Tag Archives: Soccerex

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

Credit crunch creates capital

The global economic crisis may not be such a bad thing for South African tourism after all, given its effect on the Rand exchange rates, and resultant greater affordability as a destination for international tourists.  Domestic tourism too should benefit from the exchange rate volatility, in that locals may switch to local holidays over the festive season, instead of going overseas.

The outlook for 2009 and 2010 is favourable, given the Confederations Cup and British Lions Tour taking place in winter 2009, and the soccer World Cup taking place in winter 2010.  Winter traditionally is a very low income period for the Western Cape in particular.

The past week has seen the US dollar exceed R 10, its weakest ever,  and exchange rates of R 18 to the pound sterling and R 14 to the Euro.   It is the dollar exchange rate volatility that may cost the country a petrol price decrease next month, and also may see an interest rate increase instead of the hoped-for decrease.

The tourism industry appears to be optimistic to date about the effect of the international credit crunch.   Tourism Business Africa quotes Joop Demes of Pam Golding Hospitality as saying that the hotel market grew by 19% in the first six months of this year compared to the same period last year.  Growth is in Gauteng, and particlurly for hotels at OR Thambo airport in Johannesburg.   Revenue per available room has increased by 16 %, and by 19 % for 5-star hotels, and by 25% in Johannesburg.  Demes says that about three-quarters of the country’s 57 000 hotel rooms are booked by locals, driven in particular by the MICE market of conferences and meetings, as well as budget holidays.  

Travel agents are seeing a switch to domestic products. Their international clients are booking accommodation inclusive of meals, as a result of the exchange rate weakening, and are paying more promptly, to avoid further price increases, reports Travel News Weekly.

The credit crunch is also driving locals to game reserves, instead of overseas, says FEDHASA KwaZulu-Natal, as well as to beach hotels in the province.

Southern Sun Hotels is confidently predicting that 2009 will be busier than 2010, not only because of the Confederations Cup and British Lions Tour, but also due to the elections and inauguration of the new President, Soccerex, the Australian and English cricket tours, and the FIFA World Cup Final Draw, which takes place in Cape Town in December 2009, reports Travel News Weekly.   Southern Sun has contracted about 10000 of its rooms to MATCH, the FIFA accommodation agency, and is the single largest accommodation provider for the World Cup 2010.