Cape Town this week launches the Cape Town Design Route 2009, a map to 46 of the city’s creative and design highlights.
 
The launch, a partnership between Cape Town Tourism, Creative Cape Town and Interactive Africa, takes place at the annual Design Indaba being held in the city this week. The route map will be available free of charge from all Cape Town Tourism visitor information centres.
 
“Cape Town offers a wealth of creativity and expression. Much of this has, until now, remained uncharted,” comments CTT ceo, Mariëtte du Toit-Helmbold, “so we have created a tool to help visitors explore the original and fascinating design that is so iconic to Cape Town. Design is fast becoming one of Cape Town’s most appealing and distinctive characteristics.”
 
Design Indaba is followed during the last week of February by the performing arts festival, Infecting the City, which also explores visual arts and performance and includes an international cast.
 
CBD hotels are reporting high occupancies this week as 130 foreign delegates and 150 foreign buyers attend Design Indaba, while a delegation of 10 UK theatre directors and practitioners has jetted in to observe Infecting the City’s festival programme.
 
Du Toit-Helmbold says Cape Town’s popularity as a business, events and leisure tourism destination continues to grow. Almost two-thirds of all international meetings in South Africa take place in Cape Town and one out of every four international meetings in Africa take place in the Mother City.