Cape Town opens 2026/27 cruise season as regional traffic grows
Pacific World began the season with 1,397 passengers, while South Africa and Kenya pursue broader tourism benefits from cruise calls.
Pacific World opened Cape Town’s 2026/27 cruise season on September 17, arriving with 1,397 passengers and 655 crew, according to Wesgro, the tourism, trade and investment promotion agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape.
The Seatrade Africa E-report recorded an increase in Cape Town’s cruise traffic from 70 vessels and about 78,000 passengers in 2022/23 to 79 vessels and 127,000 passengers in 2024/25. According to Seatrade, expedition calls also rose from five in 2023/24 to 16 in 2024/25.
Wesgro said cruise tourism contributed R4.34 billion to Western Cape GDP and R5.32 billion to South African GDP across three seasons, as well as R3.04 billion in cumulative foreign-exchange earnings. The Seatrade report said Mossel Bay, Hermanus and Saldanha Bay received 32,000 passengers across 26 ship visits in 2024/25, generating R47.5 million in local expenditure.
In March, the Kenya Wildlife Service introduced a 30% group incentive for cruise travelers visiting specified national parks, including Tsavo East, Tsavo West and Amboseli. Kenya’s government wants to increase the proportion of cruise passengers extending trips to parks and reserves from about 20% to 40%, estimating this could raise overall park revenues by up to 40%. A Ministry of Tourism calculation cited by the Kenya News Agency estimated that a short cruise stop could generate about Sh50 million.