It was quite unbelievable to read in the media statement received via Cape Town Tourism yesterday that the City of Cape Town has committed to a three year contract with Cape Town Tourism.
Despite promises made by the City’s then Mayoral Committee member for Tourism, Events, and Marketing, and now disgraced ex-DA member Grant Pascoe, that the City would contract with Cape Town Tourism for a three year period, these were reneged in the last year. Every year Cape Town Tourism had to enter into a new contract with the City, comprising its ability to plan ahead longer than one year. Part of the reason may have been the City’s dissatisfaction with the tourism body’s former CEO Mariette du Toit-Helmbold.
New Mayoral Committee member for the Tourism, Events and Marketing Portfolio Garreth Bloor appears far more on the ball, and within two months of his new position, he has taken action which his predecessor was unable to achieve.
The media statement announces the priorities ahead, being the very much-needed seasonality problem which has reached an all time low this winter, July probably being the worst tourism month in the past twenty years! Other areas of focus include finding new source markets, and entering into marketing partnerships with the private sector, one assumes. African countries will feature more strongly on the marketing radar of Cape Town Tourism.
Commenting on the new partnership commitment stretching until 2017, Councillor Bloor said: ‘Until recently, we were unable to get a snapshot of where our visitors are coming from, who they are, and why they are choosing Cape Town as a preferred destination. Thanks to monthly and seasonal research being conducted by Cape Town Tourism, our tourism market intelligence is being enhanced’. Cape Town Tourism CEO Enver Duminy, in the post for a year now since Mrs Helmbold’s departure, sounds academic in his reaction to the contract announcement: ‘Our new agreement allows us to plan with confidence and in partnership with the City of Cape Town and other key tourism role players. Our vision is to be recognised globally as an innovative customer centric tourism marketing association which excels at seamlessly connecting all aspects of the tourism industry in Cape Town by 2017‘. I chatted to Enver at the Mercedes-Benz Opulent Living StyleNight event on Friday evening, and he promised that Seasonality will get the attention it deserves, with a Seasonality Monitor to be introduced.
Unfortunately all tourism bodies promise Cape Town tourism players attention to Seasonality, with events in winter, but none of this has ever materialised. Each winter the tourism industry bleeds more than the winter before, and the very wet July has not been kind to our industry. The planned Seasonality Monitor in itself will not turn around the poor winter business. Cape Town needs indoor winter events, to attract visitors from other towns in the Western Cape, and from other provinces. Franschhoek is a prime example of hosting big events which sell out the village, including the Franschhoek Literary Festival, Bastille Festival, and the Champagne Festival at the beginning of December, a quiet period too. One wonders what the City of Cape Town’s Directorate of Tourism, Events and Marketing is up to, as they fly under the radar, not giving the industry any comfort that they are marketing our city, a role they took away from Cape Town Tourism two years ago! The only visible signs of them still being around is the contract with Cape Town Tourism, their funding of last week’s Mercedes-Benz Cape Town Fashion Week, and their behind-the-scenes running of the very disappointing World Design Capital 2014!
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: WhaleCottage
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