cape town tourism annual report

Travel, Tourism & Hospitality

Tourism in Cape Town - statistics & facts

Post-pandemic recovery of tourism, performance of accommodations in cape town, natural tourist attractions received the most visitors, key insights.

Detailed statistics

Contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in South Africa 2005-2021

Total contribution of travel and tourism to employment in South Africa 2019-2021

Income generated from tourist accommodation in South Africa 2016-2023

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Holiday Activities

Number of visitors to tourists attractions in Cape Town 2020-2022, by attraction

Quarterly number of passenger arrivals at Cape Town International Airport 2021-2022

Accommodation

Occupancy rate of accommodations in Cape Town 2021-2023

Further recommended statistics

American Customer Satisfaction Index: travel and tourism industries in the U.S. 2024

American Customer Satisfaction Index for the travel and tourism sector in the United States in 2024, by industry

IT expenditure in the travel and tourism industry in the UK 2016-2022, by category

Expenditure on IT in the travel and tourism industry in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2016 to 2022, with a forecast to 2023, by category (in million GBP)

Share of tourism employees in Portugal 2022, by industry

Distribution of employees in the travel and tourism sector in Portugal in 2022, by industry

Contribution of China's travel and tourism industry to GDP 2014-2023

Travel and tourism industry's share of GDP in China from 2014 to 2022 with a forecast for 2023, by direct and total contribution

Change of travel and tourism industry's contribution to GDP in China 2012-2023

Growth of travel and tourism industry's contribution to GDP in China from 2012 to 2022 with a forecast for 2023

Key information on the global travel agency industry January 2024

Key data on the travel agency industry worldwide as of January 2024

City destinations with the highest direct travel and tourism GDP worldwide 2022

Leading city tourism destinations worldwide in 2022, ranked by direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP (in billion U.S. dollars)

Forecast city destinations with highest direct travel and tourism GDP worldwide 2032

Forecast leading city tourism destinations worldwide in 2032, ranked by direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP (in billion U.S. dollars)

Total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP worldwide 2019-2033

Total contribution of travel and tourism to gross domestic product (GDP) worldwide in 2019 and 2022, with a forecast for 2023 and 2033 (in trillion U.S. dollars)

COVID-19: job loss in travel and tourism worldwide 2020-2022, by region

Employment loss in travel and tourism due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic worldwide from 2020 to 2022, by region (in millions)

Global travel and tourism expenditure 2019-2022, by type

Total travel and tourism spending worldwide from 2019 to 2022, by type (in trillion U.S. dollars)

Leading European city tourism destinations 2019-2022, by number of bed nights

Leading city tourism destinations in Europe from 2019 to 2022, by number of bed nights (in millions)

Travel & tourism development rank India 2011-2021

Travel & tourism development rank (TTDI) for India between 2011 and 2021

Total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in India 2013-2023

Total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in India from 2013 to 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Number of travel and tourism jobs in China 2019-2033

Total number of travel and tourism industry jobs in China from 2019 to 2022 with forecasts for 2023 and 2033 (in millions)

Contribution of travel and tourism to GDP of India 2019-2022

Contribution of the travel and tourism sector to the GDP of India from 2019 to 2022, with projections for 2023

Contribution to GDP from the travel and tourism industry GCC 2021, by country

Contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from the travel and tourism industry in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in 2021, by country

HICP inflation rate of travel and tourism services in the EU 2024

Harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) inflation rate of travel and tourism services in the European Union (EU-27) in March 2024, by industry

Contribution of the tourism industry to GDP Indonesia 2016-2021

Contribution of the tourism industry to the gross domestic product (GDP) in Indonesia from 2016 to 2021

Tourism industry direct contribution as share of GDP Malaysia 2013-2022

Direct contribution of the tourism industry as a share of the gross domestic product (GDP) in Malaysia from 2013 to 2022

Employment in the travel and tourism industry in Algeria 2019-2021

Contribution of the travel and tourism industry to employment in Algeria from 2019 to 2021 (in 1,000 jobs)

Trainees for tourism and travel merchandising in Germany 2002-2022

Number of trainees for tourism and travel merchandising in Germany from 2002 to 2022

Tourism value added as a share of industry GDP New Zealand 2014-2023

Tourism value added as a share of industry GDP in New Zealand from 2014 to 2023

Annual spending on online travel and tourism services in Turkey 2023

Annual spending on online travel and tourism services in Turkey 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Travel and tourism: share of global GDP 2019-2033

