The global trend towards urban tourism has seen more and more travellers put cities on their wish lists and Cape Town Tourism will be one of the three city tourism organisation to co-sign the Three City Tourism Alliance agreement at this year’s Tourism Indaba on the anniversary of the announcement of the initiative at Indaba 2011. Indaba is one of the largest tourism marketing events on the African calendar and one of the top three ‘must visit’ events of its kind globally. The four day trade event attracts over 13 000 delegates from the tourism industry and general public.
The Three City Tourism Alliance sees Cape Town Tourism, Durban Tourism and Johannesburg Tourism putting their combined resources into a national partnership which markets their respective city tourism offering. The partnership introduces a new era for collaboration on events and trade shows, domestic and international marketing campaigns, information dissemination, collateral and online campaigns, as well as shared knowledge on an executive level.
An event coordinated by South African Tourism to be held on Sunday, 13 May 2012, at Maxis Cultural Village in Umlazi, will see an update on the progress made on this partnership over the last year and the official signing of the agreement by the three cities’ tourism organisations.
A delegation from Cape Town, including the City of Cape Town, Cape Town Tourism and dozens of tourism product owners, will be attending Indaba from 12 – 15 May 2012 and exhibiting on the Western Cape Pavilion at the Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban.
The Western Cape Pavilion concept aims to showcase all that Cape Town and the province have to offer from the city’s iconic tourism offerings to the unexpected and hidden gems of Cape Town and the surrounding regions.
CEO of Cape Town Tourism, Mariëtte du Toit-Helmbold comments; “Partnerships in tourism are key to maximising our potential as both a national and urban destination. It is pointless pitting ourselves against one another when the majority of international and local travellers happily bounce between each of our destinations; uncovering their various charms and dipping into their different offerings. By working together we can strengthen our knowledge base and avoid duplication, and we can also combine our financial resources to package South Africa’s urban offering in a way that differentiates us from our competitors and is focused on the markets we are targeting.”
The City of Cape Town will be hosting the 2012 Cities at Indaba Workshop; a tourism development platform for practitioners and officials, which has taken place at Indaba in Durban since 2009. The aim of the workshop is to improve tourism development within local authorities and thereby impact tourism growth at a national level. This year’s theme focuses on heritage as a resource for tourism and takes place at the Olwandle Suite and Hotels from 09h00 – 14h00 on Sunday, 13 May 2012. The Cities at Indaba Workshop 2012 will engage thought leaders on the significance of heritage products in growing Cape Town’s diverse tourism product offering. Inspirational speakers on this topic will represent heritage and tourism practitioners from across the country.
In addition, the City will continue to drive home the Responsible Tourism platform created at Indaba 2011 by attending the Sustainable Tourism Network and meeting with key Responsible Tourism role players, and networking with the industry in order to keep abreast of the industry’s latest development and trends so as to better inform tourism polices and plans.
Councillor Grant Pascoe, Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events and Marketing concludes; “Tourism remains a major economic driver for Cape Town and Indaba is the most important national showcase of our diverse tourism offering. Cape Town has always had an alluring offering of culture, nature and heritage and we are looking forward to bringing this mix to Indaba 2012. Cape Town will focus on maximising the foundation laid by our tourism associates to reach our key source and new markets and negotiate deals with international trade partners. We are also pleased to be able to engage with tourism partners at regional and national level towards a more collaborative vision for regional tourism within the national framework.”
Cape Town Tourism will be at the Western Cape Pavilion in the DEC Hall 1.
ENDS
