South African Business 2018 edition

OVERVIEW
The Port of Cape Town has
launched its dedicated cruise-ship
terminal, and the area between
the terminal and the Cape Town
International Convention Centre
is being developed. The precinct,
called the Yacht Club, includes a
hotel, residential and commercial
complex owned by the Amdec
Group, and will be linked to the
Waterfront by the extension of the
existing canal.
Elsewhere on the Foreshore, a
major development is in the works
which will include two Marriott
hotels. In the Cape Town CBD
there are going to be 500 new
rooms, courtesy of two Tsogo
Sun hotels, plus a smaller hotel in
the De Waterkant (Capital Mirage).
Tsogo Sun already operates several
hotels in greater Cape Town,
including three full-service hotels
in the city centre, the Cullinan,
Southern Sun Waterfront and
Southern Sun Cape Sun. The other
seven hotels cover five brands in
the Tsogo Sun stable. Elsewhere in
the Western Cape, Tsogo Sun has
hotels in Caledon, Beaufort West,
Mossel Bay and Plettenberg Bay.
The opening of the R500-
million Zeitz Museum of
Contemporary Art in the Victoria
& Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town
made a huge impact in 2017. With
a footfall of 24-million visitors going
through the Waterfront every
year, the Zeitz is well located to attract
good crowds. It is expected
to attract global art lovers as well.
The conversion of the old grain
silos which created 6 000m² of
gallery space was paid for by
the owners of the Waterfront,
Growthpoint Properties and the
Public Investment Corporation.
The Waterfront has two new hotels: Radisson Red and the Silo Hotel
attached to the Zeitz Museum.
The Port of Durban envisages a 32 000m² area that will cater for
two ships and at least 5 000 passengers. South Africa attracts 0.5% of
the world’s cruise-ship market which comprises about 15.4-million
passengers annually.
South Africa is bidding for the Rugby World Cup 2023. The bidding
committee claim that the tournament will produce an economic effect
of R27.3-billion (direct, indirect and “induced”). The plan envisages using
seven cities where existing infrastructure already exists. No major
building will be necessary as South Africa has good stadiums.
The international HSBC Rugby Sevens tournament was held for the
first time in Cape Town in 2015 and has been successful. The City of
Cape Town says that the tournament attracted more than 100 000 fans,
at least 25 000 of whom were international visitors. The local economy
benefited to the tune of R539-million.
Trends
The newest global trend in tourism, Airbnb, has come to South Africa.
A total of 394 000 visitors stayed in Airbnb accommodation in South
Africa in 2016, something that hoteliers and managers of guest lodges
will have to take into account for planning purposes. Roughly 50% of
the bed nights were taken up by foreigners with the majority visiting
the country’s three big metropolitan areas. Cape Town and Durban
showed the most growth, with 29 000 reported for Johannesburg.
The Airbnb visitors in South Africa are estimated at have engaged in
R2.4-billion worth of economic activity.
Another trend that is being explored is Halaal tourism, a global
market that is expected to reach $300-billion by 2026. The Western
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