A Spaniard in the Works

Author: admin

  • Update on Immigration Regulations – don’t hold your breath

    Is progress being made with the visa regulations issue? If you relied solely on the Tourism Business Council of SA‘s (TBCSA) update to it’s members, you would think so. Until you get to the sentence, “A Board resolution has been taken that media will be engaged on this matter on a need-to-know basis – we wish…

  • Why the world needs to redefine tourism now!

    httpv://youtu.be/6H265K8bAJQ Are you one in a billion? If you travelled internationally in 2015 then you are. In fact you are 1 in 1.2 billion. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation that’s how many international trips were made last year. And by 2030 it will be nearly 2 billion. 2030. 2 billion people. Spending…

  • The Road to Hell is paved with Good Intentions

    I was asked to join the board of directors of the Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve (CWBR)  in July 2014. An honour indeed; or so I thought.  This area encompasses one of the most beautiful regions anywhere in the world.  It embraces more opportunities than challenges.  It has — by virtue of its inhabitants, landowners and…

  • A Tribute to the Firefighters…

    This is a tribute to all South African firefighters, disaster management and emergency rescue personnel… to all the volunteers and the grateful public who help where they can.  Cape Town’s fire which is still burning saw volunteers with Working with Fire come from as far as the Free State and Eastern Cape provinces. The following…

  • CapeInfo’s new rating criteria for towns & cities

    In the next few days, we’ll be re-introducing ratings & reviews for destinations — towns & cities.  And it’s been a challenge to try to do it better and more appropriately.  The 21st century is different — it’s about social media, experiential travel, digging deeper and being more aware.  It’s about caring and being environmentally-aware. …

  • The problem with tourism is… usually the people who are supposed to run it

    I was asked to join the board of the Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve (CWBR) last year and was given the marketing portfolio. Now, the CWBR is mandated by UNESCO, the Western Cape’s Biosphere Reserves Act and MOUs with national &  local government departments to address growth in tourism within the Reserve in such a way that…

  • The Law is an Ass – open letter to Derek Hanekom, Minister of Tourism

    Dear Derek I hope you’re going to be speaking to your colleagues now that a list of the National Key Points has been published.  I’m sure you also didn’t know when you were breaking the law before government was forced by the courts to let us know which laws we are breaking before we break…

  • The Conundrum

    The conundrum is:  Should CapeInfo be putting customers/readers and what’s easiest for them first; or should advertisers come first — and what’s easiest for them?  We’d appreciate your thoughts and comments. Because so few hospitality businesses have a marketing background, there’s often the belief that marketing is telling the customer what you want them to…

  • Tale of two annual reports, two divergent corporate cultures

    One is an organisation I admire greatly.  The other is one I used to admire.  And it all came into focus when I just happened to read both their annual reports in one week. Wesgro’s annual report is a monster and reminded me of City of Cape Town reports prior to 1976, when departments tried…

  • Take a straw poll, Wesgro… you might be surprised

    The previous post on this blog expressed our dismay with Wesgro.  In our recent newsletter, we stated that Wesgro (Western Cape destination marketing agency) hadn’t delivered on the good news they promised (and noted key staff losses amid poor ongoing communication). Judy Lain, Wesgro’s chief marketing officer, responded to the newsletter with the following email. …