Superyacht Cape Town Highlights Unexplored Superyacht Destination
The South African Marine Industry is excited with the development of Superyacht Cape Town, an initiative driven by Veda Pretorius a well known local industry personality.
Superyacht Cape Town was born out of Veda’s passion for Cape Town to be experienced and enjoyed by superyacht owners, guests, and crew. It will closely collaborate with BlueCape, the South African Boatbuilders Export Council and the V & A Waterfront to offer invaluable insights and guidance for prospective superyacht visitors to Cape Town.
Cape Town is a sought-after stopover for global races and sailing events, attracting several superyachts annually. The V & A Waterfront is a mixed-use precinct in the city’s heart, encompassing a marina, luxury hospitality offerings and retail. The V&A recently confirmed plans to increase its superyacht service offering, including a dedicated superyacht berthing facility. Sector stakeholders hope to position Cape Town Port as a hub for superyacht repairs and services and a springboard for Indian Ocean voyages.
Veda Pretorius, the founding member and Director of Superyacht Cape Town said:
“Cape Town is a world-class circumnavigation stopover where weary travellers arriving by sea, and air, are welcomed with our characteristic hospitality.
It is a luxury travel destination with provisioning and hospitality offerings to rival any global city. And yet so few superyacht owners and captains know about it.
The idea with Superyacht Cape Town is to provide honest and reliable information about Cape Town, promoting not only one company but the whole package.
We have a great relationship with the local industry, industry associations and the Waterfront, who all support this niche marketing platform”.
Bruce Tedder, SABBEX Chairperson, commented, “We are excited about the growth of Superyacht Cape Town, which has the full support of BlueCape and SABBEX. It is fantastic that we are getting traction as the development plans for the superyacht berths at the V & A Waterfront are in an advanced stage. We are seeing sizeable investment flow into the superyacht sector development locally, which will unlock growth not only in our award-winning boatbuilding sector, but it will spill over into the extreme sports and luxury tourism sector too.”
The newly launched website will also offer information about luxury travel and associated activities in Southern Africa. The site provides feedback from superyacht captains, some of whom pointed out the need for more local superyacht information.
Key trends in the global superyacht sector support the development of Cape Town as a superyacht hub. New itineraries and a drive to explore different destinations are well known. The rise of the exploration-type yacht is a testament to the desire of yacht owners to explore off the beaten track. Younger superyacht owners and charter guests have an appetite for extreme adventure tourism, which Cape Town excels at. There has been an increase in superyachts exploring the Indian Ocean islands, and Cape Town should be positioned as the next step in their global journey.
Veda Pretorius has been involved in the marine industry since 1999 when she started her career as a stewardess aboard superyachts in St.Maarten. After five action-packed years, she enjoyed a short stint in the UK before returning home to Cape Town. She was the first female CEO of the South African Boatbuilders Export Council (SABBEX), and the local industry association, Cape Town Boatbuilders Initiative, CTBi. She is presently the Chairperson of GMBA, Global Marine Business Advisors.
For more information visit superyacht-capetown.com
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