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They’ve done it again. In a record-smashing year for tourism, Cape Town International Airport glided into third place in the rankings of Best Airports Worldwide.

AirHelp, a leading pioneer in customer service claims whose app allows passengers to report flight disruptions with ease, ran a global study that gathered data from over 4,000 airports. Approximately 194 airports with the most footfall were shortlisted in the final rankings.

Over 15,800 individuals were asked to rate factors such as queueing times and cleanliness, as well as the quality of food and shopping options. The category that carries the most weight in the study, however, is On-Time Performance. And it’s in this field where Cape Town International comes out as number one.
Beating the other top contenders in flight punctuality is a huge achievement for the airport, especially after the year it’s had (2023 saw it receive 2.8 million international travellers – a record-breaking feat). In December alone, the highest-ever monthly footfall of 317,000 tourists touched down in the city. The airport’s capacity to cope with this influx whilst still winning gold in On-Time Performance cements its place as a thriving airport hub on the world stage.

Booming Tourism Market

The booming tourism market is down to some serious efforts from local governing bodies, riding the international trends that favour the city. Flight scheduling has played a crucial part in growing the city’s global connectivity.
In addition, Cape Town Air Access has gone to great lengths to build several international flight routes. Simply put, this gives more people around the world the chance to hop on a plane to the city. That said, the 87% of visitors that travel from off-continent aren’t just flying in because more planes are.
Flights to far-flung locations don’t seem like such a scary commitment anymore, especially as technology for integrated holiday bookings has improved in leaps and bounds. Tech tools courtesy of travel agencies like eDreams, for example, make it easier to plan both bookings and itineraries for further afield destinations like Cape Town. Features such as monthly price calendars are designed with user experience in mind, plus a variety of services including flights, accommodation and car hire options mean that people can plan/book all aspects of their trip conveniently in one search.

Flexible Working

With digital nomad lifestyles and remote working now the new normal, South Africa’s convenient timezone also continues to draw the European market, which makes up the top proportion of visitors to the country. However, this isn’t the only trend boosting Cape Town’s tourism to the next level.
In the last few years, responsible travel has swiftly taken centre stage as the way to holiday right. In many ways, Cape Town’s recent arrival on the tourist map is a blessing as it now means local authorities are making sure this only goes to benefit the residents of the region.
This local-global bond is taking on a whole new meaning with Cape Town Tourism’s ‘Glocal’ initiative. As reported by Zawya, the upcoming partnership sees three mega tourist destinations (New York, Berlin and Cape Town) collaborate in a world-first destination marketing endeavour.

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