Cape Town Tourism is confident that our city’s designation as World Design Capital 2014 will attract more tourists to our city next year, reported Southern Africa Tourism Update earlier this month.  The year-long event will also position Cape Town on a different platform, and already the first signs of the event are to be seen in Cape Town.

‘World Design Capital provides us with an opportunity to showcase Cape Town as a caring, innovative city in a double-decade-old democracy. 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. 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‘, said Enver Duminy, new CEO of Cape Town.

The International Advisory Committee (which includes Ravi Naidoo of Design Indaba) for World Design Capital 2014 is meeting in Cape Town this weekend, to receive the planned year-long programme.  The program will be made public in November. Alayne Reesberg, CEO of Cape Town Design NPC (not for profit company), said about the World Design Capital 2014 programme: ‘…hundreds of projects that will be recognised as part of the officials programme as well as events and exhibitions that are going to certainly position Cape Town as a design destination beyond 2014‘.

Interesting is the composition of the Board of Cape Town Design NPC, a company ‘appointed by the City of Cape Town’, being government officials Anton Groenewald, Executive Director of the Tourism, Events and Marketing Directorate of the City of Cape Town; Dr Laurine Platsky, Deputy Director General of the Department of the Premier in the Western Cape government; and Deputy Mayor of Stellenbosch Martin Smuts.  Other directors include Chris Whelan, CEO of Accelerate; Professor Russel Botman, Rector of the University of Stellenbosch; designer Porky Hefer of Porky Hefer Designs, who has just launched an innovative empty frame (in yellow, being the official World Design Capital 2014 colour, framing Western Cape Tourism Minister Alan Winde, Mayor Patricia de Lille, and designer Porky Hefer) near Den Anker in the V&A Waterfront, being the perfect location from which to photograph Table Mountain – surprisingly it does not contain any branding for World Design Capital 2014; and a number of other designers and architects.

Given its funding by the City of Cape Town, Cape Town Tourism will support Cape Town Design NPC,  sharing information about Cape Town during Cape Town’s role as host city. The tourism body has invited tourism businesses to send information about their design-related tours to Cape Town Tourism.  The opportunity exists for packages related to the World Design Capital 2014 program of events to be designed.  The new Cape Town Visitors’ Guide will contain a section about World Design Capital 2014, and will be distributed at World Travel Market in London in November.

While leaving the announcement of the official program for World Design Capital 2014 until November is very late (World Travel Market runs from 4 – 7 November), there is hope for the first time since 2010 for the tourism industry in Cape Town and the Western Cape that this year-long event will substantially enhance the number of tourists visiting Cape Town!

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio:  www.whalecottage.com  Twitter: @WhaleCottage