Western Cape, one of the biggest tourist destinations in Africa,
including Cape Town and the Garden Route, has launched its new website,
powered by Tiscover, the world’s leading destination systems provider.Cape Town and the Western Cape’s new website, tourismcapetown.co.za, has
been launched following Tiscover earlier this year winning the contested
pitch to power the site. The site was formerly known as
www.capetourism.org.

Visitors will benefit from up-to-date information on everything from the
region’s accommodation - bookable for the first time online - to tours,
attractions, restaurants, weather, events and maps.

The site market’s the region’s 75 local tourism offices and 7,500 member
businesses, with Tiscover’s solution additionally enabling Western Cape
to promote its leisure, conferences and events offerings. The site also
features regional and town portals and is supported by dedicated
back-office solutions for Western Cape’s regions such as the City of
Cape Town, Winelands and Garden Route.

To reinforce Cape Town’s online presence, Tiscover is also launching its
newly branded destination portal, Tiscover.co.za. Through any
Tiscover-powered website, travellers can access information on
Tiscover-powered destinations, such as Austria (www.austria.info),
Bavaria in Germany (www.bayern.by), Bournemouth (www.bournemouth.co.uk),
the Isles of Scilly (www.simplyscilly.co.uk)  and now the Western Cape.

The agreement between Tiscover and Cape Town & The Western Cape marks
the first time that Tiscover has entered the African market.

Karsten Kärcher, executive director of sales, marketing and finance at
Tiscover says: “We are delighted that the site is live, and look forward
to playing a vital role in increasing global awareness of Cape Town and
the Western Cape. The new site marks how rapidly and impressively South
Africa’s tourism infrastructure is changing.”

The site deal arose through the city and province’s desire to reach a
wider audience, to provide a one-stop-shop to potential visitors, and to
increasing worldwide awareness of its attractions.

Nokhuthula Dube, chief executive officer of the Destination Marketing
Organisation (DMO) of Western Cape & Cape Town says: “The Tiscover
system is one of the significant marketing tools that tourism
organisations can use to increase awareness and visitors. Through our
new site, we believe we can realise our province’s full potential to
provide world class tourism services and products.”

Cape Town and the Western Cape is currently the most visited province in
South Africa, welcoming more than 1.5 million international visitors and
5 million domestic holidaymakers in 2003. Over 4,000 accommodation
providers welcome guests for an average stay of 10 days in the Cape Town
region. Currently, the main overseas markets for the region consist of
visitors from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, France, Italy, the
Netherlands, USA, China and Australasia.

Bronwen D’Oliveira, tourism e-Business manager of the Western Cape &
Cape Town DMO says: “Visitors from South Africa’s source markets are
increasingly using the web to plan and book their visits. Cape Town and
the regions and towns of the Western Cape can now look forward to
welcoming an ever-increasing number of visitors as a result of our new
site.”

Adds Kärcher: “Tiscover will enable Cape Town and the Western Cape and
its tourism partners to provide richer information to existing
customers, to gain exposure with new customers, and to give consumers
the ability to plan and book their travels online.”

Software Colors, a Black Economic Enterprise, is Tiscover’s local
service partner for the site and provides Cape Town and the Western Cape
with day-to-day support to help continually develop its web presence.
——-