Cape Town wants to position itself as the top cruise destination in Africa. The Mother City wants to use the same strategy that made Cape Town Air Access so successful in establishing direct air links to the city.
This announcement comes as South Africa’s cruise season begins. The Cunard Queen Elizabeth docked at the V&A Waterfront recently and the arrival of the MSC Orchestra in Durban’s port coincided with the beginning of construction on Durban’s new cruise terminal.
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Currently, Durban is South Africa’s largest and busiest seaport. Once the construction of the new cruise terminal is completed in 2021, the Mother City will have its work cut out to challenge Durban for the title of top cruise destination in Africa.
According to Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities & Asset Management, James Vos, the Cape’s cruise industry has shown significant year-on-year growth.
‘We have seen a tremendous increase in this sector. Just this season alone (October to April), 30 vessels are expected to make 49 stopovers in Cape Town. We have also witnessed a steady increase in cruise passenger arrivals, from 47,145 during the 2017/18 season, to 52,580 during the 2018/19 season. An additional 32 vessels and 67 stopovers have been confirmed for the 2020/21 season.’
Vos added that the city needs to position itself ‘as a home port for world and regional cruises. To do this, we need to understand what cruise companies want and to match our tourism experiences accordingly.’
Wesgro CEO Tim Harris said that Wesgro was meeting with cruise industry stakeholders and that its ‘first order of business is better research to understand the dynamics of the cruise industry.’
According to Cape Town Tourism, a single cruise ship carrying 2,000 passengers brings spending at a destination of about R2-million per day.
Image: Wikepedia Commons
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