Cape Town Press Releases

A delegation from Cape Town and the Western Cape is currently representing the destination at Soccerex in Johannesburg. Some 4,000 delegates and 300 exhibitors from over 95 nations are attending this business convention for football worldwide.

“Rumours of exorbitant price hiking in Cape Town ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ have been founded on isolated incidents and sensationalism,” says Cape Town Tourism CEO, Mariette du Toit-Helmbold.

The Country Brand Index (CBI) Report 2008 was officially released at The World Travel Market in London, yesterday. The report names South Africa among the Top Ten Brand Countries in both the Authenticity and Value for Money Brand categories; the latter being a new entry for South Africa.

Responsible or ‘green’ tourism as it is sometimes referred to, is making sense to more and more tourism businesses in Cape Town. A shift that was recently acknowledged by the Ethisphere Institute of New York, when they named Cape Town as one of ten cities in the world most likely to become centres of sustainability by 2020.

Cape Town’s 2010 FIFA World Cup preparations have been given the thumbs up by FIFA Chairman, Seb Blatter. Cape Town Mayor, Helen Zille, affirms that progress on the Greenpoint Stadium, South Africa’s most beautifully located stadium, is good. Concrete works are close to completion and outsourced components well underway in Germany and Poland. The next stage will see the roof and façade completed as well as the installation of the grass pitch and stadium seating, which will accommodate up to 68 000 people.

Africa has bucked global trends by being the only world region to have international tourist arrivals increase by 4%, during the first eight months of 2009.  According to The UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, Africa is the only world region which held its own and recorded growth during the recent economic crisis.

22 November marks 200 days until the 2010 FIFA World Cup kicks off. Cape Tourism invites you to Live It! Love It! LOUDER! and celebrate this milestone by learning the famous Diski Dance at the Amphitheatre of the V&A Waterfront on Sunday, 22 November.

Research conducted by UCT in 2006, revealed that tourism operators were both aware of and willing to be proactive about becoming more ‘green’ but lacked the knowledge as to how they could put responsible tourism practices into action.

The City of Cape, in partnership with Cape Town Tourism and other tourism bodies, launched the Green Goal 2010 Programme two years go to counteract the environmental impact that the 2010 FIFA World Cup will have on the Mother City. 

The kick-off to the first African FIFA World Cup is just months away and Cape Town is on track to being ready to welcome the world.  Preparing the city for the 2010 FIFA World Cup has been an industrious task, providing employment for thousands. Now, each vital element from transport and accommodation to safety and security has been successfully implemented – or is near completion – and the excitement on the ground is palpable.