Langa’s tourism sector is calling for more investment, new tourism products and greater access to visitors as Cape Town Tourism kicked off Tourism Month at Bridges for Music in the township on Wednesday, 2 September.

The event was hosted by Cape Town Tourism in partnership with the City of Cape Town.

Speaking on behalf of the LTF, tour guide Lizo Mgobozi described the launch as an important opportunity to showcase Langa’s tourism potential and create opportunities for local businesses.

He said it was an honour for Langa to host the launch, adding that the event would help put the township on the tourism map.

A call for new tourism products

“We need to develop new products within Langa. We need jazz vibes. We need a Langa Festival. We need to open up a bit and think out of the box. We need new people or tourists to come and see Langa. We cannot cater for a certain group of people,” said Mgobozi.

However, Mgobozi emphasised that hosting events alone was not enough, saying the City and Cape Town Tourism needed to invest more in Langa’s local tourism economy.

He said the City and Cape Town Tourism also needed to do more to connect local tourism companies with the cruise market.

“If I have more than 20 years in the tourism sector, definitely I can have the experience to take people around the province,” he said.

‘More than just Table Mountain’

Cape Town Tourism chief executive officer Enver Duminy said the annual Tourism Month launch was an opportunity to highlight that Cape Town has much more to offer than Table Mountain.

“It would be wrong of us as Cape Town Tourism not to celebrate the history, the heritage, the culture, the food, the Kasi vibe that actually makes Cape Town truly Cape Town beyond just the mountain. And so when we sat down, we figured out where we wanted to launch tourism and celebrate tourism, its successes and challenges. We then thought of Langa,” he said.

Addressing crime in townships

Duminy also raised concerns about crime in townships, stressing that tackling the problem was a shared responsibility. He said they could not fold their arms and allow criminals to dictate what happened in communities.

“Many people who are affected by crime are locals. We cannot invite tourists to come and visit dangerous areas. But, at the same time, we need to show tourists there are better people and good places in our areas. We need to talk about good things, and the media also need to come on board and balance their stories when reporting the news,” he said.