Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism (NMBT) is pulling out all the stops for the South African tourism event of the year, Indaba 2011, which takes place this weekend from May 7 to 10 at the Albert Luthuli Convention Centre in Durban.
The organisation is gearing up to showcase the diversity of the Nelson Mandela Bay as a destination. It is also taking to Indaba – with the support of the municipality and the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency (ECPTA) – a group of Small, Medium and Micro-Enterprises to feature some of the city’s tourism offerings.
“Indaba is a huge event on the South African tourism calendar, and the perfect place to strategically market destinations,” said Titus Chuene, NMBT marketing manager. “The city has a powerful name to market itself by, but the problem is that not many people know where it is or what it comprises of, so we have our work cut out for us. “We need to create more brand awareness about Nelson Mandela Bay and the amalgamation of Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage, Despatch and Colchester under the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality to promote the total city offerings. Luckily we have the powerful name, Nelson Mandela, to work with.”
Joining the NMBT stand – at the Eastern Cape province section of the expo, which will be branded with a uniform carpet putting everyone under the “Eastern Cape blanket” – are its members Kwantu Game Reserve, Summerstrand Hotel and Ectour. The municipality is sponsoring four SMMEs to attend Indaba with NMBT, including Emthandeni Guest House (KwaDesi), Rainbow Restaurant (KwaNobuhle), Djembe Heritage Initiative and Me Casa Guest House (Bluewater Bay). The ECPTA is also sponsoring Bay SMMEs Jama Tours and Jeya Jazz Corner to attend.
“The result is a formidable tourism force representing the Bay,” added Chuene. Municipality officials said they were happy to support emerging enterprise from the local tourism industry so they could “pick up valuable contacts and grow their businesses”. Each year the municipality selects a group of emerging tourism product owners and assists them with their business development for one year. The trip to Indaba forms part of this support.
“Indaba is mammoth – 13000 visitors and 1800 exhibitors – it is the best place to get the most up-to-date information on what is happening in the tourism industry,” said Carleen Arends, NMBM assistant director of tourism. “Here the SMMEs make business linkages, they pick up referrals, promote their product and expose their offerings to a wide audience both nationally and intra-provincially,” said Arends.
NMBT officials said they are happy to be accompanied by such a big team; something they believe will give the city the edge over other exhibitors. The tourism body also wants to use the opportunity to grow its database, pick up as many leads in the tourism industry through meetings with tour operators and the media, and market the destination through multimedia offerings, said Chuene.
NMBT will be showcasing award-wining tourism video shot by local production company, Rooftop Productions, a 5-minute promotional piece on the World Cup in the city and the newly released short documentary feature piece on NMBT’s latest destination marketing idea, the celebrity CEO roadshow, featuring former Bay local, FHM editor Hagen Engler and his wife Nomfundo.
NMBT chief executive Mandlakazi Skefile, marketing manager Titus Chuene, trade coordinator Jonker Fourie and membership coordinator Reuann Smith will represent the organisation at Indaba.
Indaba is the largest tourism marketing event on the African calendar and one of the top three ‘must visit’ events of its kind on the global calendar.
Alan Straton
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