IT'S been a roller-coaster year in the Western Cape, but tourism remains the "growth engine" of the province and the country, according to economic analysts in findings contained in the sixth, end-of-year investigation into the role of tourism in the local economy.
Economist Wolfgang Thomas, who helped prepare the latest Economic Monitor from Wesgro and a local bank said the strong upswing in tourism at the end of 1999 continued after the damp squib of the Millennium celebrations until Easter, only to dive again during the Zimbabwe crisis and the Sydney Olympics.
Visitors numbers and expenditure picked up again in the second half of the year partly fuelled by new casinos, film-makers, airport expansion and the weak rand. Other factors which affected tourism included a series of bomb blasts and the relatively low interest rates.
The future depends on eco-, adventure and general tourism, conferences and incentive travel for further inbound growth. The increase in guest-houses is spreading to townships, and more restaurants and craft outlets opened because of new shopping centres such as Century City.
The "embarrassing" closure of Chapman's Peak Drive because of rock falls was a "damper", but improvements at Robben Island and Table Mountain's cableway helped "strengthen the city's international image". The brain drain was tempered by increased training programmes in hotels and colleges, although too many hospitality graduates took better paid jobs overseas.
Oil prices and recovering Asian economies would also influence expenditure.
"After the booming mid-1990s era which recorded double digit increases, overseas arrivals should grow by five to eight percent annually, and two to three percent for domestic visitors," he said. But he warned this would only be if price and service levels matched those of global rivals. The proposed R320-million convention centre at the Foreshore in 2003 would be the missing link to make Cape Town a world-class city and meeting place," concluded Thomas.
(Simon Farrell)
W Cape reflects on mixed fortunes
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