While National Tourism Is in Headlines, Cape Town’s in Travel Itineraries

By Enver Duminy, CEO: Cape Town Tourism

While South African Tourism  dominates the headlines for all the wrong reasons, with boardroom battles and suspensions, Cape Town dominates travel itineraries.

Because here’s the truth: tourists don’t book board seats. 

They book plane seats, restaurant seats, and theatre seats.

And in 2024, those choices spoke loudly:

• 106,000 jobs in Cape Town were sustained by tourism.

• Visitors spent over R24 billion in our city.

• Every ten tourists create one new job for a Capetonian.

That’s what matters — to visitors, to business owners, to tourism employees, and to communities across Cape Town.

While Others Focus on Process, We Focus on Progress!

At Cape Town Tourism, our job is to make sure every visitor arrival turns into economic opportunities,  sustainable jobs and pride for locals. 

That’s why we’re…

• Filling flights, not fighting: Expanding air access so visitors reach Cape Town cheaper and faster.

• Making visitor safety real: Rolling out more TravelWise visitor safety initiatives in key precincts.

• Taking tourism beyond the Big 6: Khayelitsha shisanyama spots, Athlone’s food legends or Langa jazz nights — we want visitors to see the real Cape Town.

• Going digital for small businesses: A single, simple platform where visitors can discover, book, and pay for Cape Town experiences — so more money reaches local operators.

The Future We’re Building

Visitors don’t care who chairs the boardroom. 

They care about the welcome at the airport, the safety on the streets, the ease of booking experiences, and the memories they take home.

That’s why Cape Town Tourism is focused on one thing: turning visitors into jobs, and jobs into dignity.

Boardroom fights will come and go. 

Cape Town Tourism will keep delivering — one flight, one neighbourhood, one job at a time.