A most bizarre media report was posted by Eye Witness News, in stating that Lianne Burton, the Marketing Manager and media spokesperson of Cape Town Tourism, the city’s tourism body, is happy that Cape Town is seeing fewer tourists this summer season, and that they are going to other more affordable cities such as Durban.
Burton told Eye Witness News that Cape Town Tourism is “…pleased high-end tourists were choosing to spend their festive season holidays in the Mother City”. Burton also said that “the city needs so-called ‘quality tourists’ who spend more cash.” The report continues: “Burton said Cape Town Tourism was not distressed thousands of local travellers apparently chose to flock to seemingly more affordable areas in KwaZulu-Natal and other parts of the country, instead of travelling to the Cape.” Burton is reported to have said: “We can’t pack people in by the thousands. I think Cape Town and Durban are slightly different, we certainly aren’t aiming for quantity”.
What is interesting is the public reprimand Cape Town Tourism Board member Nils Heckscher, GM of the Winchester Mansions Hotel in Sea Point, has given Burton, who said that every prospective tourist is essential. He is reported to have said:”To turn around and say,’We don’t want this tourist or that tourist’ is an arrogance that we can ill-afford”.
Cape Town Tourism has been appointed by the City of Cape Town to market Cape Town. Both Belinda van Niekerk, the acting-CEO of Cape Town Tourism, and Burton, were unavailable for comment this morning, as they have given themselves and most of the Cape Town Tourism staff the day off, according to the switchboard, on this the busiest tourism day of the whole year!
See the report at www.eyewitnessnews.co.za
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com
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They’re also in denial about the price hikes across all levels/categories of accommodation, simply stating that CT has a variety of accommodation, not addressing, that even at the lower end of room quality prices are ridiculous.
Of course, this is not true for all establishments.
University residence room for R1000 a night anybody?
CAPE TOWN TOURISM’S LIANNE BURTON RESPONDS:
I made a number of points in a Cape Talk radio interview regarding the impact of the recession on Cape Town. These points were then misrepresented by Eyewitness News, and given an ugly connotation which was never in the original spirit of the discussion.
To paraphrase the comment I posted on the Eyewitness News website shortly after the offending article appeared:’Cape Town is a destination that offers excellent value and something for everyone. We welcome all visitors to our city and Cape Town is still among the top holiday destinations for South African travelers. Proof of this is the fact that our domestic visitor numbers for this season are holding strong.
However, we have not been immune to the effects of the global recession. Our international visitor numbers are down by around 10%, which we are attributing to the fact that long-haul travel has been particularly impacted by the effects of the economy. For this reason, our top-end establishments have been hard hit this season, a fact which concerns us greatly at Cape Town Tourism. We are confident that the World Cup visitors in June and July 2010 will go some way towards making up for this.
When asked specifically to compare Cape Town’s 2009 December visitor numbers with those of Durban, I made the point that Durban is aimed specifically at a budget family holiday market and so would be expected to show strong growth in this market during a recession.
Cape Town’s tourism positioning is based on offering excellent value and an exceptional visitor experience across the full range of market segments, from budget to luxury.
When asked whether a successful tourism destination should be measured purely in terms of ‘bums in beds’, I made the point that Cape Town’s primary draw-card is the city’s pristine natural beauty (we have more Blue Flag beaches than any other city in South Africa, Table Mountain has been short-listed as one of the top 28 ‘New 7 Wonders of Nature’ and Cape Town recently won Best Destination in the Virgin Holidays Sustainable Tourism Awards).
Hence our tourism strategy for Cape Town is to find a healthy balance between tourism volumes (quantity),tourism spend (value) and the quality of the tourism experience, rather than simply to chase visitor numbers. We want visitors to become brand ambassadors, and to keep coming back to Cape Town.
Cape Town Tourism is committed to ensuring that our tourism growth is robust and sustainable, so that our city and its attractions will be enjoyed by locals and visitors, both domestic and international, both rich and poor, for many years to come.’
PS. As Cape Town Tourism’s official spokesperson, I am always available on my Blackberry, whether or not I am in the office. Our Guest Relations team, Contact Centre and Visitor Centre staff were on hand on Thursday afternoon to assist or contact me for comment.
Lianne Burton
Thank you for your detailed response Lianne.
It is a pity that your switchboard did not offer me your or Belinda van Niekerk’s telephone numbers, as requested – she was adamant that you and the rest of the management/office staff had the day off on 31 December (not a public holiday), and could not be contacted. I sent Mariette an sms on the same day, to make her aware that barely anyone was manning your offices, and that it took 10 minutes for the phone to be answered, and she only got back to me much later that day, by which time the story had been posted. She did let me have your cell number, which I have in my phone now.
I have asked to be placed on your media list, but do not seem to have received anything from you of late.
I am surprised that it has taken you 4 days to respond Lianne – the Eyewitness story was circulated widely on 30 December – surely it needed damage control on 31 December?
The public reprimand by your Board director about this is not good for Cape Town Tourism and its marketing!
Kindly note that my response to the offending article was as follows:
I posted a reply directly on the Eyewitness News website on 30 December, just 3 hours after the article first appeared, and 20 minutes after I was notified by my communications team of the article’s existence. An edited version of this reply appears above. (They may have chosen not to run the response since it noted that their writer had misquoted me.)
I conducted an interview on the 30 December at 12h40 on 702 Talk Radio to set the record straight.
I contacted the Cape Town Tourism board member quoted in the article, on the morning of 30 December, and he noted that his comments had also been pubilshed out of context.
My apologies again that you were unable to get hold of me for personal comment. However, it is incorrect to assume therefore that I was not attending to the matter.
I am passionately committed to protecting and building Cape Town’s reputation at all times. Despite being on leave on 30 December, I spent the entire day doing damage control in response to a badly written, nonsensical and sensationalist article. And I consider it time very well spent on the most worthwhile cause: brand Cape Town.