Western Cape Economy is Real Winner of J&B Met, Says Minister Alan Winde

The Western Cape will once again host South Africa’s most historical horse race, the J&B Met, at the Kenilworth Race track on Saturday, 1 February 2014.

Alan Winde, Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, extended a warm welcome to the local and international visitors in the city for the event.

South Africa’s top show horses will this weekend compete for the R2.5 million jackpot.

“With its R2.5 million main prize, the J & B Met is a premier fixture on the Western Cape’s events calendar. I believe the Western Cape economy is the real winner of the Met, as the event attracts over 50 000 visitors and generates an estimated R68 million for the province. It’s a key economic driver and plays an important role in job creation, most notably in the events tourism space,” said Minister Winde.

This year’s theme, “Made to Conquer – Dress Victoriously”, is sure to inspire creative fashions. It has been estimated that the event generates R14 million in fashion sales alone.

“The J&B Met illustrates the importance to our economy of events tourism. It’s one of 19 events which contribute more than R1.3 billion to our regional GDP. In the previous financial year, these major events attracted close to 200 000 tourists to the Western Cape. Over the next few weeks several signature events will be taking place including the Mining Indaba, the Design Indaba and the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon,” said Minister Winde.