Tag Archives: Visitor Services

New Cape Town Tourism Chairman Sabine Lehmann to focus on new City of Cape Town marketing relationship!

As we predicted, the new Chairman of Cape Town Tourism is its previous Deputy Chairman and the Managing Director of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company, Sabine Lehmann, the first female Chairman of the tourism body, and elected at the first meeting of the new Cape Town Tourism Board two weeks ago, said an e-mail sent to Cape Town Tourism members last week.

Ms Lehmann will not have an easy task to negotiate with tough City of Cape Town funder Anton Groenewald, the Director of the new City of Cape Town Tourism, Events and Marketing (TEAM) Directorate, who showed his muscle eight years ago, when he brought the previous Cape Town Tourism and its Board (with CEO Sheryl Ozinsky) on its knees, by withholding funding when we as a Board attempted resisting amalgamation with all the other tourism bodies in Cape Town, and closing down the original Section 21 company (which still has not been wound down!).

At the AGM of Cape Town Tourism last month, Mr Groenewald announced that his Directorate will take away Destination Marketing from Cape Town Tourism, which will be left with Visitor Services and Tourism Marketing only, seen by most in the industry as well as journalists as a vote of no confidence in the marketing, or lack of, of Cape Town. Its future marketing role will be restricted to representing Cape Town at international exhibitions (such as World Travel Market in London, where CEO Mariette du Toit-Helmbold is representing Cape Town with Wesgro at the moment), hosting local and international media, and digital marketing. The City of Cape Town has appointed Rory Viljoen as its new Director of Place Marketing (or Destination Marketing).

In the Cape Town Tourism member e-mail Mrs Helmbold tried to sound upbeat towards her members, and made the right noises towards the City of Cape Town and its future relationship: “…the Cape Town Tourism Executive team and Board are optimistic about working with the City on a new destination marketing model for Cape Town”. She referred to the Constitution of Cape Town Tourism, writing that the tourism body ‘will continue to deliver tourism marketing and visitor services in line with our Constitution’. However, the City’s removal of Cape Town Tourism’s Destination Marketing role is in breach of Cape Town Tourism’s Constitution, an issue which she does not address.  A new three year contract is to be negotiated with the City of Cape Town as a first priority, to provide greater financial and operational stability for Cape Town Tourism, as the contracts have been renewed annually in the past. Ms Lehmann will have to live with the Service Level Agreement which appears to have been hastily signed by outgoing Cape Town Tourism Chairman Ian Bartes before the AGM, and possibly without approval from the rest of the Board members.

The rest of the two page e-mail is a badly written copy and paste job of a recent media release, as well as of Mrs Helmbold’s speech at the AGM, with unacceptable grammatical errors and Mrs Helmbold’s love for nonsensical phrases: “We’ve had to make difficult decisions in the past, and we will do so again to ensure that Cape Town Tourism is a well-run organisation that contributes in a real way to positioning Cape Town as one of the world’s leading tourism destinations. As always, we will take the industry along on our journey and ensure that our strategies and plans are co-crafted with the industry and the stakeholders who are the flesh and blood of the tourism sector in Cape Town. Changes in our environment, whether local or international, brings (sic) with it the opportunity to go back to basics, re-imagine the future and ensure that we stay relevant”.

The e-mail to the Cape Town Tourism members does not explain to its members what exactly its future role will be, and what impact this will have on the staffing of Cape Town Tourism (some retrenchments were hinted at at the AGM) and on the service delivery to its members. Surprising is that Mrs Helmbold does not know the correct company name of her new Chairman!

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

SA is not projecting the right image, affects business, says Western Cape Tourism Minister Alan Winde!

On the day that Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan presented South Africa’s mid-term budget in Parliament, and announced that SARS revenue collected is R5 billion less, and is unlikely to grow next year, Minister Alan Winde closed the Wesgro AGM with refreshing honesty, and said that the Finance Minister’s speech meant that provinces would receive the same allocation as the current financial year, meaning a lower buying power next year due to cost increases.  He also said that currently South Africa is lacking leadership, and is not projecting the right image to the outside world, given the strike of the SA Transport and Allied Worker’s Union, the Marikana massacre, and the capsizing of the Miroshga off Hout Bay.

