Thursday, March 31, 2011

Cape Town Reports 'Fair' Summer Season

Cape Town Tourism has released the results of its 2010/2011 Summer Tourism Survey, based on polls of member organisations, attractions and visitors between December 2010 and February 2011.

The report suggests that there is cause for optimism as traditional markets begin showing signs of recovery, while new source markets are increasingly becoming interested in Cape Town.

Accommodation establishment respondents had mixed feelings about performance during the Cape Town 2010/ 2011 summer season, with 45,8% stating that the period had met their expectations, while the rest said it was average or below average.
Almost 18% (17,60%) of accommodation establishment respondents operated at 81% to 100% occupancy during December, dropping to 12% of respondents for the same levels in January and increasing to 20,70% for February.

The majority of local bookings were received from Gauteng (75,6%), followed by the Western Cape (46,3%) and KwaZulu Natal (26,8%). Internationally, the traditional source markets of the United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands and the US performed well.

The tour operator member base of respondents noted a general increase in bookings for the period December to February when compared with the same period in previous years, with the international market being the source of the majority of their visitors. Traditional markets from the UK, US, Germany and The Netherlands led the pack. The most popular booking methods were via direct e-mail by returning guests, telephonically, and bookings through travel agents, in that order.

CEO of Cape Town Tourism, Mariette du Toit-Helmbold, said: “We have experienced a fair summer season for 2010/ 2011. It has been a season dominated by many unpredictable factors and perhaps inflated expectations after the World Cup. The biggest trends Cape Town Tourism has noticed are the slow recovery of international tourism due to various global crises, an encouraging growth in domestic tourism, and a significant increase in online and last-minute bookings, the use of social media and user-generated websites.”

Source: SA Tourism Update

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