South Africa’s tourism capital Cape Town is launching a global “water-wise” campaign to make it a more sustainable destination as it responds to a severe drought, the city’s tourism, trade and investment promotion agency, Wesgro, said on Thursday.
It said over the past three years, citizens, industry and the tourism sector had cut consumption of water by almost 60 per cent, a fete that had not yet been matched by any other major city globally.
The new water programme by the city of Cape Town included groundwater abstraction from underground aquifers, temporary desalination and re-claimed/re-used water, which already supplies 12 per cent of the city’s daily usage, and would increase to more than 45 per cent within a year.
“These steps will secure the sustainability of the region’s economy, its communities and natural resources, and employment. They will also help build a more resilient destination,” it said.
Wesgro noted that international tourists, who make up only one percent of the population of the city at any one time, contribute to a multi-billion dollar sector that supports over 300,000 direct and indirect jobs in the entire Western Cape province.
“It is for this reason that the tourism industry has taken a leadership role in working with the local communities and government to deliver more sustainable business practices,” it said.
The campaign, set to launch in August, would be driven mainly through digital media and partners’ existing marketing channels and would focus on engaging with potential visitors in main source markets such as Europe, USA, Asia and South Africa. (via African News Agency)