Minister Winde’s sombre closure of the AGM reflecting the tough trading conditions which the Western Cape businesses can expect for the next two years, and which have already affected Wesgro’s performance in not meeting its top targets of Investment.  The Trade, Investment and (new) Tourism promotion body celebrated its 30th anniversary this year, and probably presented negative figures for the first time in many years.  It has an interesting method of setting targets, at a high and a low band.  In most measurements presented, Wesgro exceeded the ‘low road’, but did not meet the ‘high road’ budgets in its Investment and Trade Promotion divisions.  Wesgro Chairman Benjamin Kodisang started off the proceedings by also adding his negative view of the world, expressing that he is ‘a concerned man, who has never found the world in the situation it is in now, economically, socially, and politically’.  He challenged business persons in the Cape to ‘stand up, and be counted’, and to show leadership, as contained in Wesgro’s Vision of leading ‘the creation and promotion of a compelling global destination for investment, trade and destination marketing for the benefit of all people in the Western Cape’. Good news is that the Western Cape economic growth has outshone that of the national economy for the eleventh year running, with a growth rate of 3,1 % currently, driven largely by a 7% growth in exports, mainly of fruit.  Over a third of exports go to Asia, and one-quarter to Europe (of which one-fifth is wine).  R1,24 billion in Investment was attracted to the province in the past year, it was reported.  More than 1000 jobs were created in the same period.  The dominant export markets for the Western Cape remain the UK, France and Germany, but the West Africa Trade Corridor is gaining importance, in particular Nigeria, Angola, Cameroon, and Côte d’Ivoire.  Angola has taken over from Mozambique as the province’s largest trade partner in Africa, said Nils Flaatten, Wesgro CEO.  Brazil, India and China, all BRICS countries, are important for partnerships to promote the economy of the Western Cape.  The United Nations Procurement Programme, incorporating our province as one of only three developing areas, is a bonus for the Western Cape.

In April Wesgro incorporated Cape Town Routes Unlimited, which no longer operates by that name, but which still has a Board in place until the Western Cape Tourism Act of 2004 has been repealed, likely to be in April 2013. The Wesgro Act is being amended too, to allow the organisation to adopt the role of tourism promotion too.  Deon Cloete, Chairman of the Cape Town Routes Unlimited Board, also painted a picture of a tough economy and the effect of the incorporation of the organisation into Wesgro, the contribution of conferences to the Western Cape economy having been R254 million instead of the projected R360 million, even though the number of conferences grew.  The 1,4 million tourist arrivals means an 8% decline, while spend by foreign tourists had declined by 16% to R18 billion, he said.  The province sold 26% of the national bednights, and the average spend per day on a trip was R1420.   Cloete warned of a ‘tough year’ ahead, despite the country’s most popular tourism destination, the V&A Waterfront, being in the Cape and having achieved 22 million visitors.  Minister Winde highlighted that 600 conferences and events had been held in the Western Cape in the past year.

Flaatten said that the vision going forward is to cross-sell the Western Cape in a three-prong Trade, Investment and Destination Marketing approach.

Embarrassing is the glowing write up in the Wesgro 2011-2012 Annual Report of Cape Town Tourism CEO and Wesgro Board member Mariette du Toit-Helmbold: ‘Under her  leadership Cape Town Tourism has won critical acclaim as a Visitor Services and Destination Marketing Organisation doing sterling work at the coal face of one of the country’s fastest growing industries’. The City of Cape Town clearly does not agree, having taken the responsibility of Destination Marketing away from Cape Town Tourism, announced at the Cape Town Tourism AGM just a week ago!

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

Cape Town Tourism reassures its members about Marketing role, causes further confusion!

In order to reassure its members about its future role, Cape Town Tourism issued a media statement late yesterday afternoon, the content of which will make the tourism industry even more confused.

At the AGM of Cape Town Tourism on Thursday, preceded by an e-mail sent to members the day before, it was announced that the City of Cape Town is taking over Cape Town Tourism’s role of Destination Marketing, and that the tourism organisation would focus in future on Visitor Services and on Tourism Marketing, even though it was not clear what the difference is between Tourism Marketing and Destination Marketing.

The media statement says that Cape Town Tourism as an ‘organisation will remain a dynamic industry organisation delivering tourism destination marketing and visitor services in line with its Constitution’. On Monday we wrote that taking away the Destination Marketing function of Cape Town Tourism is in breach of Cape Town Tourism’s Constitution.

While the City of Cape Town’s Executive Director of Tourism, Events, and Marketing (TEAM), Anton Groenewald, had been clear that Cape Town Tourism will only handle ‘Tourism Marketing’ with Visitor Services, Cape Town Tourism CEO Mariette du Toit-Helmbold is quoted in the Cape Town Tourism media statement as referring to ‘tourism destination marketing‘, a term not used by the City of Cape Town in its presentation at the AGM.  Interesting too is the reference to the Constitution, which may make the City’s move, even if the ex-Cape Town Tourism Chairman Ian Bartes signed the Service Level Agreement with the City, agreeing to it shedding its role, unconstitutional in itself – we question whether the Constitution allows Bartes to sign such an agreement without Board approval, as intimated at the AGM.

