Domestic tourism on upward trajectory in Western Cape — survey

Domestic tourism is bouncing back, with Cape Town experiencing a significant increase in local and international flights.

This despite Covid-19 fears and travel restrictions, a Cape Town Tourism survey has shown.

According to the latest destination performance survey released on Wednesday, domestic arrivals recorded by Cape Town International Airport showed a recovery of 66%, while international flights improved 29%.

Across the board, tourism figures looked brighter for December, with Cape Town’s famous attractions all reporting positive recovery when compared with 2019.

Chapman’s Peak Drive saw the most visitors and recorded a recovery rate of 77%, followed by the Two Oceans Aquarium at 76%. Groot Constantia recorded a 60% increase in visitors and Table Mountain saw a 57% recovery. Kirstenbosch recorded a 49% rise in visitor numbers, Robben Island 46% and Cape Point 33%.

The V&A Waterfront reported a year-on-year increase of 31% which was attributed to higher footfall and eased restrictions. It reported a strong influx of domestic travellers.

Cape Town Tourism’s dipstick survey found that 57% of its members such as restaurants, tour operators, hotels, bed and breakfast establishments and shopping malls performed better in December 2021 compared with December 2020. About 64% of its members reported a rise in domestic visitors and about 18% reported an increase in visitors from the UK, while 25% saw an increase in visitors from the US and 25% from Germany.

Enver Duminy, CEO of Cape Town Tourism, said while the tourism body is delighted to “see recovery in our visitor economy, with domestic and international tourists injecting some sorely needed capital into the city”, the industry is cautiously optimistic as it is not out of the woods yet as fears of Covid-19 new variants continue and tourism jobs remain at stake.

“We are sitting with 55% fewer jobs (post Covid-19), but we need to remain hopeful. The hope comes from the performance that the industry has delivered. Because we only have one shot to make a memorable experience,  that’s what the industry has done over this December. They all rallied together and understood the pressures and still got into discount pricing. But the important thing is that we all understand that this is going to be a long road to recovery.”

Duminy said that while the December numbers look better, the tourism industry needs more sustainable interventions, including an increase in international tourism which will hopefully restore lost jobs. This would not need one campaign, but “a sustained continuity of activities, plans and programmes in collaboration with everybody”.

“We will have to make sure that we listen to the visitor. If there is no visitor there is no industry,” he said.

Before Omicron,  a Cape Town Tourism visitor study reported that 67% of South Africans intended to travel in December. In the end only 47% went away, which Duminy described as “a considerable decrease”.

The 53% didn’t travel because of fears of Omicron. “What we need to be mindful of is that we are not out of the red yet, it’s a long road to recovery. What we are asking of tourists, especially domestic tourists, is to support the industry,” said Duminy.

“Many of our local members reported drastic last-minute cancellations. We do understand that recovery will take a little longer than we had hoped but we are optimistic that this trend towards recovery continues in February, as we enter our second peak season,” he said.

James Vos, Cape Town's mayoral committee member for economic growth, described the past year as “another challenge for hospitality and tourism industries”.

“Judging by the demand we saw, I believe there will continue to be an upward trajectory for travel to Cape Town and SA. But we need to make good on this. By funding and working together with industry bodies such as Cape Town Tourism, we can drive further regrowth and development of this industry, particularly of the small businesses who make up the bulk of it.”

“This is an industry that supports hundreds of thousands of jobs. It also celebrates and reveals the diversity of our communities. We must make sure that tourism is as accessible as possible, both for those working in the industry and for those who buy into its experiences,” Vos said.

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