Cape Town - Tourism bodies in the Western Cape and those operating in the city of Cape Town have expressed their delight at having hosted a successful and record-breaking cruise tourism season.
According to Wesgro, an agency dedicated to developing itinerary offerings to entice international cruise partners, the Cape Town cruise terminal enjoyed the arrival of five new ships to the port over the last season dominated by high-spend source markets including the US, Germany and the UK.
The cruise tourism season began in October last year and came to an end this month. The season is said to have welcomed 145 000 cruise passengers and about 42 000 crew members to the Cape’s shores.
Wrenelle Stander, the Wesgro CEO and spokesperson for Cruise Cape Town, said the success of the past Cape Town cruise season spoke to the untapped potential held by this lucrative tourism sector, significantly boosting visitor numbers to the destination.
Stander said: “The Cruise Cape Town initiative is conducting a comprehensive economic impact study, expected to be finalised in the coming months. We are confident the results will demonstrate the significant economic impact and job creation potential for the sector.”
The 2022/2023 cruise season welcomed 75 ships with 41 turnaround visits, approximately double the number of ship calls compared to the last complete season in 2019/2020, which saw only 39 ship visits with an estimated 42 000 arriving passengers.
The Cape port also saw three ships conduct a turnaround visit on the same day for the first time, adding to its many firsts celebrated by the local industry.
Commenting on the success of the post-Covid-19 season V&A Waterfront, CEO David Green said the return of the cruise season to the city was a testament to the hard work of all of the role-players involved in Cruise Cape Town.
“It has 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,” Green said, adding that the Waterfront as the operator of the terminal continues to invest in an improved traveller experience.
Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC Mireille Wenger said cruise tourism contributes significantly to the province’s economy.
Wenger was commenting on the cruise season’s success concerning its financial impact. She said the knock-on effect of cruise ships, not only through passenger spend but across the whole value chain, could not be understated.
“Moving forward, I look forward to working with all stakeholders to attract even more cruise ships to the province so we can help this sector contribute even more to our economy and create many more jobs for our residents,” Wenger said.
City of Cape Town economic growth Mayco member James Vos said the season figures were proof that Cape Town was becoming a major player in the cruise travel market and showed the value of the Cruise Cape Town initiative of which the municipality was a proud partner.
Vos said: “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.”