“The V&A Waterfront remains a key tourism hub for Cape Town as it is often one of the first places that visitors go when arriving in the city. I want to congratulate the CEO, David Green, and his team for taking proactive steps to continue offering a safe experience for visitors and adhering to the strictest hygiene regulations. We hope that leisure travel will be able to resume as soon as possible as the industry is the backbone of our local economy, having contributed more than R18bn in 2018. Cape Town is clearly taking the necessary safety steps to welcome the return of local and international travellers once the worst of this pandemic is over,” said Executive Mayor Dan Plato.
The V&A Waterfront joins Stellenbosch, as well as an international list of 80 top travel destinations and 1 200 companies around the world to be awarded the specially designed Safe Travels stamp, which is awarded once all health and hygiene protocols have been implemented.
The stamp will allow travellers and other travel and tourism stakeholders to recognise destination authorities and companies around the world that have implemented health and hygiene protocols aligned with the WTTC’s Safe Travels Protocols.
“I was pleased to read that as part of their response to the coronavirus, the V&A Waterfront has introduced intensified cleaning and sanitising of public areas, visitors are required to wear masks at all times and the number of visitors are limited in stores to promote social distancing. Contactless payment for parking, as well as click and collect drive-through shopping solutions have also been introduced,” said Mayor Plato.
By implementing best practice safety measures, we can get back to business. The City of Cape Town has written to national government to request the resumption of leisure travel to safeguard thousands of jobs. The unfettered reopening of travel and tourism sectors is crucial to saving this vital employment sector.
“Our local economy is facing its biggest threat in recent decades with the tourism industry especially hard hit. We must be allowed to get back to work, particularly in the tourism, hospitality and related sectors. Hundreds of thousands of jobs are on the line and we cannot afford to wait any longer. I believe that we can get on the road to readiness and recovery, but only if we reopen all sectors and implement the protocols to keep ourselves and others safe,” said Alderman James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management.
As soon as the borders open, after the worst of the pandemic is over, Cape Town will be ready to safely welcome international visitors to our shores again and remind visitors of our reputation as Africa’s Leading Events and Festival Destination.
