Cape Town has been named Africa’s Leading City Destination and Africa’s Leading Meetings & Conference Destination for 2026, strengthening the South African city’s position within a competitive African tourism market.
The awards were presented at the World Travel Awards Africa Gala Ceremony in Zanzibar on 28 August, where tourism and hospitality leaders from across the continent gathered for the annual regional awards. The World Travel Awards says its voting process draws on votes from qualified travel and tourism executives as well as consumer travel buyers, with verified industry professionals receiving greater voting weight.
Cape Town’s success is notable because both awards recognise different dimensions of a destination’s tourism economy. The city destination category reflects its broader appeal to leisure travellers, while the meetings and conference award relates to its capacity to host business events and international gatherings. Cape Town had previously won the city destination title in 2025, 2024 and 2023, while the meetings and conference category had been dominated by Durban between 2014 and 2025.
The awards come against a wider recovery in South African tourism, but also highlight the increasingly important role of travel within Africa itself. According to Cape Town Tourism’s 2025 tourism data, arrivals from other African markets through Cape Town International Airport increased by 17 per cent in 2025.
That regional growth is particularly significant in a continent where tourism is frequently discussed through the lens of long-haul visitors from Europe, North America and other overseas markets. Cape Town’s latest figures suggest that African travellers are themselves an increasingly consequential part of the city’s visitor economy.
At the same time, the city’s tourism performance presents a more complicated picture than the awards alone might suggest. Cape Town Tourism reported R24.5 billion in direct tourism expenditure in 2025 and more than 106,000 tourism-related jobs. Foreign overnight visitors reached 1.44 million, generating approximately R19 billion in direct spending.
Domestic tourism, however, faced considerable pressure. Cape Town Tourism reported that domestic overnight trips stood at about 1.42 million, but the average length of stay declined from 5.2 nights to 4.4 nights. Domestic tourism spending fell from R8 billion to R5.5 billion, reflecting broader pressure on South African household finances.
This distinction matters when assessing the city’s latest international recognition. A strong international performance does not necessarily translate into uniform gains across the tourism economy. Cape Town’s experience illustrates how destinations can simultaneously attract international expenditure while confronting weaker purchasing power among domestic travellers.
The city’s growing regional connections nevertheless provide an important opportunity. The 17 per cent increase in African arrivals points towards the potential of intra-African tourism, particularly as improved air connectivity, business relationships and regional mobility expand the pool of travellers able to move between African cities.
South Africa’s national tourism figures reinforce this trend. Statistics South Africa recorded 10.5 million tourists in 2025, up 17.7 per cent from 2024 and 2.6 per cent above the country’s pre-pandemic 2019 level. Regional travel remained central: 75.2 per cent of tourists came from other Southern African Development Community countries.
Cape Town’s recognition also comes alongside a broader diversification of African tourism destinations. At the same World Travel Awards ceremony, Zanzibar was named Africa’s Leading Beach Destination and Africa’s Leading Festival & Event Destination, while Tanzania won Africa’s Leading Destination and Africa’s Leading Tourist Board. The Port of Cape Town was separately recognised as Africa’s Leading Cruise Port.
The range of winners underscores the breadth of Africa’s tourism economy rather than a single dominant model. Coastal destinations such as Zanzibar compete alongside metropolitan centres including Cape Town, Nairobi, Kigali, Johannesburg and Cairo, while national parks, convention centres, airlines and locally rooted hospitality businesses occupy increasingly important positions within the continent’s tourism ecosystem.
For Cape Town, the immediate challenge will be converting recognition into sustained economic value. Awards can strengthen destination visibility, but their longer-term significance depends on whether increased visitor activity generates employment, supports small and medium-sized businesses, deepens regional air connectivity and distributes tourism income beyond established commercial centres.
Cape Town will now proceed to the World Travel Awards Grand Final later in 2026, where regional winners will compete at the global level.
The city’s double win is therefore best understood not simply as another accolade for an established tourism destination, but as part of a broader shift in which African cities and destinations increasingly compete for travellers, investment and business from within the continent as well as from international markets.
