On 30 May 2019, Council approved a three-year agreement between the City of Cape Town and Cape Town Tourism for in-destination and visitor services, tourism marketing and special City projects, until 2022.
This holistic agreement affords Cape Town Tourism a period of continuity to focus on and execute areas of the revised Tourism Development Framework (TDF).
The strategy sets out five new focus areas that include ensuring visitor comfort, improving and diversifying products and experiences, stimulating demand, generating community involvement and benefit, and organising for growth.
‘My immediate priority is to oversee the implementation of the TDF with our partner Cape Town Tourism and the tourism industry, to facilitate sustainable job creation in a depressed economic climate. This will help to establish ‘tourism-preneurs’ while transforming the tourism landscape in Cape Town into a thriving tourism business ecosystem that drives demand,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management, Alderman James Vos.
Currently, the tourism economy in Cape Town sustains around 150 000 jobs in total, making it the sector with the highest growth and employment potential.
This approach and emphasis showcase the importance of bringing to life new products and experience in areas that were previously marginalized and excluded from the tourism landscape.
Cape Town Tourism is a unique service provider that lends itself to providing world-class tourism marketing and destination management services as well as an integrated visitor information service network (in-destination and out- of-destination) that ensures maximization of tourism resources.
‘With the expansion of the Cape Town International Airport and additional flights coming to Cape Town, I believe that with our domestic focus and global outlook, our city will experience positive growth with maximum economic opportunities. This will demonstrate that this is an inclusive city and we are ready to take tourism to the next level,’ said Alderman Vos.
The CEO of Cape Town Tourism, Enver Duminy added: ‘In South Africa’s current sluggish economy, tourism is one of the few sectors capable of showing growth and of providing opportunities for new jobs and for new business development. More than any other part of the country, Cape Town and its surrounding areas can benefit in significant ways.
‘We at Cape Town Tourism are thrilled that the new tranche of funding from the City will allow us to continue our efforts to make Cape Town a bucket-list destination the world over. We thank the City of Cape Town for this vote of confidence in Cape Town Tourism. As a voluntary tourism member organisation, we appreciate the importance of this endorsement and will continue with our best efforts in growing the tourism demand to our city through innovative and inspirational tourism programmes, campaigns and initiatives with the support of our evolving tourism sector partners.’
‘It was my pleasure to move this report for adoption as I am motivated by the value proposition of tourism for our city,’ added Alderman Vos.
