Monday, 13 November, 2017
Wines of South Africa, Fiona McDonald
Google is your friend... Especially when you can type in: “list of things to do when visiting Cape Town”.
Bam! Thousands of suggestions – all within the space of a few seconds... and that’s even with my really slow internet download speed!
Tripadvisor is a handy tool because it’s used by travellers and tourists the world over. People love to share their reviews and impressions of places and experiences. Number two on its list of things to do when in Cape Town, sorted by popularity, is a wine tour.
As it stands, the travel and tourism segment is a massive revenue generator, as well as providing employment opportunities. It’s a growth area in the local economy – with one in every 22 jobs being in the hospitality and tourism sector. It brings in around R130 billion every year – and is expected to exceed R200 billion in just one decade.
Alan Winde, Minister of Economic Opportunities & Tourism in the Western Cape government, is bullish about this region’s touristic prospects – and allocated a further R56.5 million of his departmental budget for 2017/18 to tourism, art and entertainment “for the continued growth of our tourism sector”.
Key objectives have been in making it easier for tourists to get to the Cape – and making more beds available for them. “In our economy, it’s not about divvying up the same old pie. Here, the size of the pie is growing,” he said.
“Between July and September 2016, traditionally a quieter time, tourists spend was recorded at R3.8 billion, a 31% increase over the same period in 2015. Our mission to make it easier to travel here through more direct flights to our region, has yielded fantastic results,” he reported in his budget speech in March.
“In a very short time, we have added over 600 000 additional two-way seats flying directly into Cape Town, with a notable increase in air travel between our region and chosen strategic markets.”
That’s good news for the Cape economy but what sort of contribution does wine tourism make specifically?
VinPro CEO Rico Basson is on record as having said that SA’s current wine tourism economic contribution of ±R6 billion is targeted for considerable growth. The target for 2025 – eight years from now – is that the contribution will be in the region of R15 billion. One of the biggest elements of growth in this sector of the tourism market – and local economy – is the potential employment opportunities. Basson said 289 000 jobs had already been added in the wine value chain to date “and the new strategy will pave the way for significant growth in the wine tourism sector over the next 10 years”.
To read more online, click here.