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- Cape Town saw a bumper tourism season with some of its top attractions reporting increased visitor numbers compared to previous years.
- More than 317 000 two-way international passengers travelled through Cape Town International Airport’s international terminal in December 2023.
- According to James Vos, Mayco Member for Economic Growth, this is the highest monthly total ever recorded at the airport, beating the previous high of 290 000 passengers recorded in January 2020.
Cape Town saw a bumper tourism season with some of its top attractions reporting increased visitor numbers compared to previous years.
More than 317 000 two-way international passengers travelled through Cape Town International Airport’s international terminal in December 2023.
According to James Vos, Mayco Member for Economic Growth, this is the highest monthly total ever recorded at the airport, beating the previous high of 290 000 passengers recorded in January 2020.
The Castle of Good Hope saw a 24% year-on-year increase in visitor numbers. There, in 2023, 82 889 visitors were recorded compared to the 66 865 for the same period the previous year.
For the end-of-year school holiday season 2023-’24 the Castle welcomed 12 417 visitors, 13,6% more than the 2022-’23 end-of-year school holiday season, when it welcomed 10 931 visitors.
Calvyn Gilfellen, chief executive officer of the Castle Control Board, believes these increased figures can be attributed to an increase in cruise-ship tourism and music and religious festivals hosted during the last quarter of the year.
This boost is ascribed to an apparent increase in discretionary income for middle-class visitors after the gruelling two years of the Covid-19 epidemic and an overall increase in international visitors to South Africa.
Gilfellan said: “Although we are satisfied with positive demand side trends, we also worked hard on supply-side issues, such as the diversity and quality of our offering, safety and security, service excellence and the like.”
He said adding attractions such as the Koena Art Institute, the Canadian-based Afrofest Music Festival, the Cape Town Arts Festival, Legends Sports Awards, filming, new world-class museums and the Malay choirs also added to the double-figure visitor numbers.
“We provide repeat-visitors another reason to come back for more,” Gilfellan said. “What struck us the most this year was the diversity of visitors showing up at our doors. A healthy mix of international, national, and local visitors from all walks of life are now enjoying history, culture, music, poetry, dance, arts, food, and other fabulous offerings.
“It is a pleasant endorsement of our curatorial approach of respectful inclusivity, diversity, flexibility and reconciliation, now bearing fruit, finding testimony in the fact that we had only a handful of visitor complaints this year.”
Gilfellan thanked patrons for their support.
“We want to express a sincere word of thanks to all our clients, tourists, and partners for their support adding a vibrancy between the five walls of this 368-year-old citadel.”
On Thursday 11 January the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway welcomed its 31 millionth visitor to the mountain.
Wahida Parker, its managing director, said according to the first reports she received the cableway welcomed around 100 000 visitors over December. This reflects the number of cable car tickets that were bought, but excludes hikers who made their own way to the summit and down again.
“A visit to Table Mountain helps us conserve the environment in which we operate. We pump a percentage of ticket sales back into conservation efforts, while a part of the money raised from our retail outlets is used for the same purpose. Thank you for visiting and helping us protect the rich flora and fauna of our mountain.”
During the holiday, Robben Island Museum (RIM) increased the number of daily tours, by adding the Early Bird and Sunset tours to the festive season line-up. In December 34 633 visited island, compared to 33 000 visitors in 2022.
Vos said an estimated R1,9 billion in foreign direct-tourism spend was injected into the Western Cape economy in December 2023.
This remarkable milestone bolstered the overall two-way international passenger numbers for 2023, which surpassed 2,8 million passengers, surpassing the previous benchmark of 2,6 million passengers recorded in 2019. Additionally, the total two-way international passenger figures for 2023 have nearly doubled over the past decade from 1,5 million two-way international passengers recorded in 2013.
Said Vos: “These outstanding figures highlight the robustness and diversity of our destination, showcasing the success of our marketing efforts and strategic partnerships, such as the Air Access Programme located in Wesgro. The authenticity in our marketing allowed us to present the rich variety of offerings to a global audience, both new and returning travellers.”
