On Thursday, 7 June 2012, CNN listed Cape Town as one of the world's ten most loved cities. Other cities included in the list are: Barcelona, Montreal, New York, Paris, Petra, San Francisco, Santiago, Tokyo and Shangai.
According to CNN International's travel website, CNNgo, Cape Town was chosen because of its "Sweet harbor. Nice architecture and weather. Good wine country, lovely waterfront shopping and a welcome cosmopolitan feel. Beaches with penguins. And wonder of wonders - Table Mountain".
Cape Town's latest international tourism excellence accolade follows a number of other awards in the last two years:
Minister Winde said: "We are absolutely delighted that Cape Town has been chosen as one of the best loved cities in the world. It is great to see that the world loves our city as much as we do. It is particularly encouraging that we have been listed by CNN, one of the most watched global news networks. This will further increase our exposure to international markets."
Minister Winde further added: "In the last year, we experienced a 14% increase in international tourism arrivals at Cape Town International and we intend on raising this figure even higher. Tourism currently contributes over 10% to the region's GDP. We hope to grow this figure to 15% by 2015."
Phumzile Van Damme
Spokesperson for Minister Winde
Cell: 084 483 2660