Share of travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP worldwide in 2019 and 2022, with a forecast for 2023 and 2033

GDP share generated by travel and tourism in Italy 2019-2022

Share of travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Italy in 2019 and 2022

Travel and tourism: share of GDP in the EU-27 and the UK 2019-2022, by country

Share of travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in European Union member countries (EU-27) and the United Kingdom (UK) in 2019 and 2022

Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Italy 2019-2022

Total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Italy in 2019 and 2022 (in billion euros)

Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in France 2019-2022

Total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in France in 2019 and 2022 (in billion euros)

Leading global travel markets by travel and tourism contribution to GDP 2019-2022

Total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in leading travel markets worldwide in 2019 and 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Europe 2019-2022

Total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Europe in 2019 and 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Global travel and tourism expenditure 2019-2022, by tourist type

Total travel and tourism spending worldwide from 2019 to 2022, by type of tourist (in trillion U.S. dollars)

Leading European countries in the Travel & Tourism Development Index 2021

Leading European countries in the Travel & Tourism Development Index (TTDI) in 2021

Leading countries in the Americas in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2021

Leading countries in the Americas in the Travel & Tourism Development Index (TTDI) in 2021

Percentage change in bed nights in leading European city tourism destinations 2022

Percentage change in number of bed nights in leading city tourism destinations in Europe in 2022

Total travel and tourism GDP contribution APAC 2022-2033, by country

Total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in the Asia-Pacific region in 2022, with forecasts for 2023 and 2033, by country or territory (in billion U.S. dollars)

Travel and tourism's total contribution to employment in Russia 2019-2023

Total contribution of travel and tourism to employment in Russia from 2019 to 2023 (in million jobs)

Contribution of travel and tourism to employment in Canada 2019-2022

Contribution of travel and tourism to employment in Canada in 2019 and 2022 (in millions)

Tourism spending in Russia 2019-2022, by travel purpose

Travel and tourism spending in Russia from 2019 to 2022, by purpose (in billion U.S. dollars)

Online travel and tourism expenditures in Poland 2023

Annual spending on online travel and tourism in Poland in 2023, by type (in million U.S. dollars)

Share of employment in travel and tourism in the Caribbean 2022, by country

Jobs in the travel and tourism sector as share of total employment in the Caribbean in 2022, by country or territory

Annual average CPI inflation rate of travel and tourism services in the UK 2019-2023

Annual average consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate of travel and tourism services in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2019 to 2023, by industry

Most popular travel and tourism websites worldwide 2024

Most visited travel and tourism websites worldwide as of April 2024 (in million visits)

Countries with the highest travel and tourism employment worldwide 2019-2022

Countries with the highest total contribution of travel and tourism to employment worldwide from 2019 to 2022 (in million jobs)

U.S. travel agency industry market size 2012-2022

Market size of the travel agency sector in the United States from 2012 to 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Travel and tourism's direct contribution to GDP in Amsterdam, Netherlands 2019-2022

Direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Amsterdam, Netherlands from 2019 to 2021, with a forecast to 2022 (in billion euros)

Travel and tourism's direct contribution to GDP in Vienna 2019-2022

Direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Vienna, Austria from 2019 to 2021, with a forecast to 2022 (in billion euros)

Travel and tourism's direct contribution to GDP in Venice 2019-2022

Direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Venice, Italy from 2019 to 2021, with a forecast to 2022 (in billion euros)

Travel and tourism's direct contribution to GDP in Munich 2019-2022

Direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Munich, Germany from 2019 to 2021, with a forecast to 2022 (in billion euros)

Travel and tourism's direct contribution to GDP in Dublin 2019-2022

Direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Dublin, Ireland from 2019 to 2021, with a forecast to 2022 (in billion euros)

Further reports

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• Western Cape

Finance, Economic Opportunities and Tourism (WCPP)

City of cape town: outcomes of 2022/23 tourism strategy, 23 june 2023, chairperson: ms c murray (da), meeting summary.

The Standing Committee on Finance, Economic Opportunities, and Tourism received a briefing from the City of Cape Town (CoCT) and Cape Town Tourism (CTT) on the outcomes of their tourism strategy for the 2022/23 tourism season and the challenges experienced. It was also briefed on “Unlocking Cape Town’s Tourism Potential”.

