leisure tourism | WhaleTales Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein

The best tourism news in a long time is the announcement by Frankfurt-based Kleber PR Network that it has been appointed to market Cape Town, reports DeinTouristNet.

Kleber PR Network has good experience of marketing South Africa in Germany for the past 15 years, having been the PR company in Germany for S A Tourism for many years, until the local national marketing body appointed Ogilvy as its new advertising agency, with an affiliated PR company, therefore relinquishing its relationship with Kleber.

Whale Cottage has accommodated S A Tourism journalists over the years, and can vouch for the knowledge of and passion for Cape Town and the rest of South Africa of the Kleber PR Network executives.

Hanna Kleber, CEO of Kleber PR Network, said: “Kapstadt hat jede Menge Potential und wir freuen uns darauf, die Stadt mit gezielten MaÃŸnahmen weiter im Urlaubs- und Businessreise-Markt zu etablieren. Mit seiner traumhaften Lage an zwei Weltmeeren, dem spannenden Mix aus NationalitÃ¤ten und Kulturen und einer landschaftlichen Vielfalt, die ihres gleichen sucht, hat sich Kapstadt in den letzten Jahren als eine der groÃŸen internationalen Lifestylemetropolen einen Namen gemacht. Im Zuge der FIFA Fussballweltmeisterschaft 2010 – wird die Stadt zudem als wichtige AustragungsstÃ¤tte im Fokus der Ã–ffentlichkeit stehen.” (Kleber PR will further enhance Cape Town’s presence in the leisure and business tourism markets, and will position the city as a lifestyle metropole, being very much in the focus for the 2010 World Cup.)

One wonders why Cape Town Tourism does not communicate such exciting news to its members. WhaleTales recently criticised the lack of visible marketing by Cape Town Tourism and by Cape Town Routes Unlimited, but neither of the two bodies responded to this criticism.

The appointment of a PR company to market South Africa’s top tourism asset is fantastic news, and would delight its members, especially at a time when membership renewals are due!

Communication with Mariette du Toit-Helmbold, CEO of Cape Town Tourism, has confirmed the appointment of the Kleber PR Network for the marketing of Cape Town in Germany, and she also communicated that a PR company has been appointed in the UK. A similar appointment is expected in The Netherlands shortly.

Read the full report here

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

The Cape Town International Convention Centre has proven to be a powerful carrot for the local tourism industry, in attracting millions of delegates to Cape Town in its five years of operation. Business tourists are known to extend their visits to add sight-seeing and leisure activities once they come to Cape Town, and also generate a higher spend per capita than do leisure visitors.

In the past twelve months more than half a million delegates attended conferences at the Convention Centre, and 325 banquets were hosted at the venue. The current world economic crisis does not appear to have affected bookings, other than in a small reduction of delegates attending in the past month.

In the past year, the Convention Centre contributed R 2,7 billion to the economy of the Western Cape directly and indirectly, according to the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, reports Business Report. This will grow to R 3,38 billion next year, and to R 5,67 billion in five years from now, it is estimated.

The Convention Centre is a case study for a successful public/private partnership, with shares in the holding company Convenco owned by the City of Cape Town (50 %), the Western Cape province (25%) and SunWest International (25%). This role model was unable to work for Cape Town Routes Unlimited, previously a joint venture between the City and the Province. Now it is solely funded by the Western Cape government.

Future growth is constrained until the Convention Centre receives the go-ahead to extend onto the nearby Custom’s House site. The planned extension would cost R 1,4 billion, and would be the “greenest” and most technologically advanced building in the city. It will use 40 % less energy and 95% less water and create 25 % less waste than the existing building, reports the Cape Argus. Wind turbines will be used to generate electricity whilst ventilating the parking garage, and solar energy will be generated. It will have a grey and black water treatment facility; with rainwater recycled; a seawater cooling system; and have a planted green roof, all designed to make the building environmentally responsible. The new building has been described as “iconic” by Rashid Toeffy, the CEO of Convenco.

Looking ahead, the Convention Centre already has 133 bookings for the next eight years.