» » THIS TOURISM WEEK Number 45 - Monday, 10 July 2006 This Tourism Week: Newsletter on-line commentary and discussion about tourism in South Africa

THIS TOURISM WEEK Number 45 - Monday, 10 July 2006Brought to you By ChakariNet - Web Masters forWild Places - www.kznwildlife.com/wildplaces Gotta Sweat The Details

Want the BarefootBenefit? There’s more at the end of this message. And, just so’s you know - This Tourism Week isPROUDLY BAREFOOT AND FULLY SOUTH AFRICAN

“The tumult and the shouting dies - The captains and the kings depart” - or something like that. It’s a line of poetry I remember from high school (and yes, it’s probably the only line I remember from high school) and it popped into my head yesterday afternoon as I watched the closing event of this year’s Pick ‘n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival: the finals of the Land Rover G4 Waterfront Rush brought to you by Men’s Health.

And I thought - “yes, the captains and the kings do depart - but the brand names stay behind.”

And that’s the whole idea.

As an event, this Festival has taught me again the value of a good product, of well-placed sponsorships, of a planned and co-ordinated public relations strategy - and of how badly a lack of strategic planning in just one area can spoil the whole thing.

The Pick ‘n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival was begun in the ‘80’s by Knysna Tourism, who wanted to bring business to the town during an otherwise quiet time of the year. It’s been so successful that it’s become a must-do for tens of thousands of people - particularly sports people - who come for the headline Pick ‘n Pay Weekend Argus Rotary Knysna Cycle Tour and the Pick ‘n Pay Cape Times Knysna Forest Marathon as well as for the many smaller events - like the Simola Festival Nights brought to you by Eveready (which includes the Salomon Night Run and the Scott Night Bike) and - newcomers this year - the Pezula and Simola Golfing Experience and the Knysna Sports Fair hosted by the Knysna Sports School.For ten exciting days the sports fields are full, the restaurants are full, the banks are full, the hotels are full - and, during the big races at least, the roads are full. Blocked, in fact.And while I saw plenty of traffic wardens ticketing illegally parked cars this year (and, forgive me, where were they suppose to park?), I didn’t see any out-of-the-box solutions to a problem we all knew was going to happen: no temporary one-way system, no temporary shuttle services (now there’s a branding opportunity: imagine twenty or thirty mini-van taxis painted in sponsor’s colours and rushing festinos around at subsidised rates?), no visible increase in the number of traffic cops on the road.My point is, it’s short-sighted to invite people in and not do absolutely everything that’s necessary to make their stay as comfortable as you can. And that’s definitely something worth thinking about on this, our first day as hosts of the next World Cup.But, traffic problems aside - and as any Italian will tell you - it’s great to be on a winning team and during these last ten days I’ve really enjoyed that fact that I’m a Knysnarian (or, as the Capetonians would say, a Knyer). And, now that the captains and the kings have gone, it’s great to know that they’ve gone with a renewed awareness of the brands that make great events like Pick ‘n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival possible. Who Hosts the Hosts?

Germany’s World Cup is over, the school holidays are nearly a thing of the past and (I hope) we’ve got a bumper tourist season coming up. Quick - now’s the time to spoil yourself with a holiday in one of the wild places of KwaZulu Natal. You know you deserve it.

Visit the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife web site Wild Places for fantastic special offers. With discounts of up to 50% on accommodation and camping, you could find yourself trout fishing, hiking, birding, swimming, viewing game or San rock art or enjoying a game drive, a night drive or a game walk in places like Cape Vidal, Giant’s Castle, Kosi Bay or the Royal Natal National Park.

Just what you need to help you…

…Have a Great Tourism Week! MARTIN HATCHUEL - BarefootWriter p.s. I looked it up: the poem was Recessional - June 22, 1897 by Rudyard Kipling - published in The Oxford Book of English Verse 1250 - 1918 (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1966). VISIT THIS TOURISM WEEKThanks to the wizards at S² Web Solutions, This Tourism Week has a whole new look - visit www.thistourismweek.co.za for back issues, great links and a really useful media room. And, if you’re looking for some bedtime reading, go to ‘Martin Hatchuel’ and click on the anchor ‘Martin Hatchuel - Author.’ There you’ll be able to download my favourite piece of Karoo Gothica - “The Vampire of Steynsburg Pass” Mwah! Ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaa! … AND AN INVITATIONI’m always looking for subjects for feature articles in This Tourism Week: Please mail martin@thistourismweek.co.za if you’ve got information of broad general interest to more than 6,000 readers in South Africa’s Tourism Industry.

Want the BarefootBenefit?

Visit www.barefootclients.co.za

The BarefootBenefit

BarefootClients provides communications services (copy writing, advertising, printing and that kind of stuff) as well as strategy planning and creative thought for select clients who share our Barefoot On The Beach approach to business.

It’s simple. We believe that successful marketing creates relationships - friendships - between businesses and their customers. Our job is to help you develop friendships with your clients: to make them so comfortable with you that they’ll happily walk Barefoot On The Beach with you … Because business works best between friends. That’s the BarefootBenefit.

Want it? Visit www.barefootclients.co.za

ABOUT THIS TOURISM WEEKThis Tourism Week is a personal e-letter and informed commentary on issues affecting South Africa’s tourism industry. If you don’t want to read it, please e-mail unsubscribe@thistourismweek.co.za - but if you think it’s worth sharing, please forward this message to your friends and ask them to subscribe. Back issues: www.thistourismweek.co.za This Tourism Week, 63 Wilson Street, Hunter’s Home, PO Box 2690, Knysna 6570