Crunch sees Garden Route lose out on overseas visitors

THE Garden Route, long hailed as the tourism mecca of the country, was not among the top performers compared to other Western Cape areas when it came to attracting international tourists last year, although it did receive a massive 91% of local visitors.

According to statistics from Cape Town Routes Unlimited (CTRU), the Western Cape’s tourism authority, the Garden Route and Klein Karoo garnered just under 7% of international visitors to the province last July to September. The overseas visitors came mostly from the traditional markets of Europe and China.

CTRU said the barometer showed 91% of visitors to the Garden Route and Klein Karoo were domestic travellers. Of these, 60% came from within the Western Cape, possibly indicating a reluctance on the part of hard hit consumers to travel long distances.

Letitia Raper, a Johannesburg resident who normally holidays in the Garden Route, yesterday said: “We decided not to go away for a holiday last year because of the high petrol costs and the tough economy. We rather focused on trying to clear our debts.”

Of the holiday-makers both foreign and domestic who visited South Africa, the Western Cape received 77% of local and 20% of overseas tourists.

According to the study, 78% of Cape Town’s visitors were from overseas, followed by the Cape Winelands (29%) and the Cape West Coast (13%). The Garden Route was second lowest in overseas visitor numbers, beating only the Karoo with 4,6%.

CTRU chief executive Calvyn Gilfellan said despite the worst economic recession in 60 years, the Western Cape tourism industry had maintained its performance over the festive season.

According to the poll, the Cango Caves near Oudtshoorn showed a slight growth in visitor numbers of 0,7%, welcoming 42902 visitors last year.

According to the barometer, the core overseas markets all recorded a significant drop in visitor numbers: UK (-26,%), Germany (-18%), France (-17%) and The Netherlands (-13%).

Testifying to holidaymakers seeking cheaper alternatives, camping increased in popularity at all South Africa’s national parks, with Tsitsikamma showing a 50% growth in campers and Wilderness 38%.

The Wilderness National Park had 6703 visitors, an overall growth of 65%, while the Tsitsikamma National Park had 32194 visitors, an overall increase of 20%.

Source: Weekend Post (http://www.weekendpost.co.za/article.aspx?id=531123)