The Western Cape plans to boost its tourism sector over the next five years and create 100 000 jobs through Project Khulisa, the Western Cape’s economic growth strategy, says Alan Winde, Minister of Economic Opportunities, during a media briefing at the Zeitz MOCAA Pavilion at the V&A Waterfront on September 1.
The objectives of Project Khulisa include increasing the annual number of international arrivals from 1.56 million to 2.1 million; increasing annual foreign direct spend to R17.2bn (€1.14bn) from R16.7bn (€1.1bn); and growing the number of domestic trips by 600 000 to 2.9 million per year.
“At the start of Tourism Month, we’d like to illustrate how we are going to grow this important economic sector. It is encouraging that we continue to see strong investment from the private sector into tourism,” said Minister Winde.
Increasing air access would be a key element in improving accessibility, said the Minister. “We will work to secure three new direct air routes to strategic markets. We are aiming to launch the first of these routes next year.”
In July, Cape Town International Airport achieved a 17% year-on-year increase in international arrivals. Minister Winde said the increase could be attributed to the new direct flights from Ethiopian Airlines and Qatar Airways.
Project Khulisa also plans to position the Western Cape as Africa’s cycling capital by building first-class leisure cycling infrastructure. “We will also maximise culture and heritage tourism through a Madiba Legacy Tourism Route,” said the Minister.
“Tourism is our most competitive sector. It has shown high growth and excellent job creation over the past five years.”
The V&A Waterfront had committed R179 million (€11.8m) into the development of a cruise line terminal and the Cape Town International Convention Centre and Tsogo Sun were planning a R680 million (€45m) hotel in the CBD, added Minister Winde.
