IT will be interesting to see, albeit many months down the line, whether the Eastern Cape tourism entities’ decision to market the province as a whole at the annual Tourism Indaba will have borne fruit.
Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism, the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency (ECPTA), the Nelson Mandela Museum, the Steve Biko Centre and various district municipalities are, for the first time, jointly promoting the province’s offerings at one of the biggest tourism marketing events in Africa.
The rationale behind this is that it could lead to greater spin-offs from international markets.
What is most encouraging about this year’s event is that the participation of smalland medium-sized enterprises, considered to be the engines of economic growth, has been significantly upped.
Also significant is that the collaboration drive is not just geared at entities within the province.
ECPTA and the Northern Cape intend to team up on initiatives that showcase the two provinces jointly, highlighting their similar tourism aspects and marketing these as a Cape experience.
The aim is for the same to be done with the Eastern Cape’s other bordering provinces – the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Free State.
The Bay could certainly do with a tourism boost for 2016 given there was a drop in our visitor figures last year.
However, revenue from tourism increased, with more than R340-million pumped into the regional economy.
The weakened rand is very favourable for overseas visitors right now, so hopefully this, in addition to fresh marketing strategies, will have a positive impact on tourism figures going forward.
Of course, last year’s silly visa regulations – including that minors travelling in and out the country had to produce unabridged birth certificates – did not do our industry any favours. Thankfully, these have been relaxed.
Tourism remains one of the Eastern Cape’s biggest employers and so it is vital we continue to refine our visitor offering.
We continue to heavily punt our wildlife and fine beaches, but then the miserable state of Bayworld and the Red Location Museum, for instance, are classic wasted opportunities.
On a positive note, the launch of the city as the Bottlenose Dolphin Capital of the World, the Algoa Bay Hope Spot and the new Mohair headquarters in Walmer are promising new selling points.