The City of Cape Town has renewed its agreement with its destination marketing partner, Cape Town Tourism (CTT), for a further three years.
“Having seen first-hand the value tourism creates for local communities while celebrating culture and natural beauty, I am deeply passionate about this industry. CTT’s past, current and planned performance bears testimony to its worth and commitment to amplifying the businesses that showcase Cape Town’s diverse offering to visitors,” said James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth.
He noted that CTT’s platform as a membership organisation enabled the City to act swiftly and effectively to combat the fall-out from the tourism and hospitality sector during the pandemic.
He pointed out that this had been achieved through sustained and innovative initiatives such as the ‘Find Your Freedom’ campaign – an interactive travel experience that allows users to virtually explore the Mother City – as well the Neighbourhood Experience Development training manual, to guide SMMEs in growing their businesses and cultural understandings.
“The results speak for themselves. Last month, Cape Town International Airport processed up to 30 663 passengers in a day. In May, domestic and international passenger numbers recovered to almost 80% of that in the same month in 2019,” he said.
Looking ahead, Vos said the key focus areas of the joint accelerated growth agenda were:
- enhancing the visitor experience;
- exploring domestic, continental and untapped markets; and
- embedding responsible tourism principles in tourism operations.
This is especially in light of the recent World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Economic Impact Report, which showed that South Africa’s tourism sector was forecast to grow at an average rate of 7.6% annually over the next decade, and by 2032, the sectoral contribution to GDP could hit more than R554.6 billion (€2.9bn). The report further found that the sector would create more than 800 000 jobs over the next 10 years.
‘Powerful synergies’
Enver Duminy, CEO of Cape Town Tourism, said: “We have powerful synergies and shared goals with the City that make us natural partners. Both of our entities have the overarching purpose to improve the lives of all Capetonians through tourism.
“We are passionate about community development and aim to shine a spotlight on our city in a way that has long-lasting benefits for our people. As we enter this post-pandemic chapter, our mission is to work together to hasten economic recovery and ensure optimal tourism readiness.”
Cape Town Tourism Board Chairperson, Brett Hendricks, emphasised the idea of impact: “A focus for us and the City is to use tourism to make a difference to the Cape’s SMME sector. We know our small businesses are key to job creation and the sustained upliftment of some of our most vulnerable communities. We want to work with these SMMEs to spotlight their ventures and drive footfall to the areas in which they operate.”
With the incorporation of community-based support, environmentally friendly practices, and broadening the sector’s contributions to local economic growth and job creation, Vos said the agreement would give rise to the future fit initiatives that could shorten the unemployment queue and realise more opportunities for more Capetonians.
