Home

Cape Town water crisis threatens tourism industry

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Cape Town’s water shortage is spooking international tourists. A city twinning agreement between New York City & company and Cape Town tourism kicks off on Monday. The local industry says it has back-up plans for tourists.

Around 10 million tourists visited Cape Town last year, drawn by the city’s iconic sights like Table Mountain, Robben Island and its long sandy beaches and natural beauty.

However, international coverage of the drought and day zero, has spooked many international tourists putting this billion rand industry at risk.

“There have been many queries around the water crisis, people considering cancelling their future trips, events & conferences. We have aligned our messaging saying we are open for business as tourism. We are mindful of the impact tourism has on water but also that we’ve found augmented solutions that address that,” said Enver Duminy of Cape Town Tourism.

The city’s many attractions will appear on 62 bus shelters and over a 1 000 outdoor link kiosks across New York’s five boroughs. New York will be marketed to Capetonians via Cape Town tourism’s mobile visitor information centre.

“We take information to the people. We travel all over Cape Town and South Africa to promote Cape Town – from the V&A Waterfront & maidens cove where we are right now,” said  Cape Town Tourism’s Rayaan Roberts.

Tourism is one of the mainstays of the Western Cape economy.

Author

MOST READ