PRESS RELEASES
Cape Town Executive Mayor welcomes announcement of accolades from 2019 World Travel Awards
3 June 2019
Statement by the Executive Mayor, Alderman Dan Plato
Over the weekend, Cape Town International Airport was named Africa’s Leading Airport for the third consecutive year at the 2019 World Travel Awards Africa and Indian Ocean Gala Ceremony held in Mauritius. Table Mountain was named the top tourist attraction on the continent, trumping other popular destinations.
We are extremely excited that Cape Town has been acknowledged under these categories. Last year we were named the World’s Leading Festival and Events Destination and this year’s awards are further proof that Cape Town is a world-class location. We are proud of the work done by tourism entities in creating quality and appealing attractions and activities which display the natural beauty of Cape Town.
In Cape Town, over the last decade, the tourism sector has annually contributed between 2% and 3.5% to the local economy. A hundred and fifty thousand(150 000) people are employed in the local tourism and hospitality sector and with more projected growth, we can see even more employment opportunities being created.
We want to continue to drive this sector as more people travelling to Cape Town translates to more business for hotels, tourist attractions, tour operators, restaurants and the rest of the tourism value chain. As a local government partnering with the tourism sector, we see the importance of this industry in boosting the economy.
The City of Cape Town hosts various world-class events, generating hundreds of millions of rand in revenue, namely, the Cape Town Cycle Tour, HSBC Rugby Sevens, the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, and the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, which creates thousands of temporary and permanent jobs and attracts tens of thousands of visitors – these are but a few of the many events we host in our city. We want to continue to market our city as a top destination and create the conditions for economic growth through tourism as we see it as one of the key drivers of employment.
Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
