Cape Town has once again been ranked the best city in the Africa and Middle East region by the prestigious Travel & Leisure Magazine in New York, USA.

In the "Best City in the World" category, Cape Town was ranked tenth overall and scored only 2.78 points less than Florence which was ranked as the top city.

Travel + Leisure, published monthly by American Express Publishing Corporation, has a circulation of almost one million. The Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards 2007 winners will be honoured at an awards ceremony at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City on 23 July.

Councillor Simon Grindrod, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic, Social Development and Tourism was encouraged by Cape Town’s performance. “Our vision for Cape Town is to be a world class city not only for all our citizens but also as a tourist destination. To achieve this we must strive to improve every aspect of what Cape Town has to offer. Awards lead to more tourists and thus have a direct and positive effect on job creation and growth in the economy for the residents of Cape Town.”

Mansoor Mohamed, the City’s Executive Director for Economic, Social Development and Tourism, says it is important to note that Cape Town has beaten some very popular Middle Eastern and European destinations, including Dubai and Paris. This illustrates that Cape Town’s strengths are the natural beauty and arts/cultural diversity. Natural beauty and cultural diversity were key criteria used in the survey. Other criteria included cuisine and value for money.

Cape Town has been rated as number one in the region, Africa and the Middle East and in the top world’s 10 best tourist destination cities since 2004.

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DIRECTORATE:  COMMUNICATION
CITY OF CAPE TOWN
TEL:  021 400-2201