Last year the number of cruise passengers worldwide recovered from the impact of COVID-19. At the same time, the cruise industry's global revenue almost caught up with pre-pandemic levels, exceedingUS$25 billion (R448,5bn), according to Statista .
Its clear that cruising is booming, so Travel News sat down with Ross Volk , MD of MSC Cruises South Africa, to find out what needs to be done to make this great revenue generator boom for the benefit of the economy of South Africa.
At the outset, Volk noted that tourism was one of the most fundamental sectors in South Africa and that it could alleviate a significant amount of the countrys poverty.
People want to interact with people, especially when they're on holiday. They want to see the friendly nature of South Africa. So for me, we need to look at cruising as a national imperative to make the tourism industry grow and create more jobs.
Volk believes cruise tourism needs to be driven by a collective government and private sector approach.
