(3 Minutes Read)
Cape Town’s tourism industry is booming, and it doesn’t need the Group of 20 (G20) Leaders’ Summit in 2025 as much as Joburg does.
That’s the view of Marcel von Aulock, the group CEO of JSE-listed Southern Sun – South Africa’s biggest hotel owner and operator. He was commenting on the national government’s decision to host the big event in Sandton, Joburg, this time next year.
Speaking during the company’s presentation to analysts recently, Aulock said the G20 event will be a huge positive for SA on the scale of a “mini-World Cup” in terms of international exposure and media coverage. He said Cape Town is already very busy on the conferencing and leisure tourism front during this time of year, and hosting the G20 in the Mother City would have displaced a lot of its normal business.
Von Aulock’s comments will still be cold comfort for Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and Western Cape officials who were pushing for the city to host the mega event. Durban was also in the running, but the government opted for SA’s financial hub in the precinct around the Sandton Convention Centre.
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Joburg hosting the G20 Summit next year should force a lot of maintenance and investment to get the city cleaned up, he added. South Africa officially takes over the presidency of the G20 from 1 December 2024.
