"We are extremely pleased that KLM will upgrade their schedule to a daily flight from Amsterdam to Cape Town," said Wesgro CEO Tim Harris. Harris was speaking on behalf of Wesgro at the Garden of the Future exhibition to welcome the Dutch trade mission, focused on developing existing cooperation between South Africa and the Netherlands, to Cape Town.
"Cape Town is a very popular tourism destination for Dutch travellers and this group makes up the third largest group of visitors from Europe after tourists from the UK and Germany," says Harris. "We have seen marked growth in this route with the number of travellers between Netherlands and Cape Town having grown 9% year-on-year in Quarter 3 of this year."
According to Cape Town Air Access, a division of Wesgro, Dutch travellers represent 10% of Cape Town's European market and approximately 34% of these travellers chose indirect itineraries between Cape Town and Netherlands. On the current flight schedule, approximately 92% of all available seats on the Amsterdam to Cape Town route are filled. "This shows a definite demand for greater capacity on the direct route," said Cape Town Air Access Project Director Paul van den Brink.
The expansion of the route will reinforce the existing strong relationship between the Netherlands and the Western Cape. "Because KLM has been flying direct from Amsterdam to Cape Town for almost twenty years, Amsterdam has developed into an important transfer hub for passengers from North America to Cape Town," Harris said. The Netherlands is an increasingly important trade and investment partner of the Western Cape with substantial Dutch investors in the Cape such as Barentz Ingredients, Damen Shipyards, NileDutch, Smit Amandla Marine, and Barenbrug Seeds making a significant contribution to the local economy.
Cape investors in the Netherlands include Naspers and BosBrands who formed part of the Garden of the Future exhibition. "In 2013 the Netherlands was the most important export destination for products from the Western Cape worldwide and we are working to develop this relationship even further," said Harris.