The Committee noted the shared successes highlighted by the CoCT and CTT. However, it expressed concern that more than one entity was attempting to obtain mileage from the same initiatives. It recommended that duplication should be prevented, and emphasised the need for funding allocated to provincial tourist economic initiatives and opportunities.

Members noted that municipalities interpreted their roles in tourism in various ways. Some municipalities in-sourced tourism to a large extent, while others contributed financially to new ventures. They asked what the CoCT and CTT would advise rural municipalities on their tourism products. They emphasised the importance of partnerships with local municipalities, and asked what would be done to enhance these partnerships, especially in rural areas. They called for improved prosperity, human capacity, job creation and development of local municipalities.

Meeting report

The Committee expressed its gratitude to Alderman James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member (MMC): Economic Growth, City of Cape Town (CoCT), and Mr Enver Duminy, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Cape Town Tourism (CTT), for presenting the briefing.

City of Cape Town Tourism and Place Marketing 2023 Performance and Outlook

Cllr Vos took Members through the presentation.

Bounce Back Plan

To achieve increased volumes and greater value: The core strategic drivers underpinning Cape Town’s Bounce Back Plan are to instil traveller confidence; embed an adaptive capability and ensure differentiation on the global stage. These responses are delivered in two phases: Adjustment and Recovery:

• Create a tourism-related job in every house
• Implement TDF to grow the tourism economy
• Position Cape Town as premier destination 6-Pillars
• Drive affordability and accessibility
• Carry out Responsible Tourism

Tourism Development Framework (TDF) 2024 Priority Areas:

• Ensuing visitor comfort
• Improving and diversifying products and experiences
• Stimulating demand
• Generating community involvement and support
• Organising for growth

Members were taken through improvements to safety and security, visitor communications, iconic site improvements, destination marketing, leveraging tourism events, strategic interventions, product development, international agreements and cooperation and destination enhancement events.

The presentation also addressed the COCT department of enterprise and investment - since 2016, the City’s Enterprise & Investment Department has engaged over 602 companies and organisations that has supported investment projects valued at over ZAR33bn, and the creation of 1 500+ direct jobs

Unlocking Cape Town’s Tourism Potential

Mr Duminy took Members through the presentation. He emphasised that the CTT was led by the White Paper on Tourism and legislation. It subscribed to the principle that tourism must be government-led, private sector-driven, and community supported. It was essential in the work conducted, and was vital at a national level.

A commonality in most communities was visible tourists as an indicator of tourism. On the other side, when there was a low number of tourists, creating a hub of employment opportunities was important. This was opposed to forcing tourism, where there was a low potential for fast growth.

Recovery from the effects of the pandemic was still underway, and was an ongoing process. Most companies which had survived had incurred huge debts to keep their staff and structures in place. The loans had to be recovered out of the net profits.

(See documents for details)

Mr A van der Westhuizen (DA) thanked the presenters for the insightful briefing. The Committee’s main responsibility was provincial oversight.

He noted the shared successes highlighted by the CoCT and CTT. However, he also noted that more than one entity attempted to obtain mileage from the same initiatives.

He emphasised the funding allocated to provincial tourist economic initiatives and opportunities. He asked the CTT to expand on its relationship with Wesgro and provincial tourism initiatives. Where did the CoCT and CTT differentiate their focus to prevent duplication?

Municipalities interpreted their roles in tourism in various ways. Some municipalities in-sourced tourism to a large extent, and others contributed financially to new ventures. What would the CoCT and CTT advise rural municipalities on their tourism products?

On local tourism, opportunities to promote visits to Cape Town were often done through persons, not in the tourism field -- for example, academics. To what extent did the CoCT and CTT logistically support such persons and initiatives?

Mr G Brinkhuis (Al Jama-ah) said he was encouraged by the promotion of Cape Town’s tourism, adding that it was one of the top global destinations. Cape Town had positive ties with the United States (particularly New York) and Germany (particularly Berlin). He encouraged Cape Town’s participation in tourism opportunities in the context of the Far and Middle East.

Mr I Sileku (DA) appreciated the local tourist developments in the township areas. What challenges and successes arose from business collaborations in the township communities?

