Western Cape's 2016 tourism arrivals up by 18%; R18 billion in foreign tourist

The Western Cape attracted 1.5 million foreign tourists, who spent in excess of R18 billion in the province, in 2016.

This is according to the latest figures from South African Tourism (SAT), which were released to provinces this week.

Following the release of these figures, Alan Winde, Minister of Economic Opportunities, and Wesgro, Cape Town and the Western Cape’s tourism, trade and investment promotion agency, will provide an update on Project Khulisa’s progress to grow the tourism sector.

Key figures from SAT’s report include:

• In 2016, 1.5 million international tourists travelled to the province, a year-on-year increase of 18.5%
• Foreign tourist spend grew by 21.6%, increasing to R18.1 billion
• Domestic tourism arrivals reached 2.1 million, up 16.9% year-on-year
• Domestic tourists spent R2.5 billion, a 24.3% increase from the previous year

Minister Winde said: “2016 was a phenomenal year for Western Cape tourism, with substantial increases recorded across the board. This is a result of amongst others the decision we made to put tourism front and centre through our Project Khulisa growth strategy. When we put Project Khulisa together, we believed that tourism held huge potential to unlock accelerated growth and job creation in our province. We put dedicated teams, and a dedicated programme of action in place to realise this potential.   Next week we’ll be providing a full analysis of our tourism performance to date, and we’ll be reporting back on our achievements in terms of creating growth and jobs in this sector.”

Judy Lain, Chief Marketing Officer, Wesgro, said: “The latest South African Tourism data underlines the strength of the tourism sector as an economic driver for the Western Cape. Looking forward, Wesgro will continue driving their leisure and Convention Bureau plans to keep the momentum going. Tourism can help create jobs during tough economic times, so we must all double-down on our efforts to grow these numbers even further.”

DETAILS:

Date: Tuesday, 18 July 2017

Time: 10am

Venue: Ministry of Economic Opportunities, 140 Long Street, Cape Town city centre