Interesting is that Mrs Helmbold praises her own organisation, as if to plead to the City for a rethink: ‘Cape Town Tourism was the best vehicle to deliver tourism destination marketing and visitor services for Cape Town’, but it would appear that the City of Cape Town does not agree, a number of media reports agreeing with our interpretation that the events at the AGM were in fact a vote of no confidence in Cape Town Tourism’s ability to market Cape Town!

The media statement changes tack, and contradicts its earlier paragraph about its future role, and explains that Cape Town Tourism will perform a support role to the new Places Marketing  division in the City’s new TEAM directorate, headed by Mr Groenewald: “The City of Cape Town introduced their new Tourism, Events and Marketing (incorporating Arts & Culture and Strategic Assets) Directorate to the industry at the Cape Town Tourism AGM. The function of the new directorate includes Place Marketing – a department that will, in future, take care of destination marketing at large for the city. Cape Town Tourism will focus on tourism marketing, whilst supporting the directorate with Place Marketing programmes”.

The media statement defines the future role of Cape Town Tourism as representing Cape Town at international exhibitions, hosting local and international media, digital marketing (i.e. lots more Tweeting!), and any further tourism marketing requirements of the City of Cape Town, for which it would have to pay extra!

History has shown that Cape Town Tourism cannot but accept the City’s directive, otherwise it will be bled dry by the City of Cape Town, as happened to the previous Cape Town Tourism section 21 company in 2004.  Mrs Helmbold confirmed her organisation’s acceptance of the new directive: ” We are encouraged by the City’s commitment to conclude a three year visitor services and tourism marketing agreement with Cape Town Tourism before June 2013. We are committed to work with the City of Cape Town to co-design our future partnership with the City and agree on Cape Town Tourism’s role and responsibility within the broader Place Marketing agenda of the City. Tourism, the third largest contributor to the global economy, after the automobile and banking sectors, is a sector that really matters. As the world prepares to witness one billion arrivals by the end of 2012, we will never lose sight of the fact that tourism makes a significant contribution to shaping Cape Town’s future and a better life for its citizens. The partnership between tourism and local government must realise growth and opportunities for the tourism industry and those that work in and provide services to the sector.”

Mrs Helmbold also acknowledged that her organisation had not delivered on tourism growth, as we have pointed out on numerous occasions: “Cape Town Tourism is ready to work with the City on a new destination marketing model for Cape Town. We remain single-minded in our belief that we can help to turn the tide on shrinking demand and seasonality and will continue rolling out cutting edge visitor and tourism destination marketing programmes. Some elements will have to be delayed or reimagined in lieu of our reduced funding and ever changing trends. We will cut our cloth according to our available resources, but we will stay future-minded, never compromising innovation, creativity and excellence. We will improve the balance between “bricks and mortar” and digital visitor service delivery, and focus a lot more on marketing in partnership with the tourism industry and business at large.”

The rest of the long media statement was an encapsulation of information presented at the AGM, but did not explain the muddled definitions of ‘Destination Marketing‘ and ‘Tourism Marketing’, nor why Mrs Helmbold has given her organisation the new mandate of ‘tourism destination marketing’. One hopes that Cape Town Tourism and the City of Cape Town will clarify their exact roles and relationship, and will get on with the much-needed job of marketing Cape Town as a world class tourist destination!

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

Cape Town Tourism response to Private Home registration questions

We asked Cape Town Tourism on Saturday why they had not informed members of Cape Town Tourism of the Private Home Registration program they have launched.   Lianne Burton, spokesperson of Cape Town Tourism, has apologised for this communication error, and sent the following statement to Cape Town Tourism members today: 

“With regard to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as Cape Town’s official tourism authority, Cape Town Tourism’s role is to ensure that the expectations of World Cup visitors are met and exceeded to ensure a lasting tourism legacy for Cape Town. Hence our decision to offer full paid membership to Cape Town Tourism for temporary accommodation providers, covering the costs of assessing their accommodation to ensure that it meets our minimum requirements, advising owners on visitor services and guest relations standards, and offering potential visitors an assurance that there is comeback via Cape Town Tourism if they are unhappy.

This is our role as the Visitor Services organisation for Cape Town and we are committed to fulfilling it for the benefit of Cape Town’s tourism sector as a whole. Bad visitor experiences, even if they are as a result of temporary accommodation promises not being delivered on, will hurt Cape Town’s reputation for offering exceptional accommodation for every budget; from 5 star Hotels to Backpackers, B&Bs and private homes or tented villages. Great visitor experiences during the 2010 FIFA World Cup will ensure repeat business for the tourism sector. Ours is a long-term view and we are committed to this vision.”

Lianne also replied to our questions addressed to Cape Town Tourism regarding the Private Home registration program:

Why have you not informed us as members of Cape Town Tourism about this?

