Cape Town’s status as World Design Capital (WDC) 2014 provides an opportunity for tourism business in the city, says Cape Town Tourism.
“World Design Capital provides us with an opportunity to showcase Cape Town as a caring, innovative city in a double-decade-old democracy,” said Enver Duminy, CEO of Cape Town Tourism. “The tourism industry has a vital role to play in demonstrating the living story of Cape Town through experiences, tours and our collective destination knowledge,” he added. “We need to think beyond our traditional tours and packages to offer something that speaks to an evolving and exciting urban brand – not just for World Design Capital 2014 but beyond.”
Cape Town Tourism has partnered with Cape Town Design NPC, the implementation company of WDC 2014, to facilitate information-sharing and support in the run-up to and during the year Cape Town will be the host city. The body will serve as a hub for information about WDC 2014 and tourism businesses are invited to send information about their design-led tours to Cape Town Tourism on media@capetown.travel.
The body said tourism companies could get involved with WDC 2014 by creating packages around the programme of events, which will be available soon, as well as visiting www.wdccapetown2014.com for updates. Businesses can also download supporter badges and marketing collateral from the site.
Tourism businesses are also encouraged to attend Design House, which is part of the WDC programme and takes place in November 2014. The event will be attended by city tourism officials, destination marketing managers and tourism professionals and provide tourism businesses with an opportunity for networking and exchange.
Cape Town Tourism will support its members with the following benefits:
-Information sessions about the opportunities related to WDC are scheduled for October 30 and 31. Cape Town Tourism will communicate these sessions with members directly.
-Cape Town Tourism members will be able to make use of downloadable design itineraries, key talking points, FAQs and design-related images from the Cape Town Tourism Toolkit as of 5 November 2013, all of which can be used for marketing purposes.
-Cape Town Tourism will launch the Official Visitor’s Guide, which will include a detailed section on World Design Capital 2014, at the World Travel Market Exhibition in November this year.
