Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism

1. (a) What preparations has his Department made for the tourism season and

The Department implements several strategic projects aimed at preparing the industry for the peak season. These efforts include skills development projects as well as activities to boost visitor safety. To boost industry capacity the Department has invested in the training of frontline hospitality and tourism workers. As a result, 127 workers have completed an NQF level 4 CATHSSETA-accredited customer service training programme. This year, training was conducted in Mossel Bay, Plettenberg Bay, Oudtshoorn and Paarl. 130 tourist guides have also benefited from skills development initiatives aimed at ensuring that the guiding industry is able to respond to the latest market trends. One such area is marine tourism, and 20 participants are currently undergoing NQF level 2 training in marine guiding in Hermanus and Mossel Bay.

In respect of visitor safety, the Department implements the Provincial Tourism Safety Strategy. Key initiatives flowing from this strategy include:

• Distribution of driver safety tips through all car rental outlets based at Cape Town International Airport
• Development and distribution of hiker safety tips at Table Mountain National Park
• Conceptualisation and implementation of a social media safety campaign amplifying beach, city and mountain safety
• Covering the overtime costs of officers of the City of Cape Town’s Tourism Law Enforcement Unit. This allows the officers to be deployed for extended shifts at prime tourist attractions in the Cape Town City Bowl.
• Building the disaster preparedness capacity of the industry through disaster risk reduction training. 115 industry representatives participated in this training programme this year.  
• Implementing illegal tourist guiding inspections to counter illegal guiding.
• Implementing tourism safety awareness training in communities where there have been tourism safety concerns in the recent past. 
• Offering tourists in distress support through the Tourism Safety Support Programme.

The Department also funds the Cruise Cape Town and Cape Town Air Access initiatives through Wesgro. Both these initiatives implement campaigns and activations during the peak season in support of the cruise liners and airlines.  

1. (b) is the number of tourists expected to visit the province.

Due to budget constraints the Department does not currently subscribe to travel analytics platforms such as ForwardKeys which tracks booking trends. However, South African Tourism predicts that the Western Cape will receive 1,298,382 international tourists in 2024 and 1,460,357 in 2025. In terms of air passenger numbers, the upcoming tourism season will see 11 air route expansions, contributing to 226 weekly international flights being operated to Cape Town International Airport at the peak of the summer season. This is the highest total ever.

(2)      whether there is any collaboration with other government entities and civil society groups in place to ensure the safety of tourists in the province; if so, what are the relevant details?

The Department works closely with the wider safety ecosystem. Before and after the tourism season, DEDAT, for example, convenes a provincial tourism safety forum which ensures that activities are coordinated and that debriefs take place. In addition, DEDAT has ongoing bilaterals with several stakeholders including SANParks, CapeNature, the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association, municipalities and regional and local tourism organisations. DEDAT is also in regular contact with consular staff at embassies and other foreign missions based in Cape Town and Pretoria. Each year, DEDAT hosts a season readiness dialogue which brings these stakeholders together to discuss the state of readiness of the province. This year’s event will take place on the 5th of November 2024. Lastly, DEDAT also participates in the National Tourism Safety Forum.