South Africa’s primary cruise tourism destination, Cape Town, is midway through its busiest cruise season on record, with Economic Opportunities MEC Alan Winde saying that the sector is driving growth in the overall tourism industry in the city.

“The projection of the value of the industry between now and 2027 is somewhere around R220 billion,” Alan Winde, MEC of Economic Opportunities at Western Cape said. “It’s a sector that is very meaningful… People get on ships and off ships… It brings passengers and tourists in and out of the City.”

More than 100 000 passengers arrived in Cape Town by ship during last year’s cruise season, spending money on local attractions and products, with more expected to visit this year, thanks in large part to more luxury cruise lines home-porting in the city.

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The development of a new Cape Town luxury cruise terminal by the V&A Waterfront will also boost business at the sea port, Winde says.

According to figures from last year, the average international cruise visitor to South Africa spends around R1,000 in local products and services, meaning that the cruise sector brings in more than R100-million to the country every year.