Tourist arrivals at South Africa’s Cape Town International Airport reached their highest levels over the five months ending in July, Cape Town Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, Mireille Wenger, said on Thursday.
Wenger said she was pleased with the continued recovery that the province continued to see in the tourism and hospitality sector “across many indicators like air travel, hotel occupancy as well as tourism to our many and diverse attractions.”
“It is encouraging to see that total two-way domestic passenger between January and July stands at 3.4 million people and that bodes well for the rest of the year,” Wenger said.
She attributed the increase in the number of visitors to the end of Covid-19 restrictions in the Western Cape province and the rest of the country.
According to her, the province had seen a recovery of more than 200 percent in attendance at most of its attractions following the end of the Covid-19 restrictions.
The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, Kogelberg Nature Reserve in the Overberg region, and Knysna National Park recorded between 200 and 259 percent increases in visitor numbers, Wenger said.
Robben Island, the Cango Caves in Oudtshoorn and Table Mountain National Park were other attractions that recorded high year-on-year growth rates in July this year, she added.
NM/jn/APA