“I agree that we should have informed Cape Town Tourism members first of this
strategic decision to extend our regular membership program to temporary
accommodation providers. I apologise for the communication oversight and am
sending out a newsflash today to all members to fill them in on our
reasoning.
However, it¹s important to note that we have not introduced a new membership
program or a temporary program for temporary accommodation establishments.
We are simply extending our full current membership program to temporary
accommodation providers, which means that the same cost implications and
responsibilities apply to temporary accommodation providers as they do to
established members. This decision is to acknowledge the contribution and
loyalty of our established members. It is also the reason why we rejected
requests to offer temporary membership at a discounted rate to accommodation
providers operating purely during the World Cup period.
Why are you taking business away from your membership base, who have
supported you loyally over the years, when professional accommodation
establishments are not yet fully booked for the 2010 World Cup?   Do you
need additional income so badly that you have to include private home owners
into your membership base?
Our decision to extend full membership to temporary accommodation providers
is not a financial one. It arises out of our strategic decision to focus on
the following priority areas regarding the 2010 World Cup:
    1. To host a remarkable World Cup through meeting and exceeding visitor
expectations in every way, including in terms of the accommodation on offer
in Cape Town, whatever form it takes.
    2. To maximise the legacy potential of the World Cup for Cape Town and
Cape Town’s tourism industry by ensuring that World Cup visitors are
converted into brand ambassadors for Cape Town.
Our role as Cape Town’s official tourism authority is to ensure that the
expectations of World Cup visitors are met and exceeded to ensure a lasting
tourism legacy for Cape Town. Hence our decision to offer full paid
membership to Cape Town Tourism for temporary accommodation providers,
covering the costs of assessing their accommodation to ensure that it meets
our minimum requirements, advising owners on visitor services and guest
relations standards, including their accommodation listings on our webste,
and offering potential visitors an assurance that there is comeback via Cape
Town Tourism if they are unhappy with their temporary accommodation. This is
our role as the Visitor Services organisation for Cape Town and we are
committed to fulfilling it for the benefit of Cape Town’s tourism sector as
a whole.

Bad visitor experiences, even if they are as a result of temporary
accommodation promises not being delivered on, will hurt Cape Town’s
reputation for offering exceptional accommodation for every budget; we are
known for our excellent accommodation standards, and we would like this to
apply over the World Cup period, whether for 5 star Hotels, Backpackers, B
and Bs, private homes, university residences or temporary tented villages.

The established tourism industry stands to suffer if unscrupulous temporary
accommodation providers aiming to make a quick buck take advantage of
unsuspecting World Cup visitors. The entire tourism sector will then be
tarred with the same brush and Cape Town’s reputation as a quality
destination will be damaged, to the detriment of everyone working in
tourism.

In contrast, great visitor experiences during the 2010 World Cup will ensure
repeat business for the established tourism sector, since most temporary
accommodation providers are purely focused on the World Cup opportunity and
will not be operational beyond June and July 2010.  Hence the repeat
business generated as a result of Cape Town¹s standards of excellence in the
established and temporary accommodation sector during the World Cup, will
greatly benefit established accommodation providers.

Cape Town Tourism’s is certainly a long-term view and we are committed to
this vision.”

What survey have you done to establish what our availability is for the
World Cup, especially if we have not contracted with MATCH?

“Cape Tourism in the process of refining our online accommodation and tour
operator listings and booking system and will be advising members of the
strategy shortly. Our contact centre is currently fielding 2010
accommodation booking queries and passing on all enquiries to members who
meet the criteria outlined in the requests in terms of number of rooms,
proximity to the stadium, budget etc.

“Why would you want to divert attention from your stated objective, i.e. to
market Cape Town and its products, to advise and organise non-professional
private home owners in their marketing?

“We believe it is our responsibility as Cape Town Tourism to ensure that
World Cup visitors get what they are promised, and more. It has been found
worldwide that temporary accommodation plays a significant role (though
secondary to established accommodation) in meeting World Cup accommodation
demand, especially in the middle-market price range.
Hence, it would be true to say that temporary accommodation will be offered,
marketed and booked with or without Cape Town Tourism’s support and
guidance. We would rather encourage temporary accommodation providers to be
assessed and to become members of Cape Town Tourism than simply do nothing,
to ensure that this temporary sector upholds the excellent reputation we
have all done so much to build as an established tourism sector.
We believe that there will be more than enough bookings to go around. Cape
Town Tourism is committed to marketing all member products and services to
ensure that maximum benefit is derived for our members from the World Cup
opportunity, and that visitors get the accommodation they expect and deserve
‹ ie. Excellent standards and great value”.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio : www.whalecottage.com