Cashing in on winter tourism

FOR a coastal centre that can offer so much, it is astonishing that Nelson Mandela Bay plays second fiddle to neighbouring towns and resorts when it comes to extracting the most from its winter tourism potential.

While mid-year holiday hotspots like Jeffreys Bay, Knysna and Plettenberg Bay have fully harnessed this lucrative market with a string of events and festivals, the Bay struggles to come up with a sustainable plan that would draw visitors – who are clearly streaming to the region in the winter months – to its own shores.

With its ideal, moderate climate, numerous pristine beaches – which are a drawcard even in winter – and accommodation establishments that cater to every pocket, the Bay has all the elements which the other destinations boast.

The Bay municipality has admitted a winter “gap” exists in tourism planning and has given the assurance that a strategy is being developed to ensure opportunities are seized all year round.

The reason why that gap has only become apparent now, when the Knysna Oyster Festival has been attracting ever-increasing numbers of visitors for almost 30 years, is a mystery.

Money is also a problem when Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism is allocated only 60% of what it says it needs to be able to provide effective marketing to attract local and foreign visitors.

When we consider what a success and cash injection the Easter weekend Splash Festival once represented and how it was allowed to deteriorate into a shadow of the spectacle it once was, it is difficult to be optimistic about the prospects for a winter tourism initiative.

But on the plus side, one of the biggest attractions the Eastern Cape offers in the June-July period is the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown which has, over the past two years, extended its programme into the Bay with both art exhibitions and drama productions.

This could very well be the key to a greater winter holiday programme for the Bay – providing not only an arts experience for the many visitors who use the metro as their point of entry to the festival, but also providing additional attractions, such as a major food fest or sports events which are the hallmark of the Knysna festival.

The metro has proved through events like Ironman and its hosting of other big sports fixtures that it has the capacity and infrastructure to do so successfully.

Constructing a more comprehensive programme to coincide with the Grahamstown fest could be the ideal solution.