South African port city of Cape Town has seen a surge in cruise tourism as the number of ships calling at the port jumped to 70 in 2022-23 season, more than double the number in 2019.

A new study has found that the Port of Cape Town had its biggest cruise season to date in 2022-2023, with 70 ship calls carrying 145,000 two-way passengers and 42,000 crew members. This is double the number of ship calls seen between 2016 and 2019. The study also found that the cruise season injected over R1.2bn into the Western Cape economy, says a press statement.

The statement adds that it is the first study of its kind to be completed by the destination, and it is good news for the local economy. The cruise industry is a major source of tourism revenue for Cape Town, and it supports thousands of jobs. The study shows that the cruise industry is continuing to grow in Cape Town and that it is making a significant contribution to the local economy.

The study says that for every 30 arriving cruise passengers, the Western Cape cruise industry created one full-time job. This has resulted in a total of 1,800 local jobs created during the 2022/23 season, underscoring the importance of the lucrative tourism sector in the region, and its pivotal role in growing the Western Cape economy.

Additionally, expenditure by cruise lines was nearly evenly matched by the expenditure of passengers and crew on shore. International spending recorded an excess of ZAR 612 million (INR 2.6 billion), compared to the local expenditure of ZAR 132 million over the same period, with cruise lines attributing over ZAR 648 million to the Western Cape economy.

The statement adds that the Cape Town Cruise Terminal welcomed five occasions of turnaround visits, whereby existing passengers disembark and new passengers board on the same day, from three ships in port simultaneously during the 2022/23 season, underscoring the high demand for the destination while also demonstrating the port’s abilities to manage the logistical requirements of such an occasion.

The success of the season was further demonstrated by Mossel Bay’s cruise season, with the Port of Mossel Bay welcoming 14 ship visits, nearly doubling the number achieved over the course of the 2019 season, adds the statement.

These developments accentuate Cruise Cape Town’s regional focus to improve cruise tourism along the Western Cape coastline and increase regional tourism spread, resulting in a broader economic impact on the Western Cape economy.