This week, Alderman James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth represented the City on a panel on remote working at World Travel Market London, the foremost event in the global travel industry.
He was invited to participate on the panel because of our work in Cape Town to capitalise on this trend, including working with industry to align product and pricing, and because we have successfully marketed the city as a perfect destination for this segment of the travel market.
It was also a major opportunity to learn new insights into this growing and important development of the travel industry.
As I stated on the panel, increasing numbers of professionals are seeking out employers that let them work from anywhere and, with beaches, bars and mountains all on one’s doorstep in the Mother City, it is the perfect place for digital nomads who blend work and play into their travels.
It is for this very reason that we decided to partner with Airbnb through Cape Town Tourism, the City’s official Destination Marketing Organisation, for an agreement that includes a range of initiatives, such as a dedicated custom-built hub that showcases Cape Town’s top local long-term listings and information relating to entry requirements, visa policies and more.
He also told the audience that I am still pushing the South African government to institute a remote worker visa as four other African countries and 40 global countries have done. Research indicates that digital nomads tend to stay in one destination longer than three months while spending up to R50 000. One report of a remote worker incentive programme in a city in Oklahoma in the US shows that these travellers generated nearly $20 million in additional local gross domestic product. With a special visa, South Africa stands to realise such gains.
The panel was one of many engagements my team and I have held in London. This past weekend, we met with United Kingdom travel industry leaders, airline executives, investors, and members of the British media at South Africa House in London to encourage them to expand into the Cape Town region.
I was also excited to hold further discussions with executives from KLM/Air France and Virgin Atlantic around increased flight routes between key European source markets, and Cape Town.
This ties in with another issue that is close to my heart: opening up the country’s air transport market.
Where implemented, it has resulted in increased utilisation of airspace, more competitive fares and more choices for travellers. I will continue to push National Government to liberalise such measures.
We also sat down with representatives from London & Partners, the UK city’s business growth and destination agency to discuss possible synergies between our tourism and economic strategies to benefit trade and travel across our two metros.
- The UK is one of Cape Town’s biggest travel and trade source markets.
- The UK is currently the Mother City’s single biggest international air travel market, making up over 20% of passengers.
- This season, Cape Town will welcome 24 flights each week from London’s Gatwick and Heathrow airports.
- It is also the third-largest export market for the Cape.
- The UK is also one of the top sources of foreign direct investment in South Africa. Between 2010 and 2021, more than 200 UK companies invested in 274 foreign direct investment projects within our borders, reaching a total capital expenditure of R164,6 billion and creating 22 500 jobs.
Through the City’s funding of skills development and business support across multiple industries, we can unlock far greater investments that will boost our economy and shorten the unemployment queue.