Cape Town Executive Mayor marks start of Tourism Month
01 September 2020
Alderman Dan Plato today visited the Two Oceans Aquarium, a key tourist attraction that receives nearly half a million visitors per year, half of whom are local. Another site, the iconic Table Mountain Cableway, also reopened today; and last month City Sightseeing Cape Town that operates the famous red buses, resumed tours in an effort to restart the tourism and hospitality sector.
‘We are very pleased that these attractions have reopened following the easing of national lockdown regulations. Cape Town is heavily reliant on the tourism economy and restarting these services is vital to our recovery. I am relieved to hear that the aquarium did not have to implement any job cuts and the City encourages residents to support local tourism activities where possible. The City today has officially launched its Bounce Back Strategy to revitalise the sector and is working with business to recover from the impacts of the national lockdown,’ said the City’s Executive Mayor, Alderman Dan Plato.
The aquarium has been closed since 18 March 2020, prior to the start of the hard lockdown, and employs 90 full-time staff members. Fortunately, none of the employees has lost their jobs.
A full reopening will be gradual as interactive tours at the Two Oceans Aquarium – such as feeding the penguins and other activities – are on hold due to COVID-19. These are planned to resume in the coming months.
Over the past few months, the City of Cape Town has been lobbying national government to allow more business sectors who were able to take the necessary safety precautions to get back to business and to relax some of the more stringent regulations.
We are very pleased that businesses can get back to work, and provide residents with an income.
Much work still lies ahead as the tourism sector is vital to the local economy and the City of Cape Town is looking forward to once again welcoming visitors from abroad when the international borders open.
A week ago the city was awarded The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) stamp of approval for producing safe travel protocols for use by the travel and tourism sector during the global pandemic. The protocols highlight best practice when it comes to COVID-19 and aims to help rebuild confidence in destinations around the world.
As the official Destination Marketing and Management Organisation for the City of Cape Town, Cape Town Tourism (CTT), has received the globally recognised Safe Travels Stamp and is now also able to issue the stamp to member businesses who adhere to the COVID-19 guidelines. The City of Cape Town is ready to resume tourism, safely in line with COVID-19 protocols.
As we are approaching warmer weather we hope international travel will soon resume so that we can further boost the path to recovery for the hospitality sector.
Cape Town has beautiful beaches, easily accessible hiking trails, inviting wine lands, some of the world’s best restaurants, adventure sports activities, the friendliest people and world class shopping.
We hope to be welcoming visitors to our wonderful city again, soon.
Photo caption: Two Oceans Aquarium CEO Michael Farquhar, the City’s Eecutive Mayor Alderman Dan Plato and Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management, Alderman James Vos tour the reopened aquarium to launch Tourism Month.
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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
