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Public, private sector take hands for tourism growth

Cape Town - Integrated information is key to unlocking further growth in the tourism industry in the Western Cape, according to the province's Economic Opportunities Minister Alan Winde.

“Tourism is the biggest engine room in our economy, contributing R17bn each year and over 200 000 jobs. We need to rev it up by using data and technology better than we do today," said Winde.

"I am confident that by working together, and by leveraging events to draw visitors to the region, we can become a 365 destination.”

Key influencers in the Western Cape’s tourism industry have committed to working together to address the negative impact that seasonality has on the industry and on economic growth.

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"We live in a global village and if we want to be a world-class city then we need to stop being complacent and only enjoying the benefits of tourism in our summer months," said Executive Mayor of Cape Town Patricia de Lille.

"If we can re-position Cape Town as an all-year destination by leveraging events and business tourism, our incoming flight numbers, income generated from the tourism industry and jobs in tourism will improve significantly.”

She addressed a meeting between the City, Provincial Government, its various agencies and private sector stakeholders to discuss the issue and share solutions to this challenge.

Broad agreement was reached on the need for the City to examine its positioning regarding diversity as well as markets currently being targeted. This is in addition to promoting existing icons and renowned destination attributes.

It was further agreed to bring about an integrated events calendar for all stakeholders as well to focus on growing organic world-class events with multiple touch points across business and leisure tourism.

Enver Duminy, CEO of Cape Town Tourism, said he is happy with the consensus of the industry to work towards common goals.

"Cape Town Tourism looks forward to driving this process together with our industry partners and government,” said Duminy.

ALSO READ: Meetings, conferences pivotal to tourism sector

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