Cape Town – South Africa’s oldest working harbour is finally set to get a luxury cruise terminal with the V&A Waterfront being announced as the preferred bidder by Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA).
TNPA said it had awarded V&A Waterfront the status of preferred bidder for an estimated R179 million investment in an agreement that includes operation, maintenance and transfer of ownership back to TNPA after 20 years.
The cruise industry is big business with conservative estimates set at about 10 000 visitors to the province each year, generating around R200m for the local economy.
In 2012 Transnet announced a multi-billion-rand plan to build a dedicated cruise liner terminal in Cape Town but a number of red flags have snagged the tender application process and indirectly stunting the growth of the industry to date.
The initial cruise terminal issue started when Cape Town’s cruise tourism received a knock after the Department of Home Affairs banned cruise liners longer than 200m from berthing at the Waterfront. Read More
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