Creative week in Cape Town has kicked in and the city is abuzz. So are the cash registers as businesses in the central city cash in on the influx of people and companies here to absorb the Mother City’s annual celebration of “creativity, innovation and culture”. It all culminates in the Loeries Awards this weekendm when South Africa celebrates its creative talent in the brand communications industry.
The Central City of Cape Town, reigning surrogate home of the awards, will reap the financial benefits of the creative splendour as hotels, cab services, eateries, clubs and bars will be in high demand during the festivities over the weekend.
Here is a look at how the CBD is benefiting from hosting the Loerie Awards.
- 350, approximate number of South Africa’s creative agencies that are expected to attend the Loerie Awards.
- + 4000 creatives, excluding partners and families are attending the fully-booked awards ceremony.
- +-65% of attendees are traveling to Cape Town to attend the awards.
- 5th consecutive year that the Central City of Cape Town is hosting the Loerie Awards.
- 836 rooms have been booked at Tsogo Sun Hotels, official accommodation partner of the Loerie Awards. Reservations have been made at many other hotels in the Central City as a result of the awards and Creative Week.
- Fully booked, majority of the Central City’s hippest bars and clubs have been booked for the creative agencies after parties, some of these include; Julep, Fiction, Sgt Peppers, Orphanage and Tjing Tjing to name but a few.
- 300, approximate number of people working behind the scenes to execute the various events across the week for the Loeries.
- R100 million, the estimated contribution to the national GDP from the Loerie Awards and Creative Week, according to the last State of the Central City report commissioned by the Central City Improvement District (CCID).
Cape Town will be hosting the Loerie Awards in 2014 and after which, cities within South Africa are invited to bid to host the awards for the next period between 2015 – 2017. Cape Town has been invited to bid again to host the Loerie Awards for a third period.
“Cape Town has won the bid for the last two periods because it is a world-class creatively inspiring city, with large infrastructure, which has helped the success of the Loerie Awards in the Central City as thousands of people head to the CBD to participate in the awards,” says Andrew Human, CEO of the Loeries.
IMAGE: The CTICC, courtesy of Central City Improvement District CCID.