Cape Town has led the way at the “Oscars” of the travel industry – the 21st annual World Travel Awards.
The Mother City was voted Africa’s Leading Destination and Africa’s Leading Cruise Port, with the city’s most popular attraction – Table Mountain, one of the New7Wonders of the World – being voted Africa’s Leading Tourist Attraction for 2014.
The World Travel Awards are recognised around the world as the ultimate symbol of quality. The annual event is renowned as the most prestigious and comprehensive awards ceremony in the travel and tourism industry.
Table Mountain may have been named the leading tourist attraction in Africa, but it doesn’t end there. The mountain will now compete with winners in the other competition regions: the Middle East, Europe, South America, Asia and Australasia for the title of the world’s leading tourist destination.
Table Mountain has lots to offer tourists and locals alike, making the award of leading tourist attraction no real surprise.
The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, a long-standing Flow client, operates from the mountain – which forms part of Table Mountain National Park – and offers visitors a world-class experience, ferrying people from the Lower Cable Station to the summit in revolving cable cars.
The mountain also has an abundance of flora – over 2 200 species of unique and endangered fynbos. You are sure to encounter the cute and cuddly looking rock dassies on a trip up the mountain, along with some other bird and wildlife including lizards, butterflies attracted by the brightly coloured flora, an interesting variety of lizards and snakes, and eland, to name a few.
Sabine Lehmann, managing director of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, said: “As one of the custodians of Table Mountain, we are ecstatic that Table Mountain has been voted Africa’s leading tourist attraction for 2014. To have been voted for by the international tourism industry is a great accolade, and cements the view that our visitors have a fantastic experience.”
The voting process for the World Travel Awards lasts a year and is an online process that encourages global participation. There are scores of different categories and votes come from executives working in travel and tourism, as well as agents who sell travel packages.
In a press release, World Travel Awards president Graham Cooke said: “We saw an incredibly rich, diverse and inspirational selection of nominees in Africa and the Indian Ocean in 2014, with many top competitors fighting it out in a series of very close races. With tourism growing in importance all the time in both Africa and the Indian Ocean, it is an honour to bestow our prizes on some exceptional organisations.”
The World Travel Awards grand finale will take place in Marrakech, Morocco, in November.
