By Cayla Murray
Tourism is an immensely important driver of economic growth in the Western Cape.
That is why the latest passenger arrival figures for the Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) are so encouraging.
According to Wesgro, which has recently published the statistics for June, tourism is roaring back to pre-pandemic levels. We have now moved past recovery and into growth!
The international terminal saw a 39% year-on-year growth in June, with over 173 000 passengers moving through the terminal.
For the year-to-date, this terminal is showing robust growth of 76% over last year, with over 1.3 million two-way passengers moving through the international terminal for the first half of 2023.
And our domestic arrivals are following the same trend, showing a 24% year-on-year growth for the month of June, with over 500 000 passengers moving through the terminal.
This is great news for the people of this province, as more tourists visiting our province leads directly to the creation of more jobs. Wesgro deserves a fair bit of credit for the increase in arrivals, as they have worked tirelessly to promote the Western Cape as a premier travel destination, and also to secure more international routes.
What will really take our tourism sector to the next level is the implementation of a remote working visa. Unfortunately, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) have been dragging their feet in putting this in place.
As such, I have invited the DHA to account to the Standing Committee on Finance, Economic Opportunities and Tourism on the delays, so that we can identify and rectify the hold-up. The benefits are obvious, with barely any down side, and I plan on making sure that this short-cut to job creation is put in place as soon as possible.
Murray is DA Western Cape spokesperson on finance, economic opportunities and tourism
Cape Times
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