He says tourism grew from 30,000 visits a year before the cable car was built in 1970, to 150,000-plus one year after, News24 reported. Many people at first doubted the cable car would be successful due to the desert environment that included heat, heavy winds, dust storms and flash floods. The cable car had to be expanded in 2000, and now gets about 800,000 visits per year, Margalit said.