As South Africa prepares for its peak tourism season Cape Town Tourism has reminded travellers to exercise a continued level of vigilance, as they would when visiting any other major city in the world.

“We are anticipating a bumper festive season, especially with Cape Town being a destination that is frequently cited as among the world’s best holiday destinations. Accompanied by a high return visitor rate, it’s imperative that we continue to ensure that safety is a key priority and show that the city cares for its visitors,” says Enver Duminy, CEO of Cape Town Tourism (CTT).

He says various tourism industry bodies, including the South African Police Service (SAPS), Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID), SANPARKS and Consular Generals meet regularly to identify safety trends and discuss solutions to ensure locals and visitors remain safe.

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James Vos, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, says that the City remains committed to ensuring Cape Town as a destination is safe and ready to welcome travellers.

“With our tourism industry bodies, including SAPS and the CCID on the ground, we facilitate year-round programmes focusing on the prevention of tourist and visitor safety incidents through community, stakeholder and enforcement engagements, and implement the use of technology to ensure a safer Cape Town.”

“We have already, with the help of the Western Cape provincial government, deployed 1000 extra law enforcement officers focused in the 11 worst crime hotspots in the city.

“We will invest in even more law enforcement officers, and equipment, and vehicles to make every Capetonian feel safer. And we will focus single-mindedly on growing the economy so that more people can get into work and out of poverty, while working around-the-clock to attract more visitors with clever campaigns and travel connections,” says Vos.

Brett Hendricks, Chairperson of Cape Town Tourism, highlights the importance of local and international visitors feeling confident when visiting Cape Town.

“We believe that tools and protocols should be in place in order to give our visitors that reassurance that they can visit attractions and experiences knowing their safety is our top precedence. Since the pandemic, we as a tourism industry have had to work hard to rebuild the sector and one of those key priorities include making sure that we keep our visitors, communities, friends, and family safe.

Cape Town Tourism says there are resources available to equip visitors to enjoy an incident-free holiday and peace of mind wherever they go.

These include:

• TravelWise programme

TravelWise Cape Town is an official source of information to help Cape Town on its journey to being a truly responsible tourism destination, while maintaining its reputation for world-class tourism. Included in the eight responsible tourism priorities is the Safety pillar which has a collection of tools and resources to ensure visitors are safe when in Cape Town. On arrival, you are provided with the most up to date safety information, emergency contact numbers and safety tips while out and about in the Mother City.

• The Namola App

Another way CTT equips visitors is through their safety response app, Namola. The main aim of this partnership is to give visitors and locals peace of mind wherever they go. Namola is an app that pinpoints your location, immediately gives you an emergency operator to talk to, and gets you the help you need and does so speedily.

“While safety and security in Cape Town present a serious challenge when it comes to tourism in what is a popular destination for tourists and visitors, travellers and locals alike need to know that, while they are out and about in Cape Town, they have quick access to an emergency operator to get help should they need to,” says Duminy.

Namola is free to download and can be accessed easily from your smartphone. If you have safety concerns or need help immediately, just open the app and tap. It’s that simple. The app then uses your phone’s GPS location to tell nearby responders who you are and where you are. Trained operators will confirm details and dispatch help from near-by police, sentinels, or other emergency officials.

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· The Band-Aid programme

Cape Town Tourism’s Band-Aid Programme provides assistance to visitors who may be in distress during their stay in the Mother City. Should one of your guests be the unfortunate victim of crime in the city, they can assist in facilitating whatever may be required, including the replacement of lost documents, victim support counselling, assistance in providing emergency accommodation, assistance in laying a charge with SAPS and contacting banks in the event of bank card fraud.

Visitors can make use of the 24/7 Band-Aid contact number: 021 487 6552