Examining COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience of Cape Town as a Tourist Destination

Konanani Constance Thwala () and Kaitano Dube
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Konanani Constance Thwala: Faculty of Human Sciences, Vaal University of Technology
Kaitano Dube: Faculty of Human Sciences, Vaal University of Technology

Chapter Chapter 13 in COVID-19, Tourist Destinations and Prospects for Recovery, 2023, pp 221-238 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Cape Town is one of the prime tourist destinations in Africa and a must-visit for many tourists worldwide, given the diversity of its product offering. The sheer size of the tourism industry is vast and diverse as its product offering. Regardless of the attractiveness of its product offering, Cape Town was equally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the contribution of Cape Town to the African and regional tourism economy, there is a need to understand its recovery and resilience to understand the challenges and opportunities emerging from the experiences of the pandemic. The study examines the impact of COVID-19 on Cape Town as a tourist destination and its recovery and resilience to the pandemic. The study uses archival data from Wesgro, the official tourism, trade and investment promotion agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape. The study found that though there had been a significant increase in tourist arrivals to Cape Town, the number did not reach the 2019 levels. The number of visitors to Cape Town attractions had grown slightly to more than 50% of the figures obtained in 2019. This points to the resilience of the tourism sector in Cape Town. However, the strong recovery comes with challenges that must be dealt with, such as staffing, training and resourcing, which the sector must address.

Keywords: Tourism resilience; Tourism recovery; Challenges; Tourism markets (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-28340-6_13

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