Based on accommodation bookings, a most devastatingly poor September lies ahead for the first three weeks of the month. Tourism players can be grateful that the 24 September public holiday falls on a Thursday, which can lead to locals making a four-day long weekend of it.
Rarely has a September looked so poorly booked ahead in Camps Bay, and Franschhoek. The Garden Route remains severely depressed. Hermanus looks a little better, especially with the Whale Festival over the long weekend having attracted good bookings ahead. But the weekends earlier in September are not yet heavily booked.
August, by contrast, was well booked ahead, and the Italian market was a most welcome buffer against the credit crunch. Whale Cottage Camps Bay ended off the month with an occupancy of 60 %, and 50 % for Whale Cottage Hermanus.
FEDHASA Cape too has admitted that Western Cape accommodation has “taken a battering” this winter, reports Tourism Update Online. “The five-star market has taken the biggest battering, but low-end accommodation seem to have fared better” said the hotel association’s Rey Franco. He says that predictions for bookings ahead vary from good, to same as, and bad compared to a year ago.
Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com
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