Latest Cape Town Press Releases

The 35th annual J&B Met is set to take place at Kenilworth Racecourse on Saturday, January 28, 2011.

South Africa’s main port, Cape Town, has a long history of welcoming ships and passenger liners to its shores. On Tuesday, January 24, 2012, the Queen Mary 2 berthed at Duncan Dock in Cape Town Harbour, after a brief stop in Swakopmund, Namibia.

The Cape Town tourism sector is reporting a marked improvement in traffic at restaurants, shops and attractions for December 2011, while the accommodation sector is also reporting a positive holiday upswing.

As the summer holiday season opens, Cape Town’s tourism businesses are predicting a marginally better business window for season 2011/2012. In a Cape Town Tourism membership poll tallied on December 8, 2011, a promising 57% of accommodation providers are expecting to have a better or much better remainder of the 2011/2012 summer season, when compared with 2010.

Cape Town has won its bid to retain the Loerie Awards in the Mother City. Cape Town secured the Loeries against pitches from Ballito in KwaZulu-Natal, Johannesburg and Sun City. The Loerie Awards and the city are now in the process of drafting an agreement to cover the period 2012 to 2014.

The Loeries Festival Weekend is a major event on the brand communication industry’s calendar, attracting around 5 000 people including CEOs, marketing directors, advertising executives, creative leaders, media owners, production companies and journalists. 

The initial deadline of 1 December 2011 for the registration of individuals and companies making use of Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) for commercial activities has been extended by six months to 1 June 2012. These individuals and companies, referred to by TMNP as commercial operators, include (but are not limited to) tour operators, tour guides, transport companies, tourist guide training institutions and adventure sport companies.

Freedom to Create, an international organisation that encourages the use of arts to inspire social change around the world, celebrated their annual programme in Cape Town this year. The week-long community outreach events culminated in a spectacular Freedom to Create Prize Awards Ceremony and concert at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden on 19 November 2011.

The Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meets annually to assess progress in dealing with climate change, makes decisions and adopts resolutions on these issues. COP17 is currently underway at the Durban International Convention Centre until 9 December 2011. As a member of the Cape Town Climate Change Coalition, Cape Town Tourism is attending and will have a presence at the expo stand of the coalition, along with the City of Cape Town and other partners.