Mother City honoured by National Geographic Traveler

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“It is not only a recognition of Cape Town and the Western Cape's growing status as one of the world's top tourism destinations, but also of our tourism industry and partners that work so hard to keep our city and province a top-of-mind destination. Cape Town Routes Unlimited is very excited to have been invited to be part of this project,” adds Gilfellan.

According to National Geographic Traveler, it originally chose Cape Town because it regarded the city as “one of the 50 most iconic and visited cities in the world”. Cape Town is one of the most recent cities to be posted onto www.nationalgeographic.com/places/places-of-a-lifetime/.

According to the magazine's website, the title decided to expand its “Places of a Lifetime” franchise online following its successful showcasing of 50 of the world's top destinations (“places that every curious traveler should visit in a lifetime”) in October 1999. The “Places of a Lifetime” site carries personal essays on top tourism destinations, as well as “a wealth of timely service information, from insiders' tips on the best places to stay and eat, to great books and music, to recommended walking tours”.

The section on Cape Town, which should ensure the destination potential online coverage of some 600 000 hits per week, includes “My Cape Town”, an essay by Mary Watson, a Caine Prize-winning author who lives in Cape Town and teaches at the University of Cape Town, as well as inspirational travel information such as:

• Best of Cape Town (Hotels, Restaurants, Nightlife, Entertainment, Must-Dos, and Festivals)
  
• Walking Tours (City Bowl, From Castle to Noon Gun, and Muizenberg to Kalk Bay)
  
• Cultural Tips (including a phrase book explaining the meaning of words such as molo, unjani, enkosi, hamba kahle; bru/bra/boykie/bhuti; Howzit?; lekker; fynbos; rikkis; jol and ubuntu)
  
• Recipes (for dishes such as bobotie, roti and Cape Brandy Pudding)
  
• WorldWise Quiz
  
• Authentic Shopping Guide

Cape Town - Place of a Lifetime can be viewed at www.nationalgeographic.com/places/places-of-a-lifetime/capetown.html (try the WorldWise Quiz and find out how much you know about the Mother City).