Reading the local newspaper’s letters column over the December period has left me wondering whether some local Georgians plainly have their heads up their proverbial  collective asses.
To illustrate
Every year our local NG Moederkerk has a market. This year a lady selling fairies, pewter products and dragons, was told by the minister of the NG church, to remove her products as they could not be sold at the church market.  To date, the minister has remained silent on the issue despite a hot debate in the local paper, the organiser of the market has stressed the fact that they reserved the right to approve product and exercised this right.
Now, I have no problem with a church exercising its rights, however should such approval not be exercised prior to a stallholder going to the time and expense of erecting and displaying their wares just to be told:  “Pack it up.” Secondly I am truly baffled as to why selling such items would contradict any of the edits of the Christian belief. It seems as if even the minister in question, is also having a hard time explaining his behaviour, hence his silence. The old adage, “rather remain silent and appear a fool, than open your mouth and prove it beyond doubt” applies.
I work closely with local tourism bodies, who over the last few years have tried to create the image of George as a happening and vibrant place to visit, but this type of ultra conservative religious fervour does our tourism image no good and strongly reinforces our conservative retirement village image.
Another contributor to the letters column questioned the local municipality’s decision to remove the driftwood littering the beaches