Tag Archives: Helen Zille

New dedicated Tourism ministry

President Zuma announced his new Cabinet on Sunday, and has appointed Marthinus van Schalkwyk the Minister of Tourism.   He was previously in charge of tourism and environmental affairs.  The creation of the stand-alone ministry for tourism signals the importance of tourism as one of the largest revenue earners for the country.

The Western Cape government too has a new minister of finance, economic development and tourism Alan Winde, in its all-male cabinet, with the exception of its Premier Helen Zille.   While the DA says he has been their spokesperson on financial matters, and that he has owned a tour operator business, the industry does not appear to have heard of him before.   He is Knysna-based.   Winde’s interesting challenge will be to decide what he should do with problem-child Cape Town Routes Unlimited, and its relationship with Cape Town Tourism.

Film Office under investigation

The Cape Town Film Office, which has received negative publicity from industry players for its administrative inefficiency, causing shoots to be moved to Johannesburg, should be investigated, the Western Cape MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Garth Strachan, has announced.

According to Screen Africa, Strachan said: “The film industry is up in arms that the Cape Town Film Permit Office is effectively sinking the sector in bureaucratic quicksand. I am mindful of the fact that regulating these activities – including the location and control of shoots and the system of providing permits – is a local council function. However, I cannot simply shrug my shoulders at the numerous complaints from companies trying to do business in the City. News reports in the weekend press confirm numerous complaints and anecdotal evidence that filming in Cape Town, in the view of private sector companies, is very difficult.

“I understand that the Permit Office is facing challenges and is under-resourced. We need a system in place that is 2010 capable in terms of being able to handle media and media tourism groups that are small and travel through locations much faster than commercial or feature productions. However, the City has been aware of these challenges for some time and I would expect them to be further down the road in facing them than we are at present.

“Cape Town is competing in terms of film locations with countries such as Argentina and Australia. Right now with our exchange gives us an advantage over these countries. But the inefficiencies in the City are damaging our reputation and constitute a clear and damaging binding constraint on growing the industry.”

Strachan has requested that Mayor Helen Zille investigate the operations of the Cape Town Film Permit Office and to take immediate steps to rectify the problem. “In circumstances of a global economic downturn, we can ill afford to lose this business and the strong job creation potential of this sector”.

The Western Cape Provincial Government is committed to the film industry, according to Strachan.  ‘We co-fund the Cape Film Commission and have invested R30-million in the Cape Town Film Studios. We need to work together for this industry to flourish, and not hinder its development. Hence the need for strong partnerships to build a competitive film sector. The Provincial Department of Economic Development and Tourism stands ready to assist if it requested to do so.”

Cape Town Routes Unlimited challenges Cape Town Tourism

Cape Town Routes Unlimited (CTRU) is crying foul once again, in that the Premier of the Western Cape and former head of tourism Lynne Brown is challenging the legality of Cape Town Tourism marketing Cape Town, reports the Cape Argus.  

Brown has written to Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille to find a solution to the funding problem, after the City of Cape Town withdrew its 50 % funding of CTRU and allocated it to Cape Town Tourism to market Cape Town.    

Brown’s successor as MEC for Economic Development and Tourism, Garth Strachan,  said that Cape Town Tourism was marketing both Cape Town and the Western Cape at Soccerex in Johannesburg  and at the World Travel Market in London in November, and that this “…would constitute a clear breach of legislation”, referring to the Tourism Act of 2004, which designates this power to CTRU alone.   Strachan sees Cape Town Tourism now acting “in competition with CTRU”.  

Sometimes controversial City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee member for Economic Development and Tourism, Simon Grindrod, resigned as Deputy Leader and member of the Independent Democrats last month, to join the newly formed Congress of the People (COPE), reports the Cape Times.   Grindrod has lost his Mayoral Committee position and his tourism role as a result.   

Grindrod first attracted the industry’s attention when he listened to industry feedback about its dissatisfaction with the inefficiency of Cape Town Routes Unlimited (CTRU) in marketing Cape Town and the Western Cape, and appointed consultants to investigate the organisation’s ability to meet its funding mandate.  The City of Cape Town was a 50 % funder of CTRU at that time, with the province of the Western Cape.    Grindrod did not like the consultants’ report about CTRU, and last year received the Mayoral Committee support to give CTRU the required 12 months’ notice that the City would be withdrawing its R 24 million funding from CTRU, and giving it to Cape Town Tourism from 1 July this year instead.    The industry was shocked by the boldness of Grindrod’s actions, yet has warmly embraced Cape Town Tourism’s ability to market Cape Town in a more focused and efficient manner

Rio comes to Cape Town!

Cape Town is to have its own Rio-style Carnival as of March 2010.   This was announced by Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille last night.

The Cape Town Carnival will run from 12 – 14 March 2010, the weekend in between the Argus Cycle Tour and the Two Oceans Marathon.   It will be a weekend of music, dance and cultural expression, and “is a celebration of diversity”, according to its website www.capetowncarnival.com

The theme of the first Cape Town Carnival will be “Rhythm, Roots & Boots”.  It aims at “celebrating uniting diverse communities through music, dance and creativity, show-casing the best of Cape Town, annually…” says Dr Rachel Jafta, the Cape Town Carnival Trust Chairman and University of Stellenbosch Associate Professor of Economics.  “We wanted to create something new, where communities interact and celebrate our uniqueness, but also unite as citizens of one of the most beautiful cities of the world.” she added, reports the Cape Times.

The Trust team are largely unknown to the tourism industry, and includes Clarence Ford, radio presenter and previous owner of the now defunct Manenbergs, Craig Lemboe, Eldridge Moses, Anton Liebenberg, Henry Hockey, Themba Nolutshungu, Fritz Marx and Programme Manager Isabel Meyer.   It is worrying that the Trustees do not appear to have Tourism or Event Management experience, and that the tourism bodies Cape Town Tourism and Cape Town Routes Unlimited are not involved.

On 12 March 2010 the Carnival will kick off with themed balls and dance shows in community halls around Cape Town,  as well as with street, club and beach parties.    On 13 March floats will parade through the city.