The City of Cape Town wants to enhance Chinese tourism in the province, to take advantage of this currently untapped market. According to the UN World Tourism Organisation, Chinese tourism boasts the highest ‘outbound spending’ by country. The Far Eastern nation spent upwards of $250 billion (R4.33 trillion) on travelling abroad in 2024.
Second is the United States, who collectively spent $177 billion (R3.08 trillion). Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, Alderman James Vos, noted the potential of tapping into this market. Speaking at a trade mission in Shanghai, Vos said boosting Chinese tourism in the city would be a ‘game changer’ for the economy.
CHINESE TOURISM IN CAPE TOWN
“Cape Town is an incredible city, with a wide variety of attractions. However, last year, the whole of South Africa saw only 41 651 Chinese tourists visit. This is a mere fraction of the 100-million outbound Chinese tourists annually,” explained Vos.
However, Vos says there are encouraging signs for Chinese tourism in Cape Town. The city launched an ad campaign in conjunction with marketing experts, China Trading Desk, which received over 20-million impressions last year. China’s dominant instant messaging and social media app is WeChat, and this is where the ads were placed.
EXPANDED CAMPAIGNS
“We will now move to expand our reach to other major social platforms in China. Here we will leverage our growing library of Chinese-language content. This includes articles, brochures and destination videos,” Vos said. China Trading Desk says travellers from the region rely on social media to find destinations that are immersive, authentic and celebrate local communities.
It is expected that Home Affairs’ new Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS) – launched in February 2025 – will bolster repeat travellers from the region. The digital-only system allows Chinese tourism operators to upload applications online and get digital outcomes, usually within 24 hours. Since TTOS’s launch, it has sped up visa applications for 25 024 tourists from China and India.
But what do you think? Are you happy to see more Chinese tourism in Cape Town and South Africa in general? Be sure to let us know in the comments section below …
