Cape Town Has Bumper 2015 Holiday Season

Cape Town has had one of the busiest-ever holiday seasons, according to early figures – and it’s not over yet – the Cape Town tourism authority has said.

Two major attractions, Table Mountain Cableway (with 28 percent more visitors than December 2014) and Robben Island (with 43 percent more visitors, almost 47,000 in December), had record-breaking numbers, with other big attractions also sharing positive forecasts, Cape Town Tourism said in a statement this week.

The V&A Waterfront’s visitor figures – 180,000 people on New Year’s Eve alone – showed an increase year-on-year for December, and were measured on the Victoria Wharf Shopping Centre only. Indications are that the year will show higher numbers than the 24 million that visited the V&A in 2014.

Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens saw almost 115,000 visitors in December, excluding the very popular Summer Sunset concert audiences. Since the opening of the Tree Canopy Walkway or ‘Boomslang’ in May 2014, Kirstenbosch has seen an increase in annual visitors from 800,000 to just over 1 million.

Cape Town Tourism said the increase could be ascribed to numerous factors, including the inexpensive rand, the Cape Town 7s in early December followed by the England vs SA cricket match.

“It is important to note that the busy festive weeks in December are very important to the tourism industry, but they do not make a summer season which in fact stretches from October to after Easter. So we are very happy with the December school holiday period and look forward with cautious optimism to a successful summer season still ahead as it comprises of 6 months of business. We’re also looking at 366 days of tourism this year, as we’re a year-round destination,” said Cape Town Tourism Communications Manager Nicole Biondi.