Capetonians can beam with pride as the Mother City has bagged yet another accolade, achieving first place in the “Tourism Destination – City” category at the International Tourism Film Festival.
Today, May 29, The City of Cape Town, together with their official destination marketing agency, Cape Town Tourism announced that ‘Love Cape Town, The Movie’ has been awarded the first prize in the “Tourism Destination – City” category at the International Tourism Film Festival, Africa Awards (ITTFA). Cape Town Tourism’s ‘Welcome to Khayelitsha’ was awarded second prize.
“‘Love Cape Town, The Movie” was made to highlight the many exciting authentic experiences and natural beauty offered by our city to entice those who are considering visiting us”, says Alderman James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Tourism.
“I am proud of the efforts that Cape Town Tourism have taken to produce such an incredible 10-minute film to showcase our fantastic city. We work hard to increase visibility of Cape Town on a local and global stage and ensure we remain an attractive destination to all potential visitors,” he added.
The ITFFA showcases South Africa and Africa through tourism films. It exists to contribute to the development of domestic and international tourism, encourage the growth of the local film industry, and promote South Africa and Africa as tourist destinations.
Watch the winning video below:
“Destinations that have become popular as a film location have seen an increase in film tourism over the last few years. In Cape Town we have certainly seen this as the city has become increasingly popular with international production companies. Scooping such awards at these prestigious film festivals means that the Mother City continues to be on the map with international film crews, which will help us to provide future tourism development opportunities within various communities around the city,” says Vos.
CEO of Cape Town Tourism, Enver Duminy says it is an honour to have received the award.
“It has become increasingly popular and effective for cities and destinations around the world to use video as a storytelling tool. To have a highly regarded festival such as ITTF Africa give recognition to our video, is a huge honour. And winning first prize proves Cape Town has the skills, talent and facilities to encourage international filmmakers to film their commercials and films in Cape Town,” said Duminy.
As Cape Town increases its efforts to recover from the nationwide lockdown, especially in the tourism sector, wins like these mean more than they ever have before.
“Tourism is an economic lifeline for many small to medium sized businesses in Cape Town and accounts for thousands of jobs in the city. The City, in partnership with Cape Town Tourism, will continue investing in programmes and campaigns to drive demand and keep the city top of mind. The recently launched ‘We are worth waiting for’ campaign as part of Cape Town Tourism recovery campaign also encapsulates everything our beautiful, diverse and exciting City has to offer and we are working tirelessly to ensure our tourism recovery plans are aligned and Cape Town is top of mind when domestic and international travel commences,” says Alderman Vos.
Picture: Screenshot from video