A member of the Langa Tourism Forum (LTF) expressed excitement during the launch of Cape Town Tourism Month at Bridges for Music in Langa 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 event as a great opportunity not only for local businesses in the tourism sector, but also for Langa as a whole.
He said it was a great honour for Langa to host such a significant occasion, adding that it would help put the area on the map.
A call for new tourism products
“We need to develop new products within Langa. We need jazz vibes. We need 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 it was not enough to simply host events, saying the City and Cape Town Tourism needed to do more to invest in the local tourism economy.
He said more needed to be done to ensure that local tourism companies had access to 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 described the occasion as an annual event and said Cape Town was about much more 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 highlighted the issue of crime in townships, saying fighting crime was everyone’s responsibility. He described crime as a serious concern.
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.
