Focus on Muslim tourism
City striving to accommodate and welcome new growth sector in the market
THIS is mayor Patricia de Lille’s speech that she delivered at the opening of the inaugural Africa Halal Week in the city yesterday.
It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to Cape Town, the events capital of Africa, for the inaugural Africa Halal Week.
Last week Cape Town won the Best Festival and Events Destination in Africa at the World Travel Awards, where we competed against several other African cities.
That award and many others we received are not by chance, they come on the back of a concerted effort to attract the best to our city through events investment which in turn leads to job creation for the people of Cape Town.
The City of Cape Town recognises the significance of the Halal tourism market and we are thrilled to be hosting this gathering in our city.
Cape Town has a rich Muslim history, with Cape Muslims making up around a quarter of the population.
Cape Town is home to the oldest mosque in South Africa, dating back 200 years.
As the City, one of our strategic pillars is to build an inclusive city and in this regard, the Muslim community is an integral part of the tapestry of our social fabric of Cape Town.
If you go around the city and indeed the province, you will find historical kramats on Robben Island, the Bo-Kaap, Oudekraal, Simon’s Town, Wellington, Overberg and Macassar, among many other places.
We have the Kramats Route, which includes the Tana Baru Garden of Remembrance where the Shrine of Imam Effendi is.
Sheikh Effendi opened the first Hanafi mosque in Cape Town, and was also instrumental in teaching people to read and write Arabic. His final resting place is also part of the Kramat Route.
It is important for us to showcase this history and rich culture.
Four years ago when we were lobbying for the direct flight from Istanbul, Turkey, to Cape Town we were proud to share this rich Muslim heritage and historic attractions for visitors from Turkey to come and experience in Cape Town.
We have countless places in Cape Town where visitors can enjoy amazing Malay cooking.
A recent study found that Halal tourism is now one of the fastest-growing sectors of the global travel industry, with visitor spending predicted to reach $US220 billion (R3.18trillion) in the next 3 years.
With these figures in mind, it is the right direction to pursue the global Muslim travel market. Tapping into the Muslim travel market is not only about identifying a sector that has huge potential for tourism growth, but it’s about supporting the existing culture and the businesses of the Cape Town community.
As part of the intention to uncover how to attract the Muslim traveller, Cape Town Tourism has conducted an in-depth exploration to find out what can be done to achieve this.
In a survey published in the Muslim Travel Shopping Index 2015, more than 80% of the respondents mentioned that the availability of Halal food options was “very important” to them when choosing a holiday destination.
This information prompted the creation of the Chef Exchange Programme that was hosted a few months ago in Cape Town, showcasing gourmet halal cuisine.
The Muslim traveller prioritises their faith not only in terms of halal food, but also prayer facilities and Ramadaan services.
In the annual Mastercard-Crescent Rating Global Muslim Travel Index, South Africa has been ranked as one of the 10 most Muslim-friendly travel destinations for 2018. This ranking also boosted our ongoing campaign seeking to grow this market segment.
Cape Town as an iconic global destination has much to offer travellers from all over the globe, and we are ready to welcome more Muslim travellers because our offering to them will be unique and respectful of their religion.
Cape Town’s world-class tourism offering, which includes an array of attractions and experiences, must take into account the traditional and cultural needs of visitors, and this must also be a prime consideration when developing tourism business strategies.
In Cape Town we work from the premise that the world owes us nothing, and that we have to constantly work hard and innovate to attract people to our shores for the beauty and meaningful experiences visitors will have here in our city.
Our goal is to provide authentic travel experiences that speak to these needs of travellers, and will have them returning to our city for more visits.
This will lead to sustainable tourism development, job creation and opportunities for more entrepreneurs to develop products and services that address the requirements of the global Muslim traveller in a quality fashion.
It is my great pleasure to welcome all delegates to the Mother City for this summit.
May this be a successful gathering to share knowledge and build networks that will grow the Muslim tourism market to its full potential.
Let us work together to enhance Muslim tourism between ourselves, the rest of Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.