A view of Table Mountain from the ferry to
Robben Island. (Image: Mary Alexander, MediaClubSouthAfrica.com. For more free photos, visit theimage
library)
While splurging on overseas holidays may not be on everyone’s to do list in
the current time of economic uncertainty, UK tourists are getting out and about
more than ever and, if they could choose the best city in the world to visit,
it would be Cape Town.
According to a travel survey taken by more than 25 000 readers of UK papers The
Daily and Sunday Telegraph, Cape Town gets the nod for best city in the world,
beating the likes of Sydney, Australia and San Francisco, USA. South Africa was
also voted the third best non-European country and the Mount Nelson Hotel takes
the same spot for best hotel.
What’s not to like about Cape Town? It’s clean, beautiful, home to sunny
beaches, modern, cultural and vibey. According to the popular travel website,
www.tripadvisor.com Cape Town is “the City that glistens at the southern toe of
the African continent”. It elaborates on the amazing tourist attractions from
Robben Island to the top of Table Mountain, which offers picturesque views of
the City Bowl and seemingly never ending ocean. In the websites inaugural
Travellers Choice Destination Awards this year, the City was awarded the best
destination in Africa.
And the praises are not limited to English visitors. One tourist from Nairobi
had plenty to say on the website about his experience on Table Mountain, “I had
the best time bringing in 2008 on the top of Table Mountain. It was my first
trip to there and I was not disappointed at all! Despite the crowds service was
good – and fast! From the top: the city lights and watching the fireworks over
the waterfront was stunning....like jewelled necklaces on black velvet.”
Of course it’s not just the mountain that attracts visitors. There are the 72
pristine beaches around Cape Town, which are popular with locals and tourists,
the pulsating nightlife with trendy bustling bars, eclectic and multi-cultural
art exhibitions and shopping areas of malls and flea markets.
Cape Town has been attracting millions of visitors since the country’s
breakthrough democratic change. In 1994, fewer than 600 000 tourists visited
South Africa per year, but with improvements to the country on all fronts South
Africa recorded just over nine million foreign arrivals in 2007, and is well on
its way to welcoming the 10-million international visitors the government
intends on attracting in 2009.
Of the more than 1.7-million international visitors to Cape Town in 2007,
around 345 000 of them were from the UK.
Interest in the country has increased further ahead of the Fifa 2010 World Cup
and preparations are underway country wide to prepare for the three million
visitors that are expected to arrive just for the event.
During the country’s peak season months between November and January, Cape Town
alone anticipates more than one million visitors. To cater for their expectations,
the City of Cape Town this year set up a holiday coordination committee that
will see a number of departments including police, fire and rescue services,
traffic authorities and sport and recreation groups focusing on making every
visitor’s stay a pleasure.
"The City of Cape Town extends a warm welcome to all visitors. It will do
its best to enhance their stay and ensure their safety. At the same time we
appeal to visitors and residents to help keep the City clean and safe during
the holiday period," Dumisani Ximbi, Mayoral Committee Member for Safety
and Security.
Do you have any comments or queries about this
article? Email Tamara O'Reilly at tamarao@mediaclubsouthafrica.comThis e-mail address is being protected
from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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