The Beach Huts of Cape Town have been around since the late 1800s. Over their lifetime they have changed significantly, eventually becoming the colourful huts we see today. But, they have always been a feature of our beaches.
These structures have risen to iconic status, outgrowing their practical usefulness. Their true value is being one of South Africa’s most instantly recognisable images and arguably South Africa’s most iconic man-made structures.
They occupy a significant portion of South Africa’s global brand image. The importance of this for attracting tourism to our country cannot be overstated enough. Tourism, a large source of foreign direct income, has an important role to play in alleviating poverty and creating opportunities for all South Africans.
Tourism is everybody’s business.
The Beach Huts have been falling into disrepair for some time. A harsh environment, complex municipal structures and more pressing socio-economic issues have resulted in the near-collapse of this iconic infrastructure. The Beach Huts are as important to South Africa, as the Statue of Liberty or the Eiffel Tower is to New York and Paris.
The Save Our Beach Huts campaign, run by The Beach Hut Trust, is a public and private collaborative initiative. The objectives of The Trust are to Preserve, Protect and Promote the Beach Huts, Cape Town’s most iconic structures.
To us, they represent opportunity and hope for South Africa. To the world, they represent a reason to travel here.
We aim to create employment, restore an icon, promote tourism and generate a Beach Huts inspired industry that will sustain them indefinitely.
The opportunities are endless and we are calling on all businesses to see how they can help support the program to #SaveOurBeachHuts.
To know more, visit https://beachhuts.org.za/ and the Facebook page: https://web.facebook.com/saveourbeachhutsCT/
