5 October 2008
Cape Town's prolonged and wet Winter has put a dampener on tourism figures for two of the city's top tourism landmarks.
The tourism industry says visitor numbers are down for both the Table Mountain Cableway and Robben Island.
Robben Island has also been plagued by corruption, mismanagement and the ongoing woes of the ferries that take visitors across Table Bay to the island.
While visitor numbers to the cableway grew from 772 000 in 2005/6 to 840 000 in 2006/7, they dropped again to 785 000 for the year ending June.
Robben Island's figures were 251 895 last year and at just 170 546 so far for 2008, seem set to drop. There were 16 days in September that they could not ferry people to the island, compared with just four in September 2007.
Sabine Lehmann, chief executive of the cableway, said: "We have been closed due to bad weather more than usual.
"We have had the worst weather at the top of the mountain in 10 years of record keeping. We had five months in the past financial year with record bad weather patterns. This naturally affects our visitor numbers enormously.
"Our operational hours are directly related to the wind in the sense that we cannot operate in high winds as it is unsafe."
She said in the past year they had had six months with exceptionally low operational hours due to high winds. To boost figures this summer they plan to extend their popular sunset special, the half price fare after 6pm, from November to February instead of just December and January.
Asked whether the global economic crisis has resulted in fewer tourists, Lehmann said the poor weather had masked any effects.
"We are very conscious that local visitors will be looking for value for money in all the choices that they make with their discretionary spending. We will be watching the statistics very carefully to see how international visitors respond to changes in the global economy."
They were excited by the possibilities that the soccer World Cup could generate. However, as the tournament would take place in Cape Town's mid-winter, the weather would play an enormous role.
"This June for example, we were closed for a total of 11 days out of 30.
"In addition, there are many days when we are operating but the summit is covered in cloud and there is no view. We are looking to improve the experience we offer so as not to be as reliant on the view.
"The restaurant has recently been upgraded and modernised, and the Table Mountain Cafe is now part of the improved experience at the top station."
Cape Town Tourism however, remains optimistic about continued tourism growth amid tough economic times.
Mariette du Toit-Helmbold, chief executive officer of Cape Town Tourism, said: "The consistent and significant growth in arrivals amid tough economic times internationally is an indication of our country's robust tourism industry."
September's almost unrelenting bad weather had not had a negative effect on visitor arrivals.
However, it was always disappointing for visitors when they could not go to an attraction like Table Mountain or Robben Island due to bad weather.
Du Toit-Helmbold hoped with good weather the industry would flourish.
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