This Tourism Week Special Edition: Indaba 2010 Day 2
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Chin Up
It always amazes me that Father Christmas – and his presents – take so long to get here, but Indaba happens so fast.
I mean, it was just last week that we said goodbye to our summer holiday season, wasn’t it? And now everything’s in limbo till the next lot of holidaymakers descend on us, isn’t it? With their soccer balls and all?
Well, no. Not exactly.
The problem of seasonality has been dogging tourism professionals since the industry was founded – just about two weeks before this particular grognard was born – and all my working life I seem to have been trying to find the answer to the Enduring Question. (“Why?”)
This being – I think – my 13th Indaba, I hope sometime between now and the time the students arrive to gawk at us on Tuesday to have some sort of epiphany that’ll flatten the curve. Then I’ll be able to cast my pearls before those fresh, smiley faces, and we’ll all go sailing off into a glowing sunset of ever-increasing bums-in-beds (scary thought).
I’m on the right continent to dream this dream, of course – because, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, “International tourism is steadily gaining momentum following an extremely challenging 2009. International tourist arrivals grew by 7% in the first two months of 2010 worldwide. Growth was particularly strong in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.”
And I’m in the right country, too. South Africa’s sophistication – and its amazing people – are just The Thing when it comes to building a strong tourism economy. (Stop reading. Look up. Look around. I’m right, aren’t I?)
For this, the Indaba is probably the most important tool in our box, and yesterday’s experience proved once again that this is an industry of people who are happily (definitely not grimly) working at doing just that – and if we continue at this pace, that seasonality thing? It’ll be just a memory.
What a gift!
Thank you in anticipation…
The comment above first appeared in today’s edition of Indaba Daily News (download pdf – 7.1 mb)
Heads Up: there’s a video of Friday’s ETEYA Awards ceremony here.
Indaba – Day 2
I’ve come to the conclusion that the very best way to get your message across is quickly. After sitting through an hour of speeches, my eyes glaze over and my stomach oozes out and grabs my throat, and starts to squeeze. And I can’t concentrate when I’m choking…
Best way to describe today – it’s been a long one.
IT began as usual with coffee and the Indaba Daily News, the front page of which carried a report about President Zuma’s speech at last night’s opening ceremony (you can see a video of it here), which was all about the legacy of the World Cup (of course).
“The World Cup has changed the face of this country,” said President Zuma. “Not only has it revitalised our economy, but it has given impetus to infrastructural development and job creation…”
After a morning of meetings it was on to lunch, which was a Western Cape affair where MEC Alan Winde spoke about his vision. The Provincial Government and the private sector, he said, should work together to create ‘Team Tourism’ that would increase arrivals 15% by 2015.
For me the highlight of his speech was when he invited Malmsey Rangaka of M’Hudi Wines to come up to the podium and show us her ETAYA (Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year) Award. The applause was loud and sustained, and you could tell that the people of the Western Cape were genuinely proud that the trophy had come home to the Province.
Minister Winde spoke to me informally before we ate, and you can hear what he had to say (including what he had to say about his frustration over the resolution of the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe question) here – or below.
Now I’m off to dinner as a guest of Vanessa Sands, who’ll be announcing the winners of the AA Accommodation Awards.
BnB SURE: So how do you save on premiums without having to compromise on cover?
People and businesses – otherwise known as the South African insuring public – seem to have been persuaded by some insurers that you can judge how good an insurance policy is by how little you pay for it.
But when it comes to claims time and the cover isn’t there – well, that’s when you suddenly discover (often unpleasantly) how expensive your policy actually has been.
So how do you save on premiums without having to compromise on cover?
BnB SURE has come up with a unique answer for guesthouses and B&Bs that creates savings on the bottom line. Once you’re insured with BnB SURE, you automatically become one of its ‘Tourism Ambassadors,’ and a member of its BnB SURE Club, which negotiates discounts on products specifically required by businesses in the hospitality sector.
And that means that you can buy things as diverse as bed linen or generators (which makes sense, because there’s going to be huge pressure on our electricity supply during the World Cup!), at greatly reduced prices.
Unlike similar clubs which charge for membership, the BnB SURE Club is free to policyholders (oops! Tourism Ambassadors) – all of whom have recently received personalised Club cards. So all they need do when buying goods from the Club’s service provides is to quote their policy number (which is printed on the card) – and they qualify for those discounts immediately.
In this way, BnB SURE saves money for its policyholders – without having to reduce the cover that their policies offer in order to do so.
Visit the BnB SURE Club web site here.
Chat tomorrow!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quVHPvRWEvk [/youtube]
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