A record 121,000 passengers cruised with MSC from South Africa during the 2023/24 cruise season from November to March, most of them originating from the country’s home market, according to Ross Volk, managing director of MSC Cruises South Africa.

MSC Cruises homeports annually in Durban and Cape Town during the summer cruise season, and this month brought its largest ship to date to the country, MSC Splendida, carrying more than 3,500 passengers, and offering a wider range of amenities and onboard experiences than any other cruise ship ever to homeport in the country.

While the majority of the 121,000 passengers who sailed with MSC from South Africa this year were South African, Volk noted that MSC Cruises was seeing a large increase in passengers coming from across Africa and even overseas to cruise from South Africa.

He said MSC Cruises was optimistic that further growth would be experienced in the 2024/25 South African cruise season.

“The current trends are looking positive. In fact, South Africans are increasingly seeing cruising as the best value proposition for holidaying because it is an all-inclusive price for a unique experience,” said Volk, speaking to IOL.

He highlighted that cruising was not just great value but also increasingly being seen as a way to experience destinations in a new way and to get under the skin of the locals.

“This emphasis on experience is particularly a mark of Generation X and Millennials, who are turning towards cruising in greater numbers,” he added.

South Africa is one of MSC Cruises’ Top 10 markets by volume and the cruise sector is a fast-growing segment of the wider tourism industry in South Africa.

The cruise tourism sector brings much-needed foreign currency into the local economy, and tourism overall accounts for close to 3.7% of the country’s gross domestic product, employing 4.7% of the workforce.

According to the Department of Tourism, the sector contributed R287 billion to the economy in 2023, while Cape Town alone earns more than R100 million in direct spending as a result of cruise calls in the city.

“Providing goods and services to the cruising market is one huge job creator, but the quest for deeper experiences that reflect local cultures also opens up vast new opportunities for individuals and communities,” said Volk.

“The expected growth in cruising numbers has the potential to shift the dial on our stubborn unemployment figures by providing entrepreneurs with greater scope,” he added.

MSC Splendida will be replaced with the recently refurbished MSC Musica for the upcoming 2024/25 SA cruise season. It will mark the ship’s return to the country as it previously homeported in Durban and Cape Town for the 2021/22 season.