The year 2023 was a prolific year for the City of Cape Town as it hosted more than 1 200 events. These contributed nearly R4-billion to the economy and created job opportunities for its citizens.
Prestigious events
From hosting Africa’s first Netball World Cup, the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, the first Formula E race in sub-Saharan Africa, the Loeries Creative Week, the return of Tweede Nuwe Jaar Minstrel Street Parade and many more – the year proved to be a success for the city’s sports, arts and culture sectors.
“Research studies on three key events hosted in the city during this period revealed a substantial R2-billion economic impact. This is a holistic impact on the economy, which includes direct and indirect economic impact, and destination marketing, among others.
Economic impact
“A further R1.9-billion in economic activity was generated by just 20 of the events hosted in the calendar year. This is the actual direct spend by event attendees, participants and event organisers in Cape Town. In addition, over 1.3 million people attended or participated in the top 40 events in 2023,” the city said on Thursday.
The City of Cape Town’s Events Permit Office permitted over 1, 200 events in the calendar year.
Cape Town had it all in 2023. From major international sporting events, top tier music concerts, cultural masterpieces and an abundance of lifestyle events. Through its Events Support Process, the city supported more than 170 events during the period.
Economic spin-offs
“The importance of these economic spin-offs from events cannot be overstated. We have seen over the last couple of years how events can become catalysts for growth for other sectors in the value chain. This includes accommodation and food, travel, local retail and tourism attractions here in Cape Town.
“We have also seen that an overwhelming majority of event organisers use local suppliers. [These are] for logistics, equipment rental, security, production, staffing and hospitality. Additionally, hosting a number of local and international events has helped tremendously in promoting Cape Town. [This helped promote it] as a premier tourism destination to a global audience.
City’s economy back to pre-pandemic buoyancy
“Event organisers have worked hard over the last 15 months with support from the City’s Events Department to get the events back in the direction we were headed before the pandemic. We would like to salute all involved for their hard work,’” the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, said.
The top 20 events hosted in Cape Town in 2023 created over 26 000 job opportunities for people in the greater events ecosystem. This includes security, catering, logistics, production and transportation, among others.
More planned for this year
The city is planning to keep the momentum for events going this year as well.
It has an exciting line-up in the events space, with the Tweede Nuwe Jaar Minstrel Street Parade kicking off a year. Also feature is the SA20 Final at Newlands, the Cape Town Carnival, Africa Travel Week, Comic Con Cape Town. The world champion Springboks will battle with the All Backs at DHL Stadium in September 2024.
For all the latest information on events in Cape Town, visit eventsincapetown.com. – SAnews.gov.za
