Explore the Western Cape!

Tourism Month is commemorated all over the world in September every year and the theme for this year, in line with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), is: "Tourism and Sustainable Energy - Powering Sustainable Development".

Under this theme, the Western Cape Government will highlight the tourism sector's role in creating a brighter energy future and in ensuring that citizens have access to modern, efficient and affordable energy services.

The tourism sector is key to the Western Cape's economic growth; by the second quarter of 2012, the sector had seen an impressive 2.7% expansion in job creation and was the third in the list of high employment growth sectors.

In an effort to maintain a sustainable tourism sector, the Western Cape Government will seek to:

• Heighten awareness on domestic travel.
• Promote geographic spread with emphasis on less visited areas.
• Inspire South Africans to travel and explore their own country.
• Increase visitor numbers within Cape Town and the Western Cape.

To encourage domestic tourism, the Cape Town and Western Cape Tourism has compiled 15 ways that you can enjoy the province and the Mother City without paying an entrance fee:

1. Hike up Table Mountain and enjoy awesome views of the city and its new world-class stadium where eight of the official 2010 FIFA World Cup matches were played.
2. Get your picture taken at Cape Agulhas at the southernmost tip of Africa - the official meeting place of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
3. Visit a food market - Stellenbosch's Slow Food market, Woodstock's Biscuit Mill and Tokai's Porter Estate are as good - and different - as they get.
4. Cycle through the Cape Winelands and picnic on wine farms along the way.
5. Kayak around Cape Point.
6. Grab your camera or sketch pad and wander around the beautifully restored Victorian village of Matjiesfontein - a national monument in the arid Karoo.
7. Stand quietly at the kramat holy site on Signal Hill.
8. Follow a penguin on Boulders Beach or Stony Point.
9. Play in the waves at beautiful, quaint Victoria Bay or disappear into another world as you wander along seaside castles at nearby Noetzie.
10. Snap your fingers to the Cape Minstrels or listen to the colourful stories of the Adderley Street flower sellers.
11. Stargaze in the Cape Karoo.
12. Follow the historic Cape West Coast Mission Station Route from Mamre to Vredendal.
13. Walk through the unique Cape Floral Kingdom - the smallest yet most diverse of only six in the world.
14. Block your ears on Signal Hill as the noon gun marks midday (as it has for the past 200 years). Then take a walking tour of Bo-Kaap, a colourful, culturally distinct area founded by slaves in the 17th Century and inhabited largely by their descendants.
15. Take a stroll down the Sea Point Promenade and be dazzled by one of Africa's the most amazing sunsets.