A joint trade and investment mission to the US by Wesgro and the City of Cape Town will include attendance at IMEX (an exhibition for incentive travel, meetings and events), in collaboration with the Western Cape Convention Bureau.

Alan Winde, Minister of Economic Opportunities, and Patricia De Lille, the Executive Mayor of the City of Cape Town, will be accompanied by officials from Wesgro, which has co-ordinated the mission, including CEO, Tim Harris.

The Western Cape team will host business-to-business meetings with representatives from the travel trade with the express purpose of attracting large-scale conferences to the destination. The mission will focus on boosting business tourism, film and the information and communication technologies sector.

Winde said North America was a strong and growing source market for tourism to the Western Cape. “In 2015, arrivals to Cape Town International Airport from North America increased by 16%.” He said the US was the province’s third top source market and added that over 162 000 US tourists travelled to the province in 2015. “We'll be seeking to put agreements in place that will allow us to build on this momentum.”

In addition to the attendance at IMEX, engagements will be conducted with the film industry to promote the Western Cape as a film destination.