The City of Cape Town’s official destination marketing organisation, Cape Town Tourism (CTT), is calling on travellers to exercise a continued level of vigilance when visiting the Mother City as South Africa prepares for its peak tourism season.
According to CTT CEO Enver Duminy, they are expecting a bumper festive season, especially with Cape Town frequently cited among the world’s best holiday destinations.
He said that accompanied by a high return visitor rate, it’s imperative that they continue to ensure that safety is a key priority and show that the city cares for its visitors.
Led by CTT, various tourism industry bodies, the South African Police Service (SAPS), Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID), SANParks and consular generals came together to identify safety trends and discuss solutions to ensure locals and visitors remain safe.
Alderman James Vos, the City’s mayoral committee member for economic growth, said that the City remains committed to ensuring Cape Town as a destination is safe and ready to welcome travellers.
“With our tourism industry bodies, including SAPS and the CCID on the ground, we facilitate year-round programmes focusing on the prevention of tourist and visitor safety incidents through community, stakeholder and enforcement engagements, and implement the use of technology to ensure a safer Cape Town,” said Vos.
He also revealed that they have deployed 1 000 extra law enforcement officers focused on the 11 worst crime hotspots in the city with the help of the Western Cape provincial government.
“We will invest in even more law enforcement officers and equipment and vehicles to make every Capetonian feel safer. And we will focus single-mindedly on growing the economy so that more people can get into work and out of poverty, while working around the clock to attract more visitors with clever campaigns and travel connections,” said Vos.
CTT also requested visitors to familiarise themselves with safety tools and resources such as the Travelwise programme, the Namola app and the Band Aide programme to equip them for an incident-free holiday and peace of mind wherever they go.
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