Hotels for all tastes and budgets
Tsogo Sun has plenty of deals in the Cape as the warmer months approach
DESPITE its water woes, Cape Town remains one of South Africa’s top business and leisure destinations, offering visitors a slice of the country’s best places to visit.
Before the festive season, that’s the message from the Cape’s tourism bodies and one of the continent’s leading hotel groups, Tsogo Sun, which boasts nine hotels in the Mother City.
Visitors add tremendous value to Cape Town’s economy, with the tourism sector supporting upward of 300 000 direct and indirect jobs across the province and contributing almost R40 billion annually to the local economy, while accounting for only 2.4% of the city’s total daily water consumption.
Cape Town’s visitor attractions are as vibrant as ever and hotels deliver their normal excellent standards of service and facilities, only asking guests and visitors to “use water like a local” – sparingly.
“It’s all still here – as beautiful and appealing as ever,” says John van Rooyen, Tsogo Sun’s Operations Director for the Cape Region.
“The mountain hasn’t moved, the beaches and the harbour are spectacular, the Waterfront delivers endless retail and entertainment options, and the city’s restaurants – while adopting innovative water-saving measures – serve the same delicious food and beverages that they are renowned for. The city is wholly open for business.”
The upcoming cooler months in Cape Town also offer particular benefits such as whale watching; cosy feasting complete with fireplaces, spectacular views, and delicious red wine; bracing walks on the hills, mountain, and in the city; exhilarating adventure sports; easier access to the myriad museums, galleries, exhibitions, shows, the aquarium, wine farms, and other sight-seeing spots in and around the city than in the busier summer months; and possibly best of all, highly attractive special deals and offers.
The hotel giant’s Cape Town range of hotels offer options for all budgets, styles and locations, from the trendy new SunSquare and StayEasy Cape Town City Bowl hotels and hotels that can cater for conferences and events such as Southern Sun Cape Sun, to the Southern Sun Waterfront, the upmarket and elegant Southern Sun The Cullinan, and many in between.
To add extra value to visitors’ Cape Town trips, its Cape Town hotels are offering a tantalising Cape Town Explorer package for leisure travellers, which includes an iVenture three-day City Pass for taking in the sights, sounds, tastes, and experiences of the city from 35 of Cape Town’s top attractions: wine tastings, harbour cruises, museums, and many more, ensuring plenty of options for everyone. For groups and conferences, the special offer is one delegate stays free out of every 10 delegates who conference and stay at a Tsogo Sun hotel.
Van Rooyen says the group is committed to sustainable tourism across the board, and has invested significant resources and effort in effective water-saving initiatives in Cape Town.
“Our hotels have reduced water consumption by 40% by introducing measures like monitoring water consumption per bed night, removing bath plugs, adding water-saving shower heads and tap restrictors, removing table linen and introducing good-quality paper serviettes, and reducing linen changes.
“We have also introduced measures to augment our water supply, by installing boreholes at Southern Sun Newlands, SunSquare Cape Town Gardens, and Garden Court Nelson Mandela Boulevard, and through Hospitality Property Fund – a subsidiary of Tsogo Sun Holdings – the installation of a private desalination plant at The Westin hotel, which uses seawater already being pumped from its basements to supplement water usage.
“This has enabled us, in consultation with the City of Cape Town, to take some of our largest properties off the water grid.”
Enver Duminy, Cape Town Tourism’s chief executive, says the city and its many surrounding attractions make it a renowned travel destination for local and international travellers.
“Visitors to the city over the past year have quickly adapted to the water restrictions, embraced them, and gone on to enjoy their stay in our beautiful City, whether on holiday or on business.
“It simply requires us all to work together to continue delivering memorable visitor experiences so that they keep returning to our city.”
Tsogo Sun has a portfolio of more than 100 hotels and 13 casino and entertainment destinations inSouth Africa, Africa and the Seychelles.