Clarification on air link and airlift strategy

In response to Jonker van Tonden’s letter, “First attract tourists” (February 21). It is interesting that you say you were writing the letter to the mayor and municipal manager but you sent it to The Herald, and not their offices.

Just as a point of clarity to assist you as I understand that you raised the matters purely from an uninformed or misinformed background.

Firstly, the overall number of visitors to Nelson Mandela Bay has increased by 27.9% and therefore did not decrease. Interestingly in 2018 the annual foreign share increased by 4.5% to over 21.3%.

The decrease is basically on the foreign tourism market share for December 2018. During the summer season we received more domestic visitors than international visitors, and these numbers always fluctuate, but the focus will always be on performance in terms of the overall visitor numbers.

Secondly, you indicated that there is short-sightedness in the vision on airlink and airlift strategy and you further said I was mumbling on the identified routes. Let me correct you sir, you are wrong.

The work done is informed by thorough research conducted by both Acsa and experts contracted by the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber (NMBC) through a partnership with Wesgro.

The work was done by a team of professionals and capable experts, some driving the Western Cape Air Access, which has yielded positive results since its inception. One of the barriers to tourism growth in NMB is accessibility. Reducing cost of flights and introducing new routes would assist in bringing more visitors to the city.

So before you question the credibility of the work done, the NMBM established an airlift steering committee comprising of experts from Acsa, the CEO of NMBC and the Eastern Cape Development Corporation. The NMBC further contributed to the work of the steering committee by contracting the services of Wesgro with a team of experts with more than 15 years working in the aviation industry across the world.

(A full and detailed report backed by statistics on the NMB airlift strategy and plan for NMB is available and can be shared with you just to give you a bigger picture.)

I will assume you missed the other articles about the work being conducted to deal with the challenges relating to tourism destination management or you made your comments purely out of ignorance.

I believe you were selective when you read the article as you don’t mention the comments from the MMC for EDTA (Economic Development, Tourism and Agriculture) in terms of dealing with all the negative aspects you raised.

Lastly, what you read in The Herald is never a full report. I advise you to engage my office for detailed information which I will willingly share with you.

My offices are at 8th Floor, Kwantu Towers, Vuyisile Mini Square, and my e-mail address is edta@mandelametro.gov.za should you wish to further engage me on this matter or require more information.

Anele Qaba, executive director:

EDTA, Nelson Mandela Bay