Over 7 Million Visitors Passed Through Cape Town International Airport as Bumper Summer Tourism Season Expected

Cape Town is expecting a bumper summer tourism season, with over 7 million visitors recorded this year already.

Finance Minister Mireille Wenger said during a visit to Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) yesterday: “I can confirm that just over 7 million two-way passengers have come through this award-winning airport between January and November this year, which includes 1.62 million international and 5.39 million domestic two-way passengers.”

She said: “Ensuring that these passengers experience efficient service is key to keep them coming back and this is why we are visiting today, to meet with some of the 42 interns placed across the airport, including at security, immigration, check-in counters, and the apron office, and at help desks and information kiosks, to make sure that all runs smoothly and that if an operational challenge does arise, that it is resolved as quickly as possible.”

Wenger said: “I have been keeping a very close eye on our tourism recovery data and am pleased to see that the upward trends are continuing at both the Cape Town International Airport and George Airport, as well as attractions across the province.”

According to key statistics from the monthly tourism report, compiled by Western Cape’s official destination marketing organisation:

• Domestic two-way passengers through CTIA between January and November 2022 reached 5.39 million and have recovered to 71% of 2019 figures.
• International two-way passengers through CTIA reached 1.63 million between January and November 2022 and recovered to 70% against the same period in 2019.
• Between January and October 2022, UK ranked as the top source market to Cape Town (via air), followed by Germany, USA, Netherlands, and France.
• Amongst the top 10 source markets, 8 out of the 10 markets to Cape Town recovered at a higher rate when compared to the national recovery rate for South Africa.
• Footfall to 20 participating attractions across the five regions of the Western Cape recorded a total of 456,025 visitors in November 2022, a 127% growth in the number of visitors when compared to the same month last year and 71% of what it was in November 2019.
• The top 5 highest year-on-year growth rates in November 2022 were recorded for Robben Island (216%), Table Mountain National Park: Cape of Good Hope (167%), Table Mountain Ariel Cableway (146%), Table Mountain National Park: Boulders (145%) and Cango Caves (139%).

The tourism and hospitality sector, which was hit hard by the pandemic, is an important part of the Western Cape’s economy. Minister Wenger added that: “We have come a long way from the end of the pandemic and are now at a point where we are expecting a very impressive summer season with 191 international flights coming into Cape Town each week from the start of next year, representing a total of 1.56 million two-way seats.”