9 July 2010
Cape Town has reaffirmed its status as one of the world’s top tourism destinations by being named Africa’s best travel destination in the World Travel Awards – the third consecutive year in a row that the city has won this prestigious award.
The Mother City was bestowed with its latest major travel industry award in Johannesburg on 7 July. In November last year, Cape Town won the 2009 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Award in the Best Destination category.
The World Travel Awards, which were established in 1993, are seen as the “Oscars” of the travel industry.
High concentration of major events
Alderman Felicity Purchase, the City of Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for economic development and tourism and Mansoor Mohamed, the city’s executive director of economic, social development and tourism, received the award on behalf of the city.
“This recognition is very important as it reaffirms Cape Town’s global positioning as a highly attractive tourism destination,” said Mohamed. “The city boasts one of the highest concentrations of major events on the African continent, which includes the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, the Argus Cycle Tour, the Two Oceans Marathon and Design Indaba.
“The City of Cape Town will continue to use major events to attract visitors to Cape Town. Mega events such as the 2010 Fifa World Cup are valuable for legacy projects, whereas major events provide the annual recurring benefits,” said Mohamed.
Alderman Purchase said: “Cape Town is reaping the benefits of establishing and maintaining an excellent tourism infrastructure. The City of Cape Town is constantly enhancing the city’s tourism assets and we are building skills and improving opportunities in our tourism sector.
“All of these efforts support the city’s key strategy of infrastructure-led economic growth.”
‘Very highest achievement’
The World Travel Awards was launched in 1993 to acknowledge and recognise excellence in the world’s travel and tourism industry. Now celebrating its 17th anniversary, the awards are regarded as the very highest achievement that a travel product could ever hope to receive.
Votes are cast by 183 000 travel professionals, which include travel agencies, tour and transport companies, and tourism organizations in over 160 countries across the globe.
Votes are cast globally by fellow industry professionals in over 1 000 different categories.
Source: Cape Town Partnership
