The province’s tourism authorities are now largely banking on local travellers to fast track the recovery of the sector
The Western Cape’s economy is slowly returning to life and is on track for strong growth as the country emerges from the third wave of Covid-19 infections.
Before Covid-19 struck, the Western Cape counted tourism as one of the mainstays of the provincial economy with the UK a key source market. On Thursday, Maynier released the latest provincial economic review and outlook report, which shows that activity at retail, recreation areas and workplaces is now only 10% less compared to pre-Covid-19 period — a substantial improvement on the April 2020 figures during the shutdown, at the peak of the first wave of Covid-19 infections. During the early stages of the lockdown, activity at these places was 80% lower than the corresponding period prior to lockdown.
“To compound the problem, we have been hit by other significant shocks, such as load-shedding, taxi violence and a cyberattack that collapsed operations at the port of Cape Town. But we are a resilient region, proven by our internationally recognised management of the drought, and our management of three waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, and although economic recovery will not be easy, we will reopen and recover in the Western Cape,” the MEC said.
In 2020, agriculture and agri-processing together contributed 8% to the total economic activity and provided 10.4% of all employment in the province, and accounted for 50% of national agricultural exports. The Western Cape contributes more than 90% of national exports of blueberries, bulk wine, pears, bottled wine and apples.
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