Cape Town and the V&A Waterfront, in particular, are looking forward to a bumper cruise season which will put to use its award-winning R80 million terminal that’s been uncomfortably quiet for the past three years.
Like all leisure travel-related sectors which suffered the most under restrictive Covid-19 lockdown regulations, the cruise industry is looking to rebound. For South Africa, specifically Cape Town and Durban, a steady stream of visiting cruise liners boost local economies and drive employment.
Both coastal cities have invested heavily in attracting cruises. In 2019, MSC Cruises embarked on developing a R200 million cruise ship terminal in Durban, while Cape Town’s own R80 million terminal, located at the V&A Waterfront, opened a year earlier.
The anticipated buzz of these terminals was abruptly silenced in early 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic began to spread across the world and cruise ships, highlighted as hotbeds of infection after several early outbreaks onboard, were hastily anchored.
South Africa’s cruise season remained suppressed at the end of 2020 into 2021, and hopes of a rebound a year ago were dashed by the detection of the Omicron variant. An international ship, which was meant to kickstart the season sailing from Luderitz in Namibia, was quarantined upon arrival in Cape Town and MSC Cruises suspended its itinerary.
A year later, and with no more lockdown measures in place, the prospects of South Africa’s cruise season have greatly improved.
More than 239 cruise ships are expected to dock in Cape Town before May 2023, with the first passenger vessel, Hanseatic Spirit, already having arrived in October to signal the start of the season.
Cruise liners bring an estimated R100 million in total estimated passenger spend per port visit, according to the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, James Vos. For every 12 cruise tourists arriving in Cape Town, one job is created, added Vos, which is a “real win-win for Cape Town and the CBD.”
The Cape Town Cruise Terminal at the V&A Waterfront, which was recently named Africa’s Best Cruise Terminal in 2022, stands to benefit the most.
Makers Landing, a V&A “food community” within Cape Town’s Cruise Terminal, which was initially developed to capitalise on port-visiting tourists, opened in 2020, just as South Africa’s second wave of Covid-19 began to peak. The R63-million multi-use development pivoted to attracting locals as cruise liners remained scarce, but the V&A Waterfront is hoping that much-missed incoming tourists will boost Makers Landing in the coming months.
“The return of ocean liners to our shores is very heartening news as they bring thousands of visitors to our city,” said Tasso Evangelinos, CEO of the Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID), in a statement on Thursday.
“The cruise economy complements the hospitality industry in greater Cape Town and the Central City, as these visitors stay in our hotels and guest houses, thereby boosting various economic tourism sectors. We look forward to welcoming the liners and their guests to our shores and our CBD.”
