Increase of cruise liners to Cape Town

Two luxury cruise ships, the MS Queen Elizabeth and MSC Music, docked at the Cape Town harbour on Friday January 18, bringing with them a flood of economic opportunities for the city.

The City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Assets Management, James Vos, comments on the influx of cruise liners in the Mother City.

‘Cape Town is fast becoming the preferred port of call for inbound and outbound international cruise travellers to South Africa. We had the honour of welcoming the Aida Aura from her world cruise last week and she was carrying 1,200 passengers and 390 crew members. Today, we welcome two cruise liners who have collectively brought in over 4,000 visitors to our shores. We trust they will enjoy the day in Cape Town and take time out to visit some of the city’s world-class tourist attractions,’ he says.

The MS Queen Elizabeth carries up to 2,068 passengers and 996 crew members, while the MSC Music can accommodate 2,550 passengers, with 1,268 passenger cabins, and up to 990 crew members.

During the 2016-17 cruise season, 19 vessels visited the Cape Town harbour, and numbers are expected to increase this year.

‘Based on the number of confirmed bookings for the 2019/20 cruise season, we can already see a dramatic increase in the number of vessels due to visit our port and city,’ Vos says.

With a mere 6,050 cruise ship passengers visiting Cape Town in 2012, to 31,035 visiting in 2017, the numbers of tourists from cruise liners have increased dramatically.

The cruise tourism industry has reportedly increased annually and is making a substantial contribution to the city’s economy and the South African economy at large. Cape Town Tourism figures project the value of the cruise industry between 2017 and 2027 to be a whopping R 220-billion.

Vos says that this tourism sector helps to generate job opportunities in the Mother City.

‘This sector has the potential to grow even further with huge economic spin-offs for the city and its residents. I will work with our tourism partners and the V&A Waterfront to promote the city as a destination of choice globally for cruise tourism. For every 12 tourists visiting our shores, one job is created. We will continue to invest in tourism programmes and projects that drive demand and make business sense, as tourism sustains about 150,000 jobs in Cape Town,’ he says.

On average, visitors to Cape Town spend between R501 – R,1000 daily excluding accommodation. Reports indicate that international tourists will spend R8,400 on average per trip to Cape Town, and R10,600 before arriving on our shores.