Cape Town winters are cool

According to the 2010/2011 ITB World Travel Trends Report, world travel bounced back from the downturn experienced during 2009, in 2010, and looks set to grow in 2011, driven predominantly by improvin

According to the 2010/2011 ITB World Travel Trends Report, world travel bounced back from the downturn experienced during 2009, in 2010, and looks set to grow in 2011, driven predominantly by improving world economic conditions and higher consumer spending. According to experts, international tourism in 2011 is expected to grow by 3-5% on the “all-time” highs of previous years.

Tourism role-players across the globe have expressed concern over the impact of rising fuel prices and the costs involved in travel for long-haul and domestic tourism. The travel industry is an extremely fragile one and is easily influenced by changing global conditions, be it political, environmental, or economical such as the unrest recently seen in the Middle East, the tsunami in Japan, increasing fuel prices, and fluctuating currencies.

As fuel and electricity prices continue to increase, the knock-on impact felt by consumers will potentially play havoc with bookings and profit margins in the tourism sector.

International arrivals may decrease (particularly from destinations still recovering from a recession) as the cost of airline tickets rise due to the increase in world oil prices. British Airways yesterday announced an increase in fuel surcharges on long-haul flights. This has the potential to further affect arrivals from the UK, Cape Town’s primary source market, which has seen the stagnation of outbound international travel over the last year. To add further strain on the South African tourism industry, the strengthening Rand is driving international tourists to (often shorter haul) destinations offering more value for their money.

For tourism companies in Cape Town and South Africa, it is getting ever more difficult to turn both international and domestic inquiries into bookings as travelers are generally being more careful with their money. In addition, these companies are also spending more on offering the same packages they always did. Many tour operators in South Africa are having to cut or absorb costs as far as possible, as well as work more efficiently in order to reduce costs and kilometers cleverly; as opposed to putting up package prices, which would only serve to propel travelers away even further.

Said Mariette du Toit-Helmbold, CEO of Cape Town Tourism: โ€œAs a long-haul destination, we must offer a clearer vision of what we are selling overseas, what a visitor can expect, and that one can experience the ultimate in luxury (at the price that it comes at) or the best in budget accommodation, all in one inspirational destination. Greed is transparent and will chase away customers. Value-for-money is the order of the day, whether on a large or small scale. We need to package our destination in a more competitive, diverse, and creative way that offers the visitor incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experiences, and added value has to be our focus.โ€

While international source markets remain important, it is becoming more and more important to shift at least some focus to the domestic and African markets closer to home.

โ€œFor those traveling to Cape Town over the next few months, there is a solution to the travel cost issue,โ€ continued Du Toit-Helmbold, โ€œOffset your travel costs by tapping into Cape Townโ€™s great Easter and winter specials.โ€

“Cape Town Winters are Cool” is a campaign targeted at winter travelers looking to relax, spend time, with their kids, and enjoy the best of the Capeโ€™s food and wine. The campaign will go live in time for Easter and identifies great winter deals through a central website portal on www.capetown.travel .

Said Du Toit-Helmbold: โ€œStaying ahead in travel and tourism today requires that we are agile, value-driven, and multi-focused. Our domestic market is increasingly important to us and winter is the perfect time to roll out the red carpet on affordability for our customers, many of them right on our doorstep.โ€

To inquire about winter specials, call +27 21 487 6800 or visit www.capetown.travel/winter from the end of April onward.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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