Big boost from record cruise season for the Western Cape

Cape Town and the Western Cape have reason to celebrate following a record-breaking cruise tourism season dominated by high-spend source markets, including the US, Germany, and the UK.

Commencing in October 2022 and wrapping up in May this year, the past season has welcomed 145 000 cruise passengers as well as 42 000 crew members to local shores.

In total, the 2022/23 season welcomed 75 ships with 41 turnaround visits – this is double the number of ship calls compared to the last season in 2019/20, which saw 39 ship visits with an estimated 42 000 arriving passengers.

With the Cruise Cape Town initiative, spearheaded by Wesgro, dedicated to developing itinerary offerings to entice more international cruise partners, the Cape Town Cruise Terminal enjoyed the arrival of five new ships to the port this season.

The port also saw three ships conduct a turnaround visit on the same day for the very first time and do so successfully on five separate occasions this season.

During the turnaround, the ship undergoes a complete cleaning and restocking process, creating an opportunity for local products to be on-boarded onto the ship.

Disembarking passengers also traditionally take post-cruise tours, with new passengers seizing the opportunity to explore the destination pre-boarding the ship.

Wesgro chief executive and the official spokesperson for Cruise Cape Town, Wrenelle Stander, said: “The success of the past Cape Town cruise season speaks to the untapped potential held by this lucrative tourism sector, significantly boosting visitor numbers to the destination.

The Cruise Cape Town initiative is currently conducting a comprehensive Economic Impact Study, which is expected to be finalised in the coming months.’’

V&A Waterfront chief executive David Green said the return of a full cruise season to the city has been a remarkable success.

“It’s been exciting to welcome back local and international cruises, including the iconic world cruises such as the Queen Mary 2, highlighting the value of our destination to the choice of global traveller experiences.’’

Mayco member for economic growth, James Vos, added that the achievement was proof that the Mother City was becoming a major player in the cruise travel market.

“Every passenger, crew member, and ship that hits our shores is a boon to our local economy and helps the City to fulfil its mission of creating a tourism-related job in every household in the metro,” said Vos.

The Western Cape has also reached full recovery of international tourists to the province, compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Overseas tourist arrivals reached 697 132 in 2022, a 232% year-on- year increase.

This was revealed by Wesgro during a presentation to the standing committee on finance, economic opportunities and tourism last week.

DA Western Cape spokesperson on finance, economic opportunities and tourism, Cayla Murray, said among the most important metrics revealed by Wesgro were the numerous categories where the Western Cape was leadking all provinces for 2022, including total foreign direct spend of R14.4 billion and total bed nights from international tourists standing at 9.7 million.

Cape Times