191 days left to kick-off and what have we got to show for it? In Mossel Bay, they’ve got two long-term legacy projects: a brand new FIFA-standard soccer pitch – and a new marketing strategy that could well redefine the way local tourism bureaux market themselves internationally.

I’ve been privileged to be part of the creation of the latter, and I’d like to tell you a bit about it.

For reasons too numerous to explain, it became obvious, soon after we began bidding for a base camp for the 2010 FIFA World Cup (under the leadership of Louis Harris), that our target market was going to be in Spanish-speaking South America (and this proved correct when Mossel Bay signed the Western Cape’s first confirmed base camp with the Paraguayan Soccer Federation).

But we were spending such a large part of our limited budget on marketing ourselves in that part of the world that we wanted to make sure the money wasn’t going to waste, so to speak – because we recognised from the beginning that bidding for a base camp was a once-off project, but tourism is a long-term affair.

And so we came up with Mossel Bay’s South-South Strategy.

This strategy seeks to engender two-way trade in the areas of the four pillars on which it rests – tourism, commerce, social welfare (including sports) and scientific enquiry.

And this is what makes Mossel Bay’s South-South Strategy unique: instead of just selling Mossel Bay to South America, it’s also about selling South America to Mossel Bay – and, with everyone and every business guru sprouting forth about ‘win-win situations,’ I wonder that no one in destination marketing has yet seen the value in this kind of two-way stuff. Because it’s obvious: tourism is about creating friendships between people, and friendships are two-way streets, and not just one-way highways (not just “I’ll be nice to you if you buy from me and make me rich” – which is kind of what destination marketing has always been, I think).

So Mossel Bay wants to get its people to see South America as much as it wants South Americans to see Mossel Bay – whether as tourists, as businesspeople, as sports people or as scientists. And to make things easy, it’s created a Spanish language website – www.mosselbay2010.com.ar – that almost completely mirrors its English site – www.visitmosselbay.co.za – and it’s started training locals in the language the better to be able to host the South Americans when they get here (this is being done by a company called Armiger (Pty) Ltd on behalf of the University of Buenos Aires). A total of between 350 and 400 people living in Mossel Bay will be speaking Spanish come the World Cup – including the gaardjies on the minibus taxis, safety and security personnel, hospitality staff, and (of course) the entire team at the Mossel Bay Tourism office. And they’re not going to forget their newly-acquired skills when the soccer fans go home, either. Especially if the South Americans keep coming.

And, I believe, come they will – especially as Mossel Bay has begun attending various workshops as well as the FIT show in Buenos Aires  (FIT is the International Tourism Trade Fair of Latin America – Feria Internacional de Turismo de America Latina).

The South-South Strategy includes plans for capacity-building projects in the areas of social welfare and sports training, and may even see the establishment of more permanent training institutions. And it could grow, too, to encompass much larger portions of the Western and – who knows? – even the Eastern Cape Province and the rest of South Africa.

It’s that kind of animal, now that it’s got a life of its own.

And, I’m proud to say, as far as destination marketing is concerned, it’s a new species of animal altogether.

The Risk Of Liability From Liquor-Related Incidents To Businesses In The Hospitality Industry

What to do if one of your guests enjoys your hospitality a little too much? So much so that, in a state of mild or severe intoxication he or she causes material damage to your property and / or that of other guests? And what if or she causes bodily damage to you and / or your guests?

Because this is usually more of an insurance question than a liquor licensing issue, Liquorwise asked a number of well-known insurance companies for answers to these questions. This is what we found:

The owner of insured and licensed premises will be covered for all material damage caused on the premises – whether the damage is to your own property or that of your guests – but the owner will not be covered for bodily damage caused to him- or herself or to other guests. And the owner may also not be held liable if a guest suffers damage caused by another guest – although the person who suffers the damage is entitled to sue the person who caused the damage.

To take an example from real life: an intoxicated woman danced on a bar stool and fell through a glass window, suffering facial injuries. Her claim for bodily injuries was refused, although the material damage (- to the window) was covered by the insurance policy.

So – what can (and should) the owner or manager do?

The Liquor Act (Liquorwise’ summary) determines that “the holder of a license or his or her agent or employee may (1) refuse to admit any person or refuse to sell liquor to any person; (2) request any person to leave the premises or that of the premises; or (3) remove any person or request any police officer to remove any person who is drunk, violent or disorderly or whose presence on the licensed premises may subject the holder of the license to prosecution under this Act”.

License holders should, therefore, be aware of their rights and obligations in terms of the Liquor Act.

For more information on the liability of a license holder, his or her manager, and their employees and families, contact Liquorwise – http://www.liquorwise.net/

Consult Liquorwise – Nationwide Liquor Licensing Specialists With All The Answers To Your Liquor License Questions – Focusing on the hospitality industry – Adding value to your business.