Cape Town named ‘World’s Leading Festival and Events Destination’

CAPE TOWN was named the “World’s Leading Festival and Events Destination” at the 2018 World Travel Awards at the Pátio da Galé, in Lisbon, Portugal, at the weekend.

“We want the world to know that Cape Town is the destination to invest in, a place to work, for entertainment and the best place to live.

“This is not just an award for Cape Town, it is an award for South Africa and Africa.

“We want Cape Town to position itself as a place where the world can access Africa and Africa can access the world. Continuing to host events of an international standard will make this vision a reality,” said mayor Dan Plato.

He said it was important that they eliminated red-tape to encourage more investment in the city and attract more major events of an international standard.

Their strategy has four areas of focus, including economic impact and job creation, destination marketing, social cohesion and seasonality.

In the previous financial year, through the permit office, the City issued 1 277 event permits and supported 180 events.

Eight of the events being hosted in Cape Town over the next 12 months would contribute more than R3 billion to the local economy and create more than 20 000 temporary jobs, the City said.

Some of the iconic events include the Cape Town Cycle Tour – the world’s largest timed cycle race, which has about 42 500 competitors from across Africa and the world.

The race brings in about R408 million into the economy and creates about 1 500 jobs.

The Cape Town International Jazz Festival receives about 34 000 festival goers annually, with a contribution of about R600m into the economy.

It is the largest jazz festival on the African continent and is recognised as the fourth largest jazz festival in the world.

Other events include the Design Indaba Conference, FIA World Rallycross Championship, HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series – Cape Town Sevens, Old Mutual Two Oceans Race, Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, as well as the Volvo Ocean Race, among others.

City officials were also part of an inter-governmental delegation that returned from Singapore this week, where they presented Cape Town’s bid to host the 2023 Netball World Cup.