Cape Town has garnered yet another international travel award, being named Africa’s Leading Destination at the recent World Travel Awards.
Earlier this year, Cape Town was named the Top Destination 2011 by TripAdvisor, and also recently won Travel and Leisure’s World’s Best Cities vote.
This is the 12th time in 14 years that Cape Town has won this World Travel Award accolade, beating off tough competition from destinations such as Johannesburg, Durban, the Kruger National Park, Luxor in Egypt, Marrakech in Morocco and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.
Cape Town was last year named one of the World’s Top 20 Cities by Condé Naste Traveller, one of the World’s Most Beautiful Cities by Forbes.com, and Best Holiday destination by Heat magazine.
According to Cape Town Tourism CEO Mariette du Toit-Helmbold, awards are important for awareness and the profile of destinations, but they must be followed up with campaigns that convert awareness into real visitors to the destination.
“Naturally we are proud of this award and the recognition it brings. These accolades form an excellent platform for the launch of our national and international marketing campaign aimed at increasing demand for Cape Town,” she said.
The campaign, which is part of a broad strategy Cape Town Tourism is implementing to meet the changed market conditions and consumer demands, will launch locally at Cape Town Tourism’s AGM on 17 October and will be implemented internationally from the World Travel Market in November 2011.
“Cape Town Tourism has worked closely with the industry to come up with a more compelling and inclusive tourism marketing positioning for Cape Town that goes beyond beauty. Cape Town’s natural beauty is perhaps her best-known quality, and while it must remain an important part of our marketing message, it is important for tourism marketing campaigns to complement a broader economic message and reinforce Cape Town as a city of inspiration and innovation,” Du Toit-Helmbold said.
Meanwhile, Le Franschhoek Hotel Spa has won the award for the best Luxury Romantic Hotel in South Africa. The award was announced at the World Luxury Hotel Awards 2011 in Croatia.
The awards honour the crème de le crème of the global luxury hospitality industry, recognising their world-class facilities and service.
The Clipper Round the World yacht race, which is bringing international attention to Cape Town, is also expected to provide a boost to tourism.
Cape Town is seen as a popular stopover, with many sponsors sending delegations to the city to maximise their investment in the race, and also strengthen trade and cultural links.
