Often regarded as one of the world's most beautiful cities because of its geography, Cape Town is the most popular South African destination for tourism.

Cape Town originally developed as a victualling station for Dutch ships sailing to Eastern Africa, India, and Asia more than 200 years before the advent of the Suez Canal in 1869. Jan van Riebeeck's arrival on 6 April 1652 established the first permanent European settlement in sub-Saharan Africa. Cape Town quickly outgrew its original purpose as the first European outpost at the Castle of Good Hope. It was the largest city in South African until the growth of Johannesburg and Durban.