Cape tourism unveils strategy to capitalise on 2010
Speaking at Indaba 2007, Calvyn Gilfellan, Acting CEO for Cape Town Routes Unlimited says that the 2010 soccer extravaganza is best possible opportunity to promote the destination to millions around the world.
Cape Town Routes Unlimited is the official destination marketing organisation for Cape Town and the Western Cape and it has launched a marketing strategy to ensure that the 2010 FIFA World Cup helps make the province one of the world’s premier tourism destinations.
The strategy aims to capitalise on the media exposure of the biggest to develop Cape Town and the Western Cape into one of the world’s top 10 destinations by 2020. This will be measured in terms of visitor numbers and economic impact, specifically the industry’s pivotal role in social and economic change in the province.
Core to the strategy is a series of partnerships to draw new visitors from 17 key soccer-playing countries up to and during 2010 from both new and existing international markets.
There will also be an aggressive Host Campaign focussing on tourism operators, media and other stakeholders on the Western Cape and; An Extended Stay Campaign to encourage travel to the Western Cape before, during and after the tournament.
Cape Town still has a challenge with regard to seasonality, with the bulk of visitors arriving in the summer months. This needs to be changed to a year-round flow of visitors in order to offer year-round jobs and opportunities for emerging entrepreneurs.
The fact that the World Cup will be played in Western Cape’s winter season is likely to help project it as a year-round destination – and will therefore be a focus of the marketing strategy.
Minette Smit, the Leisure Marketing Co-ordinator from Cape Town Routes Unlimited told The Mole that Australia was seen as an emerging market (UK & Germany are core markets) and that a staggering 70% of visitors were in the VFR demographic, ie they typically did not use public transport, visit attractions and spend was much lower.
And guess what – yep, they come in the summer months!
Therefore, in addition to encouraging international visitors to Cape Town outside of the summer months, Cape Town Routes Unlimited is exploring ways to draw the VFR (and other) people out into the regional areas, for a unique ‘regional experience’.
One way to do this is to highlight the many festivals that occur around the province and whet people’s appetite for having an ‘out of Cape Town’ experience.
Crikeys, The Mole has just provided the marketing slogan for the new campaign!
A campaign has already started to improve tourism service standards through training and create awareness of just how valuable tourism is to the Western Cape.
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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