Mark Maclean, regional general manager at Cape Town International Airport Cluster is grateful to everyone who chose Cape Town International Airport over the festive period.
“It has been a good festive season at CTIA with high reliability of operations. The airport had a festive feel, and we deployed additional staff to process the increased passenger volumes, supported by technology.’’
The airport has seen 98% recovery of international passengers compared to 2019, with good domestic passenger demand.
Enver Duminy, Cape Town Tourism CEO said:“It’s remarkable to see our collective efforts to restore our beautiful city’s international and domestic visitor performance to pre-pandemic levels paying off.
“We’re grateful to the City of Cape Town, our Cape Town Tourism members, and residents for sustaining our important sector so that our city remains the destination of choice in Africa.”
Cape Town Tourism’s latest travel figures also reveal tourists’ growing appetite for the Mother City’s famed attractions, which also experienced a significant recovery.
Compared to 2019 figures, Groot Constantia reported a 71% recovery, Kirstenbosch was 76%, Robben Island was 89%, Chapman’s Peak was 95%, and Table Mountain was almost 100%.
Wahida Parker, Cape Town Tourism chairperson and managing director of Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, said Table Mountain is continuing to be an attraction for local and international tourists, especially over the holiday season.
“The festive season was undoubtedly in full swing this December. The influx of visitors to our city had the opportunity to complement their beach visits and wine-tasting outings with a hike up Table Mountain or a ride in our cable car while taking in the superb views of the surroundings,” she said.
General manager at GrandWest, Mervyn Naidoo, shared the progress of this popular casino, especially with the recent shows that took place. The entertainment destination said its retailers’ revenues surpassed 2019 numbers.
‘’We’ve hosted over 17 shows since July 2022, attended by more than 92 000 guests. Furthermore, our Grand Hotel was at 100% capacity this festive season with countless out-of-town visitors, we booked excess capacity into the City Lodge, and our retail outlets outperformed 2019 levels and continue to gain momentum,’’ Naidoo said.
Mayoral committee member for Economic Growth, Alderman James Vos said: “We’ve worked tirelessly to remind domestic and international visitors that Cape Town still has so much to offer.
“So, it’s fantastic that even more visitors got to experience our breath-taking city this festive season, from our vibrant people and world-class experiences in our region that tourists repeatedly fall in love with.’’
“I am confident that our critical mission; to create a tourism-related job in every household across Cape Town; will reach even higher; if this festive season’s stellar performance is anything to go by,’’ Vos said.