Julius Baumann
13 January 2009
Johannesburg — WHILE the tourism industry in Western Cape in November braced itself for a bleak summer season, preliminary information shows that it may not have been as bad as initially feared.
Tamara Metrowich, spokeswoman for Cape Town Routes Unlimited, the official destination marketing organisation for Cape Town and Western Cape, said last week that while the agency had not yet analysed the data it had received from numerous sources, indications were that Cape Town had not been as hard hit by the global slowdown in the industry.
"While the Cape Garden Route and the Klein Karoo has seen fewer visitors to the region, its malls and beaches have been packed. The Cape Overberg has seen a similar trend to last year.
"For the most part, the Cape Winelands has observed an increase in visitors, and most accommodation facilities in the central Karoo have noticed a spike in their occupancy following New Year's Day, and the regional tourism office is still being inundated with calls from tourists looking for bed space," said Metrowich.
Data from the Airports Company SA show that the number of domestic, international and regional visitors to Cape Town increased last month.
"Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens says that it also saw a spike in visitor numbers last month and the V&A Waterfront observed a substantial growth in visitor numbers this December compared to December 2007."
Danny Bryer, director of sales and marketing at Protea Hotels, said this week that the group's hotels had performed better than expected, achieving an average occupancy of 80%.
"We had expected a slowdown in the market and saw between 15% and 20% fewer international visitors to the region compared to last year," he said.
In anticipation of the slowdown in international arrivals, Protea targeted the domestic market, selling rooms for as little as R280 per person per night, which helped lift the group's occupancy rates.
Bryer expected the travel market to remain depressed for the next four to five months before picking up ahead of soccer's Confederation Cup and the Lions rugby tour .
Despite the slowdown in the travel industry, Bryer said the hotel group would continue with its expansion plans this year, with several hotels being built in Cape Town, Bloemfontein and Durban . "We believe that there is still room to expand, even in this market."
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