British tourists love city

• Published date: 20 April 2024
• Author: Genevieve Serra
• Publication title: Weekend Argus

According to SA Tourism, the biggest source markets for international travellers in 2023 (Q1-Q3) to the Western Cape were the UK (15.1%), Germany (11%), US (10.8%), Namibia (6.5%) and Zimbabwe (6.5%)

Fourth quarrter data for the tourism season has yet to be updated.

The Chinese remain the number one travellers to the country.

This week MMC for economic growth, James Vos, announced the details of Cape Town’s travel campaign that will be rolled out in China.

Vos said prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Western Cape was the destination of choice for Chinese travellers with 151 000 tourists arriving in 2013, but the number had sharply dropped.

He said the province was working to boost their Chinese tourist number again, utilising social media: “Our plan is to target cities across China via WeChat, the biggest instant messaging and social media platform in China.”

“Pre-pandemic, Chinese travellers were the highest spenders globally. However, over the past decade, the arrival of Chinese travellers to South Africa fluctuated. With this campaign, we are aiming to connect with Chinese tourists like never before.”

Vos said according to data 151 000 Chinese tourists visited South Africa in 2013. The next year the figure fell to 83 000 but by 2019, it rose to 93 000.

He said more visitors meant a boost to the economy and job opportunities.

“Following the country’s reopening of its borders post-Covid, just over 34 000 Chinese visitors made their way to South Africa between January and November 2023,” he said.

“China is a potentially-massive market for Cape Town, so this initial campaign is a huge moment for (us).

“Our messaging aims to...