Tourism in the EC – the way forward

Boasting seven different natural biomes within over 160 000 square kilometres, miles of unspoiled coastline, a fascinating history and an abundance of tourism products, the Eastern Cape seems to have it all.

Why then, is it still a feint blip on the tourism map of South Africa? Why is it not the first choice destination for the thousands of tourists that visit the country every year?

Tourism products in the region are starting to wake up to the fact that a major overhaul of Eastern Cape tourism marketing strategies needs to take place.

“Not only does the marketing message need to change, the province needs to step up to the plate to ensure consistency between the message and the availability of infrastructure,” says Ectour chairperson Anleen Louw. Ectour is the private sector group marketing organisation for the Eastern Cape. Ectour members agree.

“We do our part in promoting our product in the printed media, attending tourism shows and writing articles for various websites,” says Annabelle Hobson, owner of the Angler and Antelope Guesthouse near Somerset East. “What is needed is more widespread marketing on a regional and national level. Tour operators have told us that the Great Karoo area doesn’t even feature in South African tourism guides.”

Further up the Eastern Cape coastline towards the more rural Wild Coast, tourism products are highly frustrated by the lack of infrastructure in the area. “Many tourists don’t come to the Wild Coast as the roads have deteriorated so badly,” says Ed Rathbone, owner of Areena Riverside Resort situated near East London. “We can do our best to offer a unique venue with friendly staff and an in-house adventure village, but if tourists can’t get here, then what’s the point?”

Vanessa Fisher of Mazeppa Bay Hotel agrees. “We are the only establishment in our immediate area, providing employment to the locals. There is also a spin-off from tourism into the community as we encourage guests to support the various local trades such as fishing and beading. However, there is a complete lack of roads and other infrastructure in our area which makes it very difficult to attract tourism here.”

“Biodiversity, ecotourism and adventure tourism are all things that the Wild Coast area can capitalize on,” says assistant manager of Mbotyi River Lodge, Tuffy Kirsten. “We offer an exquisite, biologically diverse and adventure-filled location. All we’re missing is a more cohesive infrastructure. Tourists have to travel through filthy towns on dilapidated roads to reach their destination.”

A dire need for tourism and service-oriented skills within local governments has also been identified. “Finding the correct people for the tourism posts in local government will go a long way to helping tourism in the area,” says owner of Morgan Bay Hotel, Richard Warren-Smith. “It’s difficult to market the Wild Coast as we are not a city destination. We’re ‘out-of-the-way’ and we need to come up with a unique strategy to capitalize on the area’s rare selling points.”

Further down the coastline towards Port Alfred, the area has been branded as the Sunshine Coast. “Our town is situated almost exactly half way between PE and East London,” says manager of the Royal Guest House in Port Alfred. “It can be marketed as an ideal meeting point for business conferences in the Eastern Cape. We’re trying to find a new strategy to encourage visitors because casual tourists have altered their spending habits due to the recession. We also try to offer our guests more than a bed for the night. We assist them with an itinerary so that they can experience all of the fantastic activities that the area has to offer such as fishing charters, horse riding, golf etc…”

The need for municipal buy-in, and integration between tourism entities and government continues further inland. “We notice that there is a lot of wasteful spending of limited funding due to lack of communication between tourism entities,” says CEO of Stormsriver Adventures, Ashley Wentworth. “We have seen a drop off in British visitors and Germans, so we need to look at further exploiting the domestic market by creating more awareness of the affordable products on offer.

The Eastern Cape Province also has an extremely rich and diverse history which is another potential tourism draw-card. “This is after all, the birthplace of Madiba!” says Chantelle Cook, owner of The Dunes Country House in St Francis Bay. “A ‘follow in his footsteps’ historical trail could really be amazing.”

Cook points out the need for all tourism products to work together towards promoting the area. “Before I can sell The Dunes Country House, I need to sell St Francis Bay. Before I can do that, I need to sell the Eastern Cape as a viable tourism destination. If all products and organisations worked together to encourage tourism to the area, we would all see a huge benefit from it.”

One of the biggest selling points of the Eastern Cape is its rural, unspoiled natural environment. “This is something that we naturally have that doesn’t cost money to create,” says Hester Steynberg of Ganora Guest Farm. “People need to know that they can come to our province to take a break from the hectic city lifestyle. We’re slowly becoming known for our friendliness and great hospitality, we just need to ensure this message continues to grow.”

In June 2010, thousands of tourists travelled to South Africa to experience the World Cup and billions of viewers watched the games on television. Games held in Port Elizabeth brought exposure to the Eastern Cape, and it is the job of national, local and provincial government as well as tourism entities and tourism products to work together to ensure that this awareness is put to good use. Timing is crucial. We need to act fast to ensure the Eastern Cape makes a lasting impression on potential tourists.