He stressed the importance of partnerships with local municipalities, and asked what could be done to enhance these partnerships, especially in rural areas. He called for improved prosperity, human capacity, job creation, and development of local municipalities.

City of Cape Town

Cllr Vos responded to the question about the relationship between the CoCT and its entities, and said it had service delivery partnerships with all its entities. He supported partnerships with strategic business entities. Special purpose vehicles were funded with specific objectives in mind, to extract the best economic value.

The municipality had to work within the guidelines of the Municipal Systems Act. The Act provides guidelines on how it transacts with the special purpose vehicles, and the special levies or delivery agreements. Such agreements were drafted with consideration ahead of time. It was also specified with whom the entities may collaborate. Specific contracts had specific deliverables.

Tourism was a means to real economic growth and job creation. It was a driver of business growth. It also ensured that there was one job in every household.

The service agreement with Wesgro was specific, because the provincial government funded it for investment and tourism promotion. Wesgro existed because of a provincial act, and was thus a sound partnership.

The CoCT funded its programmes as a delivery agent for specific programmes aligned with the city’s economic growth plan. The programmes were investment promotion, export promotion, conventions bureau, air access, and crews. This was to ensure that there was no confusion or duplication. Concerning "Day Zero," for example, the CoCT, Wesgro and all the industry bodies had collaborated in putting out a single message to avoid a confused audience and provide a clear message on mitigation and what was on offer. There was a very specific joint campaign.

In the CoCT, a specific department deals with the tourist aspects of the city. A lean team leads the implementation of programmes and collaborates with relevant agencies, including Wesgro. It was mindful of its budget and thus had a budget with a specific timeframe and deliverables' objectives.

The CoCT was marketed on the basis of six pillars, including destination development within communities. It also included collaboration with neighbouring municipalities, as tourism had no boundaries.

It had four sister agreements with cities in China, including investment, tourism and trade. Similarly, it signed an agreement with the city of Dubai in the Middle East in 2019.

Africa was the biggest resource market in the area of trade, so the CoCT focused more on exports and trade with African countries.

Cape Town Tourism

Mr Duminy said that CTT and Wesgro share their plans to make it more practical and to avoid duplication. If there was duplication, the plans were rewritten accordingly.

There was also a partnership on air access, so CTT was not just a partner with the CoCT on marketing and management.

The awards that had been won reflected not only the province’s achievements, but also the country's in the context of a global economy. Much time should be spent on the digital component.

CTT conducts destination marketing and management. It focuses on quality product delivery.

One of the challenges was underfunding. Tourism was seen as a low priority in household budgets, especially due to the high level of unemployment.

Loadshedding also impacted the cost of doing business, as alternative energy sources were costly. Government did not subsidise tourism, which pushed up product prices.

CTT hosts township sessions every second month in different communities and with different products. Major challenges include loadshedding, which greatly affects small businesses. Another major challenge was the perception of safety and managing negative media coverage.

Local and rural municipalities must collaborate with tourist business entities on joint activities. Business tourism includes events and conferences. Applications were encouraged through formalised event structures in the city.

Advisory meetings were held regularly between CTT and rural municipalities. CTT did not compete with rural municipalities.

The Chairperson thanked the presenters for the discussion and participation.

Committee matters

The Committee considered the draft Annual Activities Report for 2022/23, and the draft minutes of the previous meeting held on 17 March. The minutes and report were unanimously approved and adopted.

The Chairperson thanked Members for their attendance. 

The meeting was adjourned.

Follow this committee

• Cape Town Tourism Presentation
• CoCT & CT Tourism Presentation

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You are here, wc tourism keeps growing - first quarter tourist arrivals via air up by 16%.

"Western Cape, you absolute beauty! Our province continues to shine as a destination in high demand. Tourist arrivals to Cape Town by air recorded a remarkable 16% year-on-year increase between January and March 2024, reaching 336,268 visitors. This not only shows a significant recovery but also surpasses the 2019 figure for the same period.  We are thrilled to welcome the world to our vibrant region because more tourists mean more jobs in the province,” celebrated Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, Mireille Wenger.

This is according to the first quarter tourism report for January to March 2024, compiled by the Western Cape Government’s (WCG) tourism, trade and investment promotion agency, Wesgro.

