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22 April 2010
Tshwane could have its own regional tourism organisation by April next year.
Chairman of the Tshwane Tourism Action Team, Mike Gcabo says such an
organisation would boost tourism to South Africa's capital city, Tshwane,
tremendously.
Welcoming the progress announced at the annual Tshwane tourism lekgotla
today, Gcabo said the envisaged Tshwane Tourism Company would focus on
marketing Tshwane as a preferred tourism destination and providing a
relevant and up to date tourism information service. It will also facilitate the
City of Tshwane's tourism development objectives.
"Successful tourism destinations like Cape Town, Johannesburg, Canberra in
Australia and Dublin in Ireland operate efficient regional tourism organisations.
Tshwane's unique selling propositions as South Africa's capital city and its
tourism identity and branding in line with that of South Africa, now need to fully
utilised.
"Tshwane's tourism industry is still outperformed by other metros and our
visitor numbers are still well below the master plan target of 6,9 million by
2012. Current figures indicate that some 3, 4 million tourists visit Tshwane
every year, compared to more than 6,8 million to Johannesburg and more
than four million to eThekwini. An effective regional tourism organisation for
Tshwane will certainly go a long way to help promote tourism to the city,"
Gcabo said.
In terms of funding for the organisation, Gcabo said research shows that it is
essential that government funding is forthcoming.
"South African regions with effective tourism organisations are primarily
government funded. This, however, does not mean that the tourism
organisation should only rely on such funding, but should also generate
money from, for example, private and public sector sponsorships,
membership fees and booking and information services.
"As private sector tourism establishments experience the advantages of an
effective tourism organisation, they become more willing to assist with
financial support.
"The proposed business plan for the Tshwane Tourism Company suggests an
operating budget of R5,4m in the first year, R13,9m in the second year and
R15,3m in the third year. Annual membership fees of R5 000 for large,
R3 000 for medium and R1 000 for small tourism establishments are
suggested. To be viable it is suggested that 281 members should join in the
first year, which needs to increase to 1 360 in the second year. "
Gcabo gave the assurance that the proposed Tshwane Tourism Company
would be small, flexible and highly effective.
"We believe in having a small core team of experienced individuals, applying
an outsourced business model with administration costs less than 20 percent
of the total budget. The section 21 company will leverage city and private
sector resources and enhance membership participation – truly a partnership
between the city and the private sector.
"The functional structure will consist of a board, with members from the city
and its five regions, the executive of the company, non-core tourism subsectors
and people with special skills from outside Tshwane.. To facilitate the
formation of the Tshwane Tourism Company, the Tshwane Tourism Action
Team will continue to act as the interim board."
In thanking the team for its sustained and focused input in reaching this
milestone, Gcabo it is one of the most vibrant public/private sector initiatives in
the city.
"The team, constituted from private sector tourism industry role-players and
officials of the City of Tshwane's tourism division, works pro-bono to enhance
the city's tourism potential to the benefit of all citizens.
"As part of its strategy and ten point action plan a branding strategy and brand
for Tshwane within the national tourism branding framework has been
developed, a Tshwane tourism website in line with state-of-the-art
international tourism websites is operational and a tourism brochure has been
placed in the marketplace.
"City visitor's centres are being developed and research to establish a
comprehensive accommodation database has been conducted. In all its
activities the team pursues the involvement of communities and green tourism
is a high priority. The team seeks to leverage on all related activities while
service excellence is non-negotiable," he said.
"Despite the financial challenges that the City of Tshwane is presently facing, I
trust that it will include budget for the formation of the Tshwane Tourism
Company in the financial year that starts in July. This will be a sign of
confidence in the enhancement of tourism - South Africa's new gold – to
Tshwane," Gcabo said.
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