CAPE Town and the Western Cape’s friendliness and hospitality have scored the city and province top marks with tourists this holiday season, followed by its extraordinary fauna and flora, people and scenery. The best part of it all for the Western Cape tourism industry, however, is that about a third of international and two thirds of domestic tourists that visited the province over this period are planning to come back within a
year.

This is according to a survey into visitor trends and patterns over the holiday season, completed by a consortium of Western Cape universities and commissioned by Cape Town Routes Unlimited, the official tourism destination marketing organisation
for Cape Town and the Western Cape. Seven-hundred face-to-face interviews were conducted with international (267) and domestic (433) visitors between 15 December 2006 and 15 January
2007. The results indicated heartening trends in perceptions and experiences of
visitors to Cape Town and the Western Cape.

Calvyn Gilfellan, acting CEO of Cape Town Routes Unlimited, says: “These trends are very encouraging indeed, especially as it appears that the Western Cape’s friendliness and hospitality is what tourists will remember when they look at their photographs and reminisce about their holidays. The fact that many of them are already planning their return
trips also bodes extremely well for our goal to grow international tourist arrivals to Cape Town and the Western Cape to 3 million by 2010.”

According to the survey the Western Cape also appears to be shrugging off its image as a destination that is less welcoming to black visitors than white
visitors.

Part of the survey dealt with black visitors’ experiences and trends during the festive season, as the destination has in the past been perceived as unwelcoming by some – mainly tourists from Africa and domestic tourists. The responses by black visitors in the recent survey were very much on a par with those of white visitors. Thirty-four percent of black respondents and the same percentage of white respondents regarded the welcome they had received as excellent.

Says Gilfellan: “What we need to do now, is to make sure that there is no reason for any remaining perceptions about Cape Town and the Western
Cape not being welcoming to all.”

The holiday season survey further confirmed that the Western Cape’s main international markets were the United Kingdom (37%), Germany (13%) and the USA (8%). About 67% of international visitors were from Europe, with a further 11% from North
America and 10% from Africa. The main domestic markets were Gauteng (44%), the Western
Cape itself (30%) and KwaZulu-Natal (9%).

The survey also confirmed that Cape Town and the Western
Cape’s domestic tourism market is twice as big as its international tourism market in terms of volume. Sixty-two percent of holiday season visitors to the destination were from South
Africa while 38% were from abroad.

The quality of accommodation, range and quality of restaurants, availability of tourist information, general customer service, safety and security, value for money and the general welcome of the hosts was rated as “excellent” or “good” by an
average of 77% of visitors.

International visitors were especially complimentary, with the terms “excellent” or “good” used by 78% to describe the quality of accommodation, 92% to describe the range and quality of restaurants, 74% the availability of tourist information, 87% general customer service, 85% the destination’s value for money, and 96% to describe the
general welcome they had received.

An encouraging 54% of respondents reported “nothing negative” about their time in the Western Cape. Less gratifying was the experience of “bad service” (14%) and “driving, traffic, parking” (7%). Safety and security, crime” and “pricing” scored 4% and 3% respectively.

The great outdoors continues to score highly on visitors’ must-do list, with 75% visiting beaches, 64% taking scenic drives, and 53% visiting natural attractions during this period. As far as Cape Town and the Western Cape’s six tourism marketing themes go, the order of preference for the holiday season was: eco and nature (47%), gourmet delights
(35%), culture and heritage (25%), outdoor active (14%), cosmopolitan vibe
(10%), and rejuvenation of body, mind and spirit (6%).

Around 56% of international visitors visited Cape Town and the Western Cape for the first time, with 44% having had two or more visits to the destination
before. The most common length of stay for international visitors during this
period was 14 days, spending most of their time in Cape Town
and the winelands.

I would like to thank Tourism Cape Town and Cape Town Routes for supplying this press release.

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