“Looking at Cape Town solely from an aesthetic perspective, it is easy to see why tourists from all over the world are rating the city as a top travel destination. Breath-taking scenery and a multitude of attractions to explore, all make for a memorable visit. In addition, international travellers have the benefit of the low rand exchange rate when compared to international currencies, making a visit easy on the pocket,” says Jacques van Embden, MD and co-founder of urban property developers, Blok.
In January this year, Wesgro, the official Tourism Trade and Investment promotion agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape, reported that December 2015 was one of the city’s busiest holiday seasons yet. Some highlights included a 28% increase in visitors to the Table Mountain Aerial Cable Way and 43% more visitors to Robben Island Museum. A staggering 180,000 visitors visited the ever-popular V&A Waterfront on New Year’s Eve.
One trend that has no doubt emerged as a result of local travel to Cape Town, is semigration – meaning people moving from one part of the country to another in search of a better quality of life. “It all comes down to people starting to look at Cape Town as a place where they can settle and perhaps even raise their families too,” adds van Embden.
Up to 40% of buyers in Cape Town’s Atlantic Seaboard neighbourhoods are from Gauteng and the Cape is also seeing more buyers from KwaZulu-Natal. Besides the Atlantic Seaboard, the City Bowl and Central City neighbourhoods, as well as Wineland towns bordering Cape Town, are also attracting interest from around the country.
“There are numerous reasons for semigration. Two stand out for me. Firstly, technology increasingly allows many people to work anywhere. The omnipresent cloud and increasingly fast and affordable wireless internet connectivity are making the difference of being in and outside of the office almost negligible for entrepreneurs and knowledge workers. And when you need face-time with colleagues and clients, a two-hour flight connects you to the other major cities of South Africa,” shares van Embden.
“The second reason for semigration to Cape Town is the quality of life. From a range of great schools and the natural beauty of the Cape to its great climate and good infrastructure.”
He concludes, “The Cape is a great place to live and work, and more and more people are realising this, whether as tourists or prospective home-buyers. Cape Town will increasingly be the destination for semigration in South Africa.”
