How many clients contacted you to ask if they should cancel their trip to Cape Town because of the drought? The lack of water in Cape Town is not a situation to be taken lightly, but staying away is not the solution. The city welcomes tourists as normal. Here’s why.
Firstly, it’s worth pointing out that even during peak season, tourists never add more than 1% to Cape Town’s total population, making their water use “negligible”.
South African Tourism CEO Sisa Ntshona told KARRYON during an interview at Africa’s Travel Indaba in Durban, that tourists staying away was simply not part of the solution.
“You’re not doing anyone a favour, you’re actually doing a disfavour. Become part of the solution. Go there but be mindful of the water issue. Just act like a local.”
South African Tourism CEO Sisa Ntshona.
So what does living like a local mean? Basically, it is about trying to limit your daily water consumption to limited to 50 litres.
Judy Lain of Wesgro, the official tourism agency for Cape Town, said the new website mywaterfootprint.capetown was a tool for tourists to use before coming to the city.
“It allows tourists who are coming to Cape Town to go onto the website and actually understand their water usage,” she explained.
The site helps you calculate your consumption and provide you with a mechanism for offsetting your water usage during your stay.
“We want every single tourism body in the world to use it,” she went on to say.
“Teach people to be responsible. Help them to change their behaviour because climate change is a global problem not a just a Cape Town problem.”
South African Tourism CEO Sisa Ntshona said the drought in Cape Town was actually an opportunity to show the world that South Africa is not a victim, but rather a country leading the world in how to respond to water issues.
The rest of the world is watching us to see how we respond to it and what we put in place.
South African Tourism CEO Sisa Ntshona.
“We want you to enjoy your holiday and that’s how you’re going to help us come through this.
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