Yachts, escorts, fine dining, strippers, oceans of chardonnay and big tips - Cape Town's leisure service providers are smiling all the way to the bank, thanks to delegates to Mining Indaba and the politicians in town for the State of the Nation speech last night.
Teazer's strip club said it was doing a roaring trade, and yacht charterers are raking in up to R65000 a cruise.
Budget car hire says business is up 19% from this time last year and five-star hotels are fully booked.
Anita, of the Cape Candy Girls escort agency, said there had been a "huge increase" in business this week.
"There's big money coming in. We wish events like this could happen all the time."
An escort from Gardens, near the parliamentary precinct, said it had been a good week.
"I got a lot of inquiries," she said.
Teazers owner Gregory Fedele said business had increased "without question" because of the influx of indaba delegates and the politically connected.
"We are fully booked" was the response from most five-star hotels around the city.
Tempest Car Hire's Carlo Willemse said business was up 2% to 3% on last year, and Budget's regional manager, Yvette Weinrich, said the group's Cape Town outlets had been experiencing "astronomical growth".
"I can't say if it's related to the indaba or the president's speech but we have had a 19% increase over last year," said Weinrich.
"We've brought in about 500 cars from our branches in Johannesburg, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape to meet the demand."
Craig Girdelstone, director of Waterfront Charters, said: "It's always busy for the Mining Indaba. Yacht charters have been booked out since last year. Trips range from R300 to R500 a head, with up to 140 people a trip, for two to three hours."
Mads Dube, manager of the Cape Town International Convention Centre's Marimba restaurant, said Mining Indaba delegates were enjoying the wine menu.
"I've sold about 80 bottles of wine in two days," he said.
The most popular choices were sauvignon blanc, pinotage and chardonnay.
He said delegates had been tipping up to 50% of their bills.
Business has also been pumping full throttle at Shimmy Beach Club.
"The indaba has definitely bumped up day and night business," said marketing manager Lisa Carey.
"We even had to open our Lounge Club during the week and get a DJ in every day."
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