Cruise ship success can help us overcome failures

It is surely one of the most remarkable turnarounds in maritime history.  Just three years after the height of Covid lockdown, when not even a surfboard was allowed on the water, Cape Town welcomed a record 70 cruise ships during the latest cruise season. The result is a remarkable success story that owes much to a collaborative effort of multiple stakeholders, among them the V&A Waterfront and the City of Cape Town. It is all the more significant in light of the enormous benefit to the local economy in the form of incoming tourists -- WESGRO estimates that every 100 international travellers translates into R2.1 million spent directly on tourism. 

South Africa desperately needs success stories, and it needs to learn from them. The cruise ship turnaround comes at a time when our Ports are in urgent need of investment to attract a greater share of passing traffic. Our ship repair and offshore bunkering sectors are in trouble, with critical infrastructure needed to ensure we can export produce to global markets. If we can succeed in ushering tourists onto the streets of Cape Town, and wine and dine them in world class facilities, surely we can also send more coal to China or apples to Amsterdam?  
We need to take heart from our strengths in order to overcome our failures.

John Lawson
CEO of the Cape Chamber of Commerce & Industry