Eastern Cape showcase at 2017
Grahamstown based Otto Tours was one of the exhibitors at the Tourism Indaba Tradeshow to be held in Durban this week, thanks to the support of the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency and provincial stakeholders including the Sarah Baartman District Municipality.
They have collaborated with Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCM), Sarah Baartman District Municipality and Umzimvubu Local Municipality to uniformly showcase the best the Eastern Cape Province has to offer under its tourism sector brand – Adventure Province at the two-day Tourism Indaba Tradeshow that ended this week.
In a statement the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agen- cy said this year’s focus for the agency and the province was to ensure that Eastern Cape tourism stakeholders continued to work as a united front towards a responsive and inclusive marketing approach.
They sought to promote numerous elements of the province and its tourism offerings – “from nature based experiences, authentic cultural interactions and gems like the seven wonders of the Sarah Baartman region to BCM’s official launch of East London as a golf destination”.
The Indaba is one of the largest tourism networking platforms on the African calendar and is able to unlock doors for tourism players, the Agency said.
“Indaba attracts international buyers and media from across the globe who are all interested in the widest variety of Southern Africa's best tourism products. ECPTA together with its partners are using the platform as a direct link between trade and businesses.”
As such, the entity was also providing 14 SMMEs with the opportunity to attend the Indaba through a variety of partnership programmes.
“As tourism is a vehicle that provide about two out of every three private sector jobs, yet is often faced with difficulties in trading, SMMEs are ECPTA’s significant partners in promoting the Eastern Cape,” the Agency’s Chief Executive Officer, Vuyani Dayimani said.
“ECPTA as a tourism authority wanting to grow the tourism sector of the province partners with SMMEs by providing training and support for effectiveness at trade shows like Indaba so that they are able to proactively engage and promote their establishments and sur- rounding tourism offerings for a sustainable tourism industry.” SMMEs chosen from the sector including accommodation, tour operators, tourist attractions and tourist activities were registered on the ECPTA database and active Tourism Enterprise Partnerships members; registered South African taxpayers and had been trained by ECPTA in business management, financial management, marketing, service excellence, food safety and hospitality and tourism transformation programmes that empower BEEowned businesses.
The following Eastern Cape SMMEs were hosted by the Agency during the Tourism Indaba:
Taras Terrace, Phumlani B & B, Mthombos Place, Siseko Yelani – Tour Guide, Arc En Ciel Guest House, Otto Tours, 045.com Tours, Jama Tours, Indalo Africa Safari, Tshaka Tours, Ilifa Guest House, Tapi River Lodge, Afrizona Guest House and Lisoma Lodge.