A Spaniard in the Works

Tag: Cape Town Tourism

  • Tourism’s next big challenge

    We survived the Ebola panic; we survived the Visa fiasco (and hopefully South Africa will still catch up with Ethopia in making visas easily obtainable).  Now government is taking steps which threaten to damage tourism from the inside, showing a complete lack of understanding for how the industry works.

  • If dams go dry – what it means for tourism in Cape Town

    The latest forecast for Cape Town’s rainfall in June, July and August is that it will be 40% below annual averages.  And there are predictions that this drought could last at least two years.  Cape Town could become the first world city to simply run out of water due to bad management and too much…

  • Wesgro… gets a #Fail!

    Wesgro, the Western Cape’s trade and investment agency absorbed the province’s beleaguered destination marketing agency (Cape Town Routes Unlimited – CTRU) in April 2012.  I attended Wesgro’s AGM in October 2012 and left unimpressed.  It was all about ticking the boxes with little vision apparent.  As a slick presentation, it was a flop, relying largely…

  • Mariette du Toit-Helmbold to leave Cape Town Tourism

    CEO Mariette du Toit-Helmbold has announced that she will be leaving Cape Town Tourism at the end of July 2013 but will continue to support the organisation until after its AGM in October. She will, however, continue working on tourism and marketing strategy initiatives, nationally and internationally, as an independent tourism and marketing strategist. She…

  • Cape Town Tourism: delivery time!

    With a drop in market share of 16% over the last five years, one can understand that Cape Town’s tourism industry is licking its wounds and looking for salvation.  A drop in market share has less to do with the recession than other destinations doing things smarter or reaping fortuitous benefits. Where does accountability lie? …

  • Why Cape Town is surfing the crest of a wave

    In 1990, while I was part of the V&A Waterfront team, I bought an international travel magazine. There was a story on Barcelona’s renaissance after the end of Spain’s dictatorship. With events then starting to unfold in South Africa, I wondered if the same could happen in Cape Town. Although there have been scores of…

  • Tourism representatives must be accountable

    Two dates in the Western Cape raise the need for the public to hold its tourism representatives to greater accountability. September 30 is the deadline for your comments on tourism MEC Alan Winde’s plan for restructuring tourism marketing in the Western Cape. Now CapeInfo’s readers have already voted – only 10 out of 170 votes…

  • CapeInfo challenges Alan Winde’s abysmal plan

    Western Cape tourism minister, Alan Winde, has announced a plan to (once again) restructure tourism in the Province.  His new plan is a rehash of what his department tried to implement in 2002, and promises new and endless debates (plus costs) about a new trading name, corporate identity, etc. Since it was established in 2003,…

  • 2010 and a Can of Worms

    Good and bad has come out of the whole rooms4u saga and the conundrum of the “official South African accommodation and bookings portal.” The good was renewing an old aquaintance with Sindiswa Nhlumayo,  the deputy directory-general of tourism.  She brought a bit of clarity to the whole issue. The ‘bads’ were several.  Firstly, the Department…

  • Dear Danny – make 2010 a love affair, not a one night stand

    Open letter to Dr Danny Jordaan, CEO of 2010 LOC The stadiums are almost all finished, and Cape Town and Durban’s must surely join the ranks of the great stadia of the world.  Johannesburg’s Soccer City, demonstrating local is lekker, is sure to appeal to many locals. It seems the cities (or their consultants) were…