Cape Town and the Western Cape at WTM 2012

LONDON - This week marked the start of the annual World Travel Market (WTM); taking place in London until 9 November. It is one of the leading global events for the travel industry and will be attended by some 45,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international media.

Cape Town’s business, investment and tourism authorities; Cape Town Tourism (CTT) and Wesgro, are collaborating at World Travel Market (WTM) 2012 - tourism’s biggest international trade show - to showcase a fully integrated Cape Town and Western Cape experience.

CEO of Cape Town Tourism, Mariette du Toit-Helmbold, who will be leading the Cape Town and Western Cape delegation at key trade and media meetings says; “The UK remains Cape Town’s primary source market. Despite a decline in outbound tourists from the UK market over the past two years; the city receives around 200,000 visitors from the UK annually, spending in the region of R2.2bn per annum in Cape Town, so this is a source market worth nurturing and reinvesting in.”

Cape Town and the Western Cape will take the following messages to WTM this year:

• Affordable Luxury: Focusing on Cape Town and the Western Cape’s in-destination value offering, in terms of experiences
• Design and Culture: Focusing on Cape Town’s designation as World Design Capital 2014, as well as on design projects and cultural experiences being rolled out around the city and the Western Cape.
• Responsible Tourism: Focusing on the destination as a sustainable region and unpacking its responsible tourism guidelines, whilst also looking at the growing voluntourism market.
• Digital Marketing
• Adventure, culture and heritage

Says Nils Flaatten, Wesgro CEO; “Business tourism is a significant growth area for Cape Town and the Western Cape and we are looking forward to presenting a region that is able to compete aggressively for more business and leisure travel. As we well know, Cape Town and the Western Cape is an inspired place to visit with many hidden gems in all our regions from Cape Columbine to Tsitsikama National Park. Quarter 1 statistics for 2012 indicate that of the visitors to the Western Cape, 55.4% were from overseas, 42.1% were domestic, 1% originated from Africa (excluding domestic), and 1.5% did not indicate their country of origin. Of the overseas visitors, 17% were from the United Kingdom, followed by Germany (11.8%), the Netherlands (5.9%), and the United States (2.8%). Many visitors realise that Cape Town and the Western Cape is an inspiring place to work and play in.”