Seasonality the biggest threat to Cape Town tourism

Despite this growth in tourism, seasonality remains the biggest threat to Cape Town's tourism industry. Many misperceptions exist around winter being an undesirable time to visit the region. Over-reliance on leisure tourism, which is aligned with Cape Town's summer season, exasperates the problem. Says Cape Town Tourism CEO, Mariette du Toit-Helmbold: "If we cannot establish a year-round demand for Cape Town as leisure, business and events destination, the industry will remain threatened and we will not be able to grow the sector. This is a critical issue for an industry that employs more than 300 000 people and is the second largest contributor to the Western Cape's GDP."

Challenging months still ahead

Arrivals to Cape Town International Airport showed a modest 3.89% increase in total passenger movement in April 2012 (362 451) and a 3.01% increase (309 000) in May 2012 compared to the same time last year. However, peak season arrivals paint a different picture with 431 994 in December 2011 and 355 642 in January 2012.

The most challenging months still lie ahead. May to September is traditionally when occupancy levels dip to their lowest levels and these are the months that require urgent attention. "The need for a year-round brand positioning and demand-generation strategy to fill beds during the quieter months has been recognised, but seasonality and destination marketing are not one organisation's concern," says Du Toit-Helmbold.

"We can only solve Cape Town's seasonality challenges and create year-round demand through partnerships and through understanding the changing needs and travel habits of potential visitors, whether business or leisure. We need collaboration within the industry, innovation, new experiences to promote, joint mobilisation within niche sectors on unusual projects, value-for-money travel packages and convenient access to the destination. We need an exciting calendar of events all year round and we need to cultivate tourism sectors such as food and wine, family travel, extreme adventure and sport," she concludes.