CEO's Blog
From the CEO: Providing outstanding service to visitors and residents
Each year the Cape Town Tourism (CTT) team receives thousands of telephonic, walk-in and email queries from visitors and potential visitors to the city. These queries are all handled by our visitor services team, a group of passionate, knowledgeable Capetonians committed to providing outstanding levels of client service to international and domestic visitors, as well as to residents of the Mother City.
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From the CEO: Cape Town Tourism reports on December 2011 tourism figures
We wish all of our members a happy and prosperous new year, one far better than the challenging times faced by the tourism industry during the past two years.
Looking at the 2011-2012 summer season so far, a marked improvement has been seen in traffic at restaurants, shops and attractions for the month of December, and the accommodation sector also reports a positive holiday upswing. This follows a mid-December poll of Cape Town Tourism members, where more than half of the respondents expected a marginally better summer season this year than in 2010-2011. Tourism numbers seem to be improving beyond what was initially anticipated and there is every indication we have seen the start of a positive peak season.
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From the CEO: December 2011
2011 has been a year of highs and lows. We have basked in the acclaim of accolades such as Table Mountain becoming one of the New7Wonders of Nature and Cape Town the World Design Capital 2014; Tripadvisor readers named us their favourite destination and BA’s passengers rated Cape Town as one of their top five destinations. We were the top destination in Africa at the World Travel Awards, where there were more nods in the right direction for our destination.
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World Travel Market 2011: Eight Key Trends in Global Travel
Cape Town Tourism just concluded four fruitful and insightful days at the World Travel Market (WTM) in London, one of the leading global events for the travel industry. About 48 000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international media arrived at the Exhibition Centre London on November 7 and 10 to network, negotiate and hear about the latest industry opinion and trends.
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Talking Tourism: Cape Town announced as World Design Capital 2014
It was announced today that Cape Town is the official World Design Capital for 2014, winning the accolade from competing shortlisted candidates Bilbao, Spain, and Dublin, Ireland.
The bidding process for this prestigious title began in 2010 and was undertaken by the Cape Town Partnership as mandated by the City of Cape Town – congratulations to both teams on a bid and theme of “Live Design. Transform Life” that made us incredibly proud.
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October update from the CEO
Cape Town Tourism’s seventh Annual General Meeting (AGM) took place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Monday October 17, 2011 and saw the unveiling of a bold marketing campaign for Cape Town.
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August update from the CEO
The state and prospects of the visitor industry in Cape Town
Cape Town’s visitor industry, like many cities and destinations the world over, faces significant challenges in dealing with subdued demand and declining interest. Cape Town Tourism has seen more than 118 businesses close in the past 24 months. Furthermore, across the sector, the lack of growth experienced since 2007 equates to a lost opportunity for some 18 000 potential new jobs. In this context, there have been many and varied opinions as to why there is depressed demand and what Cape Town must do about it.
Cape Town Tourism has for some time now investigated the situation thoroughly and the answer, in our view, rests on a combination of tried and tested actions and a few bold new interventions. These initiatives are to be placed within a new compelling destination brand that stretches beyond leisure tourism and our city’s natural beauty, and an execution programme that takes Cape Town to the world.
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May update from the CEO
The results of the second Tourism Business Council of South Africa’s FNB Tourism Business Index (TBI) have shown a decrease in the level of tourism business activity for the first quarter of 2011.
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April update from the CEO
ITB Berlin, regarded as one of the world’s leading travel trade show, boasted record attendance figures in 2011, with approximately 100 000 trade visitors and more than 60 000 members of the public attending the show between March 9 and 13, 2011. Cape Town Tourism attended, in partnership with Cape Town Routes Unlimited, to showcase Cape Town as a challenger brand and a place of inspiration.
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January update from the CEO
2010 was a historic year for the city of Cape Town and for Cape Town Tourism. As an organisation, we celebrated numerous successes and we learned valuable lessons. We’ll never forget 2010 and all that it brought, but we’re gearing up for what is sure to be a busy and fun-filled 2011.
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