Cape Town launches city "pass"

The Cape Town Pass gives tourists free entrance to both larger and smaller attractions in Cape Town, the Peninsula, Constantia Valley and the Winelands - providing a value packed and convenient service to both international and local tourists. It is not a loyalty card, it gives free entrance. Where in the world do you get a horse ride on the beach, township dinner and wine tasting, vineyard tour, guided walk or a champagne cruise for free with a city pass?

Tourism Minister Martinus van Schalkwyk commented: "Although there are a number of similar offerings in major cities such as New York, Sydney and London this will be an important new product offering for tourism in our country. With South Africa being rated as one of the most successful tourist destinations in the world it is vital that we start to offer visitors products like The Cape Town Pass which are easy to use and have a lot of value. This package will benefit our tourists as it reduces the costs of sightseeing and our tourism operators as it raises awareness of some of the smaller, unique Cape experiences such as Thuthuka Jazz Café, Cable Waterskiing, Mandela House and horse riding on the beach or champagne cruises."

"After Table Mountain, people wonder sometimes what to choose next, or quite often people don't even visit these attractions. Cape Town has a lot to offer, from places of historical importance such as the Castle of Good Hope, The Stellenbosch village museum and the District 6 museum, to animal attractions such as Seal Island and the Two Ocean Aquarium to new experiences such Bo-Kaap walk and lunch or surfing or sand boarding."

Visiting Cape Town is not only about lying on the beach, touching Cape Point and taking a trip up the mountain," says Michael Linell, managing director of the Cape Town Pass. "If Cape Town is to truly compete with other international holiday destinations we need to ensure that not only do people choose to come here once, but they return and this can be done by assisting tourists in becoming familiar with the uniqueness of the city."

Marketing development manager, Marc Zandhuis, says The Cape Town Pass facilitates tour operators in driving tourism to Cape Town and South Africa, marketing the over 50 free attractions included. In Cape Town itself it distributes tourism throughout the destination. Most Europeans, for example, have all used a city pass in one or more cities, it is even more about the convenience of 'picking from the guide book at breakfast' than the value for them. They know that there is huge value in there, but the convenience is even more important. Because it is in the city pass, it must be good. All attractions in the Cape Town Pass have been handpicked to suit different traveller profiles."

The Cape Town Pass, has just completed a complete two month pilot to double check that the supporting technology at each attraction is simply stable and reliable. A key benefit of this system is that the data can be compiled, analysed and then fed back to the tourism product partners. This information can then be used to improve the service that each attraction offers.

For more information and cost options for the discount pass, to: www.thecapetownpass.co.za.