Tourism stakeholders gather to breathe life back into the industry
28 February 2021
With the tourism industry facing economic challenges, the City’s official destination marketing and management organisation, Cape Town Tourism (CTT), held their most recent strategic planning session to get a thorough understanding of the current state of the industry and to plot the way forward to breathe life back into the sector.
It is generally accepted that the tourism sector has been among the hardest hit during the Covid-19 global pandemic.
To formulate the best possible interventions needed to get the industry back on track, CTTs’ Board, management and key stakeholders met over two days to gain an in-depth understanding, based on destination and industry intelligence, as to the current situation in Cape Town, South Africa and globally.
The workshop then moved on to discuss how best to move forward, including what plans and campaigns are needed to rebuild traveller confidence and to successfully market Cape Town as the destination of choice.
‘At the beginning of the pandemic, I convened a Tourism Task Team to support businesses in the tourism and related sectors weather the storm. I am mindful that many businesses are struggling, but am pleased that green shoots of recovery are starting to show, including the return of some key international airlines,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management, Alderman James Vos.
‘While our industry is in crisis, and our members are in survival mode, we are resilient and now more than ever, all stakeholders need to pull together with one voice and purpose. We need to see this as a reset of our industry, in the way we do things to ensure its recovery and sustainability. We know the road ahead will be hard, however as industry, we all love Cape Town and we need our citizens to feel this too, and in doing so, get ready to welcome the world again and give them the same feeling,’ said CTT Board Chairperson, Brett Hendricks.
‘Our ten-point tourism strategy embraces international best practice and includes campaigns to stimulate supply and demand for specific key source markets to drive the various stages of recovery and readiness.
‘The visitors’ economy is everyone’s business and is a significant driver of economic growth and job creation. With the right plans, I am confident that we can get the sector back on its feet and share all the wonders that Cape Town has to offer safely,’ said Alderman Vos.
To view a video of Alderman Vos discussing the ten-point tourism strategy, click here: https://youtu.be/-66YFKDCa8Y
To view a presentation on the ten-point tourism strategy, click here: https://bit.ly/3rHrY4I
End
Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
