Statement by the Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, Alderman James Vos.
This past week, I joined ACSA Cape Town managing director, Mark Maclean, in flicking on the switch for holiday decorations at Africa’s award-winning Cape Town International Airport (CTIA), signalling that it is ready to welcome the world.
This comes as new data on forward bookings revealed that two-way international passenger numbers for January 2023 had recovered to 100% of 2019 figures for that month, and figures for March next year are up 118% on that of March 2019. This new data shows the success of our destination marketing initiatives to attract tourists and investors and to connect with more key source markets.
I'm excited to confirm that Cape Town is getting ready for a bumper holiday season with increased flights. We are now landing more aeroplanes per day than even before Covid-19. Between now and March 2023, we have 1,68 million two-way seats available and will land 191 international flights per week, generating around R7,9 billion in tourist spend.
By working on the ground with tourism operators, developing our destination offering, and the deployment of safety resources, we can encourage travellers from all over the world to stay and spend at businesses throughout the metro, which means more Rands will end up circulating in communities.
We are very proud to work with the CTIA team to produce a world-class facility. The City regards the airport and air travel as vital to boosting employment, business expansion, and ultimately economic growth.
Through our partnership with the CTIA, I am happy to share the wonderful news that international and domestic travellers will be greeted by the decorations that show striking new visuals and messaging, which seek to position Cape Town as the premier destination in Africa to visit, live, work, study, play and invest. The City’s Economic Growth Directorate’s Tourism and Destination Marketing Branch contributed to the unique designs.
Pre-Covid, the City branded walkways in the international arrival and departure terminals at Cape Town International Airport to create a sense of place and showcase Cape Town’s destination offering to the thousands of passengers making their way through the airport.
The City is currently exploring new branding opportunities at the airport for 2023 and beyond.
Research indicates that airports offer a transitory captive audience seeking inspiration and escapism. The City believes that our striking imagery and call to action offer just that. The positioning of the CTIA as the gateway to our city and region is what brings global attention and gives airlines confidence in flying to the Mother City. It is also a show of economic readiness as a city because connecting Cape Town to more cities and countries means that we can welcome more visitors and create more jobs through tourism and provide trade opportunities to increase the export of proudly Cape products to the rest of the world.
Through the Tourism and Destination Marketing Branch, the City can shine the spotlight on Cape Town’s successes, its people, places and the region’s limitless opportunities to help stimulate long-term economic growth for residents.
Caption 1: (From left to right) Rory Viljoen, Head of Tourism and Destination Marketing in the City's Economic Growth Directorate; Alderman James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth and Yolisa Mlawuti, Assistant General Manager of Commercial & Regional Integration at ACSA Cape Town check out the new branding.
Caption 2: (From left to right) Alderman James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth; ACSA Cape Town Managing Director, Mark Maclean and Yolisa Mlawuti.
Caption 3: (From left to right) Alderman James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth with Yolisa Mlawuti, and Rory Viljoen, Head of Tourism and Destination Marketing in the City's Economic Growth Directorate.
Source: City Of Cape Town