{"id":24311,"date":"2011-08-29T00:19:47","date_gmt":"2011-08-28T22:19:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=24311"},"modified":"2011-09-18T18:45:31","modified_gmt":"2011-09-18T16:45:31","slug":"cape-town-tourism-responds-to-criticism-of-its-strategetic-consultant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/cape-town-tourism-responds-to-criticism-of-its-strategetic-consultant\/","title":{"rendered":"Cape Town Tourism responds to criticism of its Australian “Strategetic” Consultant!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It took Cape Town Tourism two days to formulate a response to our blogpost “So who the ‘bloody hell’ is Cape Town Tourism’s Australian strategy consultant?”.<\/strong> <\/a>The fact that they have responded to our questions regarding the six-month appointment of Australian ‘strategy consultant’ Ian Macfarlane, and dedicated a detailed reply on their website, and ‘advertised’ it on Twitter, shows that our blogpost has hit a sensitive spot!<\/p>\n

The Cape Town Tourism reply (see the full\u00a0response below) was to point out ‘inaccuracies’<\/em> in our blogpost, and to ‘contextualise the reasons for the appointment of Strategetic’<\/em>, they wrote.\u00a0 In summary:<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 The Request for Proposal for ‘Strategic Support to Cape Town Tourism for the development and implementation of a Cape Town Marketing and Brand Campaign<\/em>‘\u00a0 was\u00a0announced on its website and on ‘Trade World’ (a digital procurement company, it would appear), and sent to consultants on its database, they write. Three proposals (the two other consultancy names\u00a0not revealed) were short-listed. The bid by Strategetic Consultants was accepted on the basis of meeting the Request for Proposal the best,\u00a0they had the ‘most appropriate global destination and brand campaign experience’,<\/em> and the cost was the most competitive, they write.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0 Ian Macfarlane is knowledgeable about Cape Town, having lived and worked\u00a0in the city for 18 years, they write.\u00a0 However, the information about Macfarlane’s studies and\u00a0appointments\u00a0do not add up, as\u00a0there is only a 12 year gap between his completed MBA and Tourism\u00a0New Zealand starting date.\u00a0 Also, no Cape Town employers are mentioned for the 1987 – 1998 period, but in our research we\u00a0found his ‘Bios’ stating that he had worked at Engen (GM of Lubricants Division)\u00a0and Young & Rubicam Cape Town, neither of these jobs making him an expert about Cape Town, or the tourism marketing of Cape Town.\u00a0 He has not lived nor worked in Cape Town for 13 years, a vastly different city now!<\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Specific ‘inaccuracies’ <\/em>in our blogpost are stated as being:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 the value of the ‘So where the bloody hell are you?’<\/em> campaign,\u00a0its success (or lack of), and its banning is disputed.\u00a0 Our information was based on Wikipedia,<\/a> <\/span><\/strong>known to be a reliable source of information, quoting reports by the BBC <\/strong>and Australian media about this particular campaign.\u00a0 However, should it have contained inaccurate information, reflecting so badly on Ian Macfarlane and Tourism Australia, they would have had\u00a0the right to\u00a0request Wikipedia to correct this information – four years or more since the termination of the campaign this has not been done!<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0 The effect of the exchange rate on tourism arrivals, or lack of, is justified through a tourism publication – it goes against the grain of experience of every South African ‘exporter’, which\u00a0includes our tourism industry!<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 The www.strategetic.co<\/a> web address for Ian Macfarlane on his Strategetic Consultants’ business card\u00a0may be\u00a0a ‘legitimate address’, as Cape Town Tourism claims, but it does not open to the website of Strategetic Consultants. One wonders why\u00a0Macfarlane would have such a nonsensical website address on his business card.\u00a0 It takes one to a page with a heading “Welcome to your new Web Hosting Account”, <\/em>but requests a password and log-in details!\u00a0 The consultancy’s web address is www.strategetic.com.au<\/a>, and one wonders why it is not on the business card correctly!<\/p>\n

The last sentence of the last paragraph of the Cape Town Tourism response is a farce: ‘We are more than happy to answer questions to the best of our ability in furthering our commitment to transparency and accountability and we always appreciate constructive input’.<\/em> It took Mariette Du Toit-Helmbold, CEO of Cape Town Tourism, four days to reply to our five questions, which are contained in our blogpost about Ian Macfarlane.\u00a0 Subsequent questions relating to the appointment have been ignored, despite three reminders!\u00a0 Last night, Mrs Helmbold finally responded, writing that she will only respond to\u00a0our questions on the Cape Town Tourism website, and not by e-mail: “To the extent that your questions raise new issues which require a response on our website, we will update our website for the benefit of all our members and to ensure that facts are accurately presented. <\/span><\/em>We will address any further queries from you in the same way”.<\/em> <\/span>The City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee member for Tourism, Grant Pascoe, has not replied to our e-mail, Tweet,\u00a0and phone call either.\u00a0The detailed Cape Town Tourism response follows below:<\/p>\n

“Clarity on the appointment of International Tourism Consultant<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Published:\u00a0August 25 2011\u00a0\u00a0By:\u00a0Cape Town Tourism<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In response to the Whale Cottage Blog post dated August 23, 2011, entitled \u201cSo who the \u2018bloody hell\u2019 is Cape Town Tourism\u2019s new Australian strategy consultant?\u201d, Cape Town Tourism would like to point out a number of inaccuracies in the blog post and contextualise the reasons for the appointment of Strategetic.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The Cape Town Tourism Board approved the appointment of Strategetic in July 2011 for a six month period (until the end of December, 2011) after a Request for Proposals (RFP) was released in June 2011 for \u201cStrategic Support to Cape Town Tourism for the development and implementation of a Cape Town Marketing and Brand Campaign.\u201d <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In line with Cape Town Tourism\u2019s procurement policy, the value of the contract did not necessitate a public tender process, but rather a public request for quotations. For the sake of transparency, Cape Town Tourism published an RFP on Cape Town Tourism\u2019s website, on Trade World, and circulated the RFP to consultants on Cape Town Tourism\u2019s database. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Three proposals that met the key criteria with quotations were short-listed and evaluated by the Cape Town Tourism Board. The Board was satisfied that due process was followed, that Strategetic\u2019s proposal best addressed the RFP criteria and that they presented the most appropriate global destination marketing and brand campaign experience – a specific requirement for Cape Town Tourism in light of the need to grow demand in global markets. The business model and fee structure proposed was the most competitive and allows for a risk-share scenario, which ensures greater accountability and will allow for the generation of additional income. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The lead consultant put forward by Strategetic was Ian Macfarlane who has extensive global tourism marketing experience complemented by a good local knowledge and understanding of Cape Town and South Africa, having lived in Cape Town for 18 years and worked in various corporate senior management positions whilst based in the city. To be relevant in the international arena in which Cape Town competes, access to international best practice and expertise, coupled with local knowledge, is very important. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Macfarlane\u2019s verified qualifications and experience include:<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n