South Africa: Cruise Cape Town organised an event to network with the industry leaders to strengthen the industry connections and drive growth.
Recently, Cruise Cape Town, which is powered by the official tourism, trade and investment promotion agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape – Wesgro, hosted a networking ceremony. It was mainly focused on bringing together the key industry players in order to strengthen the business relationships.
It was a great chance for the industry leaders, budding entrepreneurs and investors to explore new opportunities for growth in the aspect of broader tourism ecosystem.
Reportedly, an increase in cruise liners, particularly the ones sailing around the tip of Africa has resulted in a record number of ship calls in Cape Town and the Western Cape. For the season 2023-24, the officials saw 67 ship visits, including 31 turn-around calls, with nearly 150,000 passengers and crew in the record.
As per the sources, the upcoming season for the year 2024-25 is all set for even greater expansion. It is going to be bigger than the previous one and is expecting 85 ship visits, 36 turn-around calls and is anticipating to receive more than 15 new vessels.
Notably, the new vessels are confirmed to include iconic ships such as the Royal Caribbean Group’s Anthem of the Seas. It will also include Cunard’s Queen Anne.
Earlier, in the year 2023, the cruise industry contributed amount of R1.2 billion to the economical regions.
However, it was also recorded that the rise in ship calls this season presents a strong opportunity for further economic growth and job creation within both the cruise industry and the wider tourism sector.
Cruise Cape Town is an association between Wesgro and stakeholders considering City of Cape Town, Department of Economic Development (DEDAT), SAMSA, Transnet and V&A Waterfront.
It is a great opportunity for the city Cape Town and also for the Western Cape to take advantage of the growth that is demanded by the consumers and at the same time correspond and contributing in growth of supply by cruise companies.