Other highlights from the report include:

• Between January and March 2024, the United Kingdom (UK) led as the top overseas air market to Cape Town, with Germany a very close second, followed by the USA, Netherlands and France in the rest of the top 5 positions. The first quarter of 2024 showed a strong European presence, with 8 out of the top 10 source markets originating from the continent. Overseas air arrivals to Cape Town during the period January and March 2024 reflected full recovery from 7 out of the top 10 source markets to Cape Town versus January to March 2019. These markets included the UK, Germany, USA, Netherlands, Canada, Belgium and Ireland. (Source: StatsSA)
• Between January and March 2024, Namibia led as the top air market from the African continent to Cape Town, with Zimbabwe in a very close second position. Angola, Mozambique and Kenya followed in the rest of the top 5 positions. Air arrivals to Cape Town from the rest of Africa during the period January and March 2024 reflected full recovery from 8 out of the top 10 source markets to Cape Town versus January and March 2024. These markets included Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Botswana, Tanzania and Ghana. (Source: StatsSA)
• Cape Town International Airport (CTIA’s) international terminal saw a 17% year-on-year two-way passenger growth in March 2024, with 318,366 two-way passengers, reflecting an even stronger growth rate on the back of a 13% increase recorded in January 2024 and 14% in February 2024. Meanwhile, the domestic terminal recorded a 11% year-on-year two-way passenger growth in March 2024, with over 640 000 two-way passengers passing through the terminal. George Airport recorded 70,640 two-way passengers in March 2024 and in relation to 2019, the year-to-date passenger movement between January and March 2024 recovered by 98%. (Source: ACSA)
• While air routes are hard at work bringing in the visitors, the 53 participating Western Cape attractions across the six regions of the Western Cape recorded a total of 2,587,808 visitors between January and March 2024, a 23% growth in the number of visitors when compared to January – March 2023.
• Table Mountain National Park (951,767);
• Table Mountain Aerial Cableway (346,277);
• Table Mountain National Park: Cape of Good Hope (299,392);
• Table Mountain National Park: Boulders Beach (256 098); and
• Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden (205 207).
• Vrolijkheid Eco Venue (782%);
• Avalon Springs (400%);
• Stony Point Eco Venue (351%);
• Swartberg Nature Reserve (200%); and
• De Hoop Nature Reserve (185%) (Source: Western Cape Attractions & LTOs)

Minister Wenger added that “tourism is a cornerstone of our strategic economic initiative, G4J, or 'Growth for Jobs'. Our aim is bold: to stimulate our economy, attract investments, and create job opportunities that transform lives and lift many more residents from poverty to prosperity. To achieve this, we're setting ambitious targets, like doubling our visitor numbers by 2035, and working to remove obstacles to growth like the visa regime.”

“For every 100 international visitors, the Western Cape gains R2.1 million in direct tourist spend, adds R500,000 to our GDP, and creates two local jobs. This excellent performance underscores the importance of tourism for growth and job creation in our region.

“To continue to build on our impressive growth, the Western Cape Government recently launched the latest iteration of the R4 million Tourism Growth Fund, aimed at increasing visitor numbers, by continuing to build our destination, enrich our attractions, and expand our offerings—ultimately creating more jobs and prosperity across the province,” Minister Wenger concluded.

For more information on the fund and on how to apply, interested applicants can visit this website - https://www.westerncape.gov.za/site-page/economic-sector-support-tourism-growth-fund

Georgina Maree

Spokesperson for the Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities

(Responsible for the Provincial Treasury and the Department of Economic Development and Tourism)

Cell: 076 423 7541

Email:  [email protected]

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CAPE TOWN FOR CAPETONIANS

Western Cape tourism grows by 16% in first quarter

The Western Cape continues to shine as a popular destination, with tourist arrivals to Cape Town by air increasing by an impressive 16% year on year between January and March of this year, reaching 336 268.

Also read:  Wesgro plans to take young minds up Table Mountain through Roblox

This is according to Wesgro, the Western Cape Government’s tourism, trade, and investment promotion agency, in its first-quarter tourism report for the period January to March 2024.

Tourism is a cornerstone of the strategic economic initiative G4J, or ‘Growth for Jobs,’ and the government’s goal is ambitious: to stimulate the economy, attract investments, and create job opportunities that transform lives and lift many more residents from poverty to prosperity, according to Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC Mireille Wenger.

‘To achieve this, we’re setting ambitious targets, like doubling our visitor numbers by 2035, and working to remove obstacles to growth like the visa regime.’

Explore Cape Town and its surroundings with these incredible deals on cars for under R100 000. Find car listings  here .

‘For every 100 international visitors, the Western Cape gains R2.1 million in direct tourist spend, adds R500 000 to our GDP, and creates two local jobs. This excellent performance underscores the importance of tourism for growth and job creation in our region.’

Wenger said: ‘To continue to build on our impressive growth, the Western Cape government recently launched the latest iteration of the R4 million Tourism Growth Fund, aimed at increasing visitor numbers, by continuing to build our destination, enrich our attractions, and expand our offerings, ultimately creating more jobs and prosperity across the province.’

Wesgro CEO Wrenelle Stander said that between January and March, the UK ranked as the top overseas air market to Cape Town, followed by Germany, the US, the Netherlands and France.

European markets accounted for eight of the top ten source markets, indicating a full recovery from 2019.

Between January and March, Namibia was the leading African air market to Cape Town, with Zimbabwe a close second. Angola, Mozambique, and Kenya rounded out the top five.

‘Air arrivals to Cape Town from the rest of Africa during the period January and March reflected a full recovery from eight out of the top 10 source markets to Cape Town versus January and March 2024. These markets included Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Botswana, Tanzania, and Ghana,’ Stander said.

Cape {town} Etc discount:  Looking for things to do in the city, at half the price? Get exclusive offers  here .

WCED and Wesgro join forces to transform education and drive innovation

Picture:  Jean van der Meulen / Unsplash

Article written by Murray Swart

CapeTownETC

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May 17, 2024

Cape Cod Has a Big Septic Tank Problem

Cape Cod’s water is turning “pea-soup green”—and after decades of scientific detective work, we know why.

By Rachel Feltman , Barbara Moran , Kathleen Masterson , Madison Goldberg & Jeffery DelViscio

Anaissa Ruiz Tejada/ Scientific American

This story was co-published with WBUR in Boston and produced with assistance from the Pulitzer Center . Read WBUR’s coverage of efforts to improve Cape Cod’s water pollution , including a “ pee-cycling ” project being considered by one innovative town. And check out a documentary short exploring these issues that was co-produced by WBUR and Scientific American .

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On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing . By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

Rachel Feltman: Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is a magnet for summer tourists, with beaches, bays and ponds that draw millions of visitors from around the world. But now that water and that tourist economy are in jeopardy . Decades of pollution are destroying ecosystems and choking water with toxic algae.

For Science Quickly , I’m Rachel Feltman. Today we’ll hear the first installment of a three-part podcast Fascination from Science Quickly and WBUR.

Over the next three Fridays environmental correspondent Barbara Moran will take us on a trip to Cape Cod to show us where the pollution is coming from—and how communities are scrambling to clean it up.

Today’s segment is called “Loved to Death.”

Barbara Moran (tape): So wait—so you’re flipping through your phone. So what is that? That’s your place?

Andrew Gottlieb: So, yes, this was back on June 16.

Moran (tape): It looks like somebody poured green paint all over your beach.

Gottlieb: Yeah, I mean, it’s just—the stuff floats up at night and accumulates, pushed by the wind.

Moran (tape): Yuck.

Moran: Meet Andrew Gottlieb. He runs a nonprofit called the Association to Preserve Cape Cod . He lives by a pond in the town of Mashpee, in a home his family has owned for decades. And he’s showing me photos of his pond last summer full of cyanobacteria, more commonly called “toxic” or “blue-green” algae. There were other types of algae, too.

Moran (tape): Oh, my God, wait—go back to that one. What is that even?

Gottlieb: That’s another one. That’s a different part of the [pond].

Moran (tape): It’s like lettuce.

Gottlieb: Two days earlier.

Moran (tape): It’s like somebody spilled lettuce.

Gottlieb: Yeah.

Moran (tape): Ew.

Moran: A few months after the toxic algal bloom I’m visiting Andrew and his pond, and the water is crystal clear. We walk down his sloping backyard to a small dock.

Moran (tape): It’s amazing. I’m just looking at it, and it’s so clear now, and there’s all these fish. I mean, it looks great.

Gottlieb: Yeah, and the irony is: right before the “cyanobloom” in June, the water was gin clear. It looked great, you know, and we all let ourselves think, like, “Hey, maybe this is the year we’re gonna get away with it.” And then [snaps], you know, overnight …

Moran: Overnight came the worst cyanobacteria bloom that he’s ever seen.

Gottlieb: It was pea-soup green.

Gottlieb: It started earlier, it was more severe, and it lasted longer than anything we’d experienced.

Moran: A cyanobacteria bloom like this one gives off toxins that make the water dangerous for swimming. The town issued a health advisory, closing the pond for four weeks in the middle of summer. During that time Andrew’s sister sent him an old photograph. It showed their dad standing in that same pond decades ago.

Gottlieb: But what got my eye was the fact that in five feet of water, I could see my father’s feet ...

Moran: Because the water was so clear.

Gottlieb: Because the water was so clear. And then my father’s great-grandchildren were unable to be in that same water body. It’s awful.

Moran: Cyanobacteria blooms and other types of plant, algal and seaweed overgrowth are happening on the cape more and more. So what happened? Why is Cape Cod’s crystal clear water turning pea-soup green?

There are two parts to that answer: one scientific; one historical.

[CLIP: Theme music and introduction in an episode of the television program America! entitled “ The Cape, the Cod, and the Constant Sea .” Jack Douglas: “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, this [is] Jack Douglas.”]

[CLIP: “How We Met,” by Golden Age Radio ]

Moran: In the early 20th century most of Cape Cod was sleepy, and homes were spread out. In 1940 there were still only about 37,000 full-time residents on the whole peninsula.

[CLIP: Douglas: “Cape Cod in Massachusetts is certainly one of the most colorful and best-known capes in all the world; yet we’re told that less than 10 percent of America’s population have ever seen it.”]

Moran: That started to change after World War II. The population nearly doubled by 1960 and continued to rise in the following decades. Summer tourism boomed.

[CLIP: Douglas: “Commercial Street and the adjacent downtown streets look like this during the summer season. The sidewalks are jammed. The traffic is bumper to bumper.”]

Moran: Today there are almost a quarter of a million year-round residents and more than five million annual visitors —which, on the one hand, is great for the cape. The region now pulls in more than $1 billion from tourism every year.

But there was a downside to that boom. Back in the 1970s and 1980s people started to notice changes to Cape Cod’s water. Like, in some saltwater bays, the water turned murky, and it smelled bad.

Brian Baumgaertel: People started to recognize that the quality of our embayments, our estuaries was degrading.

Moran: This is Brian Baumgaertel, director of the Massachusetts Alternative Septic System Test Center . He’s an expert on Cape Cod’s water problems.

Baumgaertel: The people who were out on the water all the time were observing fish kills, oxygen depletion. They were starting to see areas where eelgrass was starting to die back. And I don’t think they fully understood what was going on at the time, but they knew that there was some sort of human-based impact.

Moran: But what—what exactly were humans doing that was impacting Cape Cod’s water?

[CLIP: “Running through the Dark,” by Roots and Recognition ]

Unraveling that took some scientific detective work. And the work grew more urgent over the years as the water got worse and worse. The Association to Preserve Cape Cod recently analyzed some of the cape’s ponds and most of its bays for its annual water quality report . The nonprofit rated more than a third of the freshwater ponds it analyzed and about 90 percent of the saltwater bays “unacceptable.”

To help us understand what happened I reached out to research scientist Javier Lloret—he goes by Javi for short.

He works at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole on Cape Cod. And right now he’s sitting on the marshy edge of a large pond, struggling to put on a bulky pair of waders.

Javier Lloret: This is probably the most difficult part of my job, having to wear these things.

Moran: Today he’s collecting samples from an estuary, an area where saltwater meets fresh. He’s been studying this body of water, Waquoit Bay, for about 10 years. Some parts of the bay are still relatively healthy, and some are really suffering.

Lloret: I always compare this to, like, a crime scene.

We have the dead body, which is the estuary that is suffering, you know, the consequences of extensive pollution. We also have the weapon: we have figured out that it’s actually the nitrogen.

Moran: Let’s stop for a second and make sure we got that. The weapon that’s wrecking Cape Cod’s water is nitrogen. Now, nitrogen is pretty useful as a fertilizer. But when too much of the nutrient gets into the water, it can be disastrous for an ecosystem , spurring the growth of cyanobacteria and all the wrong plants and algae.

Lloret: Humans have put a lot of nitrogen into the land. The nitrogen is carried by the groundwater, and basically what it does is that it makes algae to grow, like, out of control.

Moran: But where is the nitrogen coming from? There are a lot of potential sources: it could be coming from air pollution, where excess nitrogen settles into the water; or it could be fertilizer runoff from nearby homes and golf courses; or it could be seeping out of septic systems, tanks in people’s yards that hold wastewater from their houses. Which is the biggest source?

Well, scientists have figured out the main culprit, the bad guy that’s pouring most of that nitrogen into the cape’s water—and Javi’s gonna show us one of the key ways they did it.

[CLIP: Lloret grabs his tools and goes into the water]

Moran: To do that, he needs to collect samples of plants and algae from the mud at the bottom of the bay.

He wades into the water with a long metal pole—that’s the rattling you’ve been hearing. It has a spring-loaded scoop on the end. He hits the trigger and grabs a sample from the muddy bottom.

Lloret: And let’s see how we’ve done this time.

[CLIP: Lloret bangs the metal scoop on a bucket]

Moran: He shakes the sample into a bucket.

Moran (tape): It looks like you got some mud!

Lloret: I did, I got some mud, a little bit of sand and hopefully a little bit of plant life. First we’re going to need to filter.

Moran: Javi’s not interested in the mud—he’s interested in the plants and algae living on top of the mud. They can tell us where the nitrogen came from.

So he pours the sample into a mesh bag and washes the mud away.

[CLIP: Lloret washes the sample]

Moran (tape): Right, so you’re sort of rinsing it off there, and you end up with—oh, there’s a shell!

Lloret: Yeah, and some algae, right?

Moran (tape): Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, some green algae.

Lloret: Yeah, so we got a ribbed mussel shell. There’s a little bit of algae.

Moran (tape): Okay, so you’ll take this back to the lab and see what’s actually in there.

Lloret: Exactly.

Moran: These algae are a kind of macroalgae, better known as seaweed. They grew up feeding on the nitrogen in the water. So the nitrogen is now part of the algae.

But—and this is the key science bit—all nitrogen isn’t the same. It comes in different versions, called isotopes.

And it turns out that septic tank wastewater has a very distinctive mix of nitrogen isotopes. Air pollution has a different mix, and so does fertilizer. In other words, each possible culprit has a different chemical fingerprint.

And that seaweed in Javi’s bucket, it has the offender’s fingerprints all over it.

Lloret: So we actually do have that fingerprint of the wastewater all over the ecosystem that allows us to confirm, yeah, the source is precisely the septic systems of the houses.

Moran: Remember that Cape Cod population boom?

Very few towns built wastewater treatment plants, so most homeowners on the cape had to deal with waste from their toilets, sinks, showers and other appliances on their own—and that meant septic tanks. To this day about 85 percent of Cape Cod properties rely on septic systems , which discharge nitrogen and other nutrients directly into the sandy soil.

Decades of scientific detective work have found that those septic systems are the major cause of the cape’s water problems, though fertilizer and stormwater contribute as well. And Javi says nitrogen pollution is an issue well beyond Cape Cod.

Lloret: Like, I would consider this one of the major environmental problems of our time. We’re talking about that magnitude of a problem.

Moran: Wastewater and chicken manure feed algal blooms on Chesapeake Bay. Agricultural fertilizer runoff flowing down the Mississippi River contributes to the Gulf of Mexico’s annual “dead zone,” a low-oxygen area that can kill fish and other marine life.

But on Cape Cod, residents are being forced to face the problem head-on. Recently Massachusetts passed tough regulations that are forcing Cape Cod to clean up its water, and it’s costing hundreds of millions of dollars. Those big-ticket solutions—and the controversy surrounding them—will be our focus next Friday in the second part of this three-episode Scientific American –WBUR Fascination miniseries.

Feltman: Thanks for joining us. We’ll be back in your podcast feed on Monday with our weekly science news roundup. And tune back in next Friday for part two of the story you heard today.

This series is a co-production of WBUR and Scientific American . It’s reported and hosted by WBUR’s Barbara Moran.

Science Quickly is produced by Jeff DelViscio, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Rachel Feltman. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-checked this series, and Duy Linh Tu and Sebastian Tuinder contributed reporting and sound. WBUR’s Kathleen Masterson edited this series. Additional funding was provided by the Pulitzer Center .

For Scientific American ’s Science Quickly , I’m Rachel Feltman.