Cape Town - Domestic tourism is recovering after the impact of the drought, with domestic arrivals to Cape Town International Airport having increased 2% for January to August 2019 compared to the same period in 2018.
This is the view of Briony Brookes, communications and PR manager at Cape Town Tourism. Brookes spoke as Statistics SA released its Domestic Tourism Survey (DTS) for 2018.
Risenga Maluleke, the statistician general, said: “In 2017 and 2018, Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape and Western Cape were the most popular destinations for day travellers, whereas those who undertook overnight trips mostly preferred visiting Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and the Eastern Cape.”
According to the DTS: “A visit to friends and relatives was the most common reason for undertaking overnight trips, as about 16 million trips were undertaken for this reason. For most of these visits, travellers did not make use of paid accommodation. Most day trips were for shopping, visiting friends and relatives, leisure, attending funerals and business purposes. In 2017 and 2018, the most widely used mode of transport was cars and taxis.”
Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC David Maynier said that while in terms of number of trips the Western Cape ranked 6th in 2017 and 7th in 2018, when compared to other provinces, “travel to the Western Cape for holidays recorded the highest proportion, compared to the share of holiday trips taken to other provinces.
“Therefore, even though the Western Cape ranks lower in terms of number of trips, the purpose of visits in 2018 indicates that the Western Cape is the most popular domestic destination for holiday purposes.”
Brookes added: “Domestic visitors tend to gravitate to the uniquely Cape Town sights. They tend to stick to something that they wouldn’t be able to find back home.”
Camps Bay beach. Picture: Courtney Africa/African News Agency
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