Tourism in the Western Cape keeps growing

Posted by Anita Froneman on 1 July 2022

The Western Cape is seeing a broad recovery in its tourism industry in the wake of loosening Covid restrictions and increased travel, both domestic and international.

By Joshua Kearney

Where to catch the sunset in Cape Town

Wesgro, the Western Cape’s official destination marketing organisation, reports that terminal passenger movement in Cape Town International Airport and George Airport is back to 83% and 97% respectively of the figures seen in 2019. General terminal passenger movement across the region has recovered to 74%, which has promising implications for the industry.

Of Wesgro’s 27 participating attractions, 295 565 visitors were recorded in May this year, which is year-on-year growth of 91% compared to this same period in 2020 and 2021. However, it also shows a recovery rate of only 56% compared to the 2019 figure of 519 629. Nonetheless, the growth rate continuing as it has should see a full recovery by May of next year.

Some attractions have been experiencing particularly pronounced growth. The number one fastest growing is Robben Island, with a growth rate of 259%; its closest competitor is Boulders, with a rate of 217%. Other promising attractions include the Cango Caves and the Kogelberg Nature Reserve with a shared growth rate of 183%, and the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway with a rate of 169%.

However, the single most popular tourist destination of May was the Cape Town Winelands, which saw a total of 13 103 visitors over the course of the month. Bu this shows a concerning trend, as only 538 of those visitors were international, meaning that about 95.9% of all tourism in the Winelands was domestic and just 4.1% was international. But in 2019, those numbers were 54.7% domestic tourism and 45.2% international.

“As we enter the winter season, tourism recovery in the Western Cape remains steady off the back of robust growth in April – this month’s performance reflects significant recovery once again with some areas exceeding pre-pandemic levels,” said Wrenelle Stander, CEO of Wesgro. “Wesgro calls on the tourism value chain to spend the coming months getting ready, as there are strong indicators pointing towards the coming summer season exceeding 2019 levels.”

Picture: Getaway gallery

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