekend saw numbers bolstered by about 20%.
“Hotels in Cape Town's southern suburbs reported higher occupancy than the northern suburbs, which is to be expected given the logistics of the event. Some establishments in the southern suburbs and seafront regions reported between 80% and 90% occupancy over the marathon weekend,” she said.
Anderson believes there is a significant opportunity to further capitalise on sports tourism in South Africa. “We just need to grasp every opportunity and implement it.”
Since the first race in 1970, the Two Oceans Marathon has become a national institution and a firm favourite with all athletes. It has earned a reputation as one of the world’s most beautiful marathons.
Minister of Tourism, Patricia De Lille, welcomed all participants to the 53rd edition of the iconic race, encouraging them to enjoy Cape Town’s attractions.
