Over the past cruise season, 70 ships docked in Cape Town, resulting over 145 000 passengers and 42 000 crew passing through the Cape Town Cruise Terminal. And stakeholders believe there is further scope for growth.

This was highlighted at a South Africa Cruise Tourism Workshop held in the Mother City recently, with City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, James Vos, highlighting that cruise tourism generated R300 million (€14.4m) in annual economic impact for the City and the Western Cape province, according to tourism facilitation agency, Wesgro.

Further illustrating the importance of cruising to the economy, Cruise Lines International Association's State of The Cruise Industry 2023, pointed out that the average spend per cruise passenger in a port city was US$750.

Vos noted that these economic benefits came from a number of sources such as the spending power by cruise passengers and crew, the shoreside staffing by cruise liners for tour operations, the spending by cruise lines for goods and services necessary for cruise operations, and the spending for port services and maintenance. 

“Overall, this sector has the potential to grow even more with huge economic spin-offs for our province and country. The City will continue to work with our tourism partners and the V&A Waterfront to promote our region as a destination of choice globally for cruise tourism.

“The City 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,” said Vos.

He added: “This dedicated cruise terminal, funded by the V&A Waterfront, has proven to be a worthwhile venture and it is already showing a massive return on investment. The City is proud to promote this as an economic driver.”

According to Vos, Cape Town had an excellent visitor season this past summer. “Now we are looking to build on this growth, exceed those figures, and realise our goal of creating a tourism-related job in every household.

“Through tourism, we can continue to economically empower communities while showcasing and sharing South Africa’s rich culture, natural beauty, adventure, luxury, and heritage with visitors,” he said.

Background

In recognition of the cruise industry’s value to the wider economy, the expansion of this market in Cape Town was a key feature in the Tourism Development Framework (TDF), which was formulated by the Economic Growth Directorate and passed by City Council in 2019.

Following the adoption of the TDF, the City founded the Cruise Cape Town initiative administered by Wesgro. This initiative became the banner under which the City and other stakeholders would position Cape Town as an attractive destination for cruise tourism and its various aspects, including technical assistance for ships and visitor experiences for passengers and crews.