Tourists in city 'exempt' from Cape water queues

Wesgro‚ the Western Cape’s promotional agency‚ and representatives of the hospitality industry have moved to assure travellers to Cape Town that the city remains open for business‚ despite the water crisis.

Many hotels would likely fall within “economic protected zones”, such as Cape Town’s CBD. It is anticipated that visitors would continue to receive water in the event of “day zero”, Wesgro CEO Tim Harris said on Wednesday.

The city has said commercial centres would continue to receive water, because of the need to protect jobs and keep the economy going. Should a hotel fall within this area, which some will, they would benefit from this.

The Western Cape’s hospitality industry employs about 206‚000 people — or 300‚000 when indirect jobs and informal employment are included.

The industry contributes close to R40bn a year to the provincial economy.

International and domestic tourists made up about 2.4% of the province’s population‚ said Ravi Nadasen‚ Tsogo Sun’s chief operating officer of hotels.

- BusinessLIVE