James Bond would be a boost for Cape Town tourism

This year TripAdvisor nominated Cape Town the best place in the world to visit. The Mother City beat other international favourites such as New York, Paris and Rome. So, perhaps it should come as no surprise that the makers of the James Bond film series are very seriously considering filming huge chunks of the next movie in Cape Town.
Cape Town has played host to a number of international films, including the rugby world cup biopic Invictus, Denzel Washington’s new movie Safe House, and most recently, the remake of Judge Dredd simply titled Dredd. It’s proved itself more than capable of hosting huge blockbusters as well as smaller scale indie films. Even Stephen Fry has declared himself “deeply impressed” with Cape Town Studios. All of which is why the Cape Town Film Commission is quietly confident that its bid for James Bond uber stardom will be approved. But, that doesn’t mean we should put the proverbial cart before the horse.
Denis Lillie, CEO of the Cape Town Film Commission has said, “There has been no official announcement yet, but there has also been no denial.”
Unfortunately, it doesn’t just depend on how expertly the commission tenders its bid. A large part of the decision will depend on Indian rail authorities. The new bond film was scheduled to include shooting on swathes of railway tracks, but the authorities are reluctant to allow the tracks to be blocked for any extended period of time. India suggested Cape Town as an alternative location and given that the rail authorities still haven’t come to any concrete solution, and given that in the film industry time is of the essence, Cape Town’s bid looks promising.
The benefits of hosting the Bond film will be huge. Not only for Cape Town’s film industry and South Africa’s film industry by extension, but also for tourism. Lille says, “Audiences tend to visit the locations where Bond movies are set. Some people would want to find the pub where Bond had a drink for example.” Visit http://www.iol.co.za/tonight/movies/bond-film-has-cape-town-shaken-and-stirred-1.1149262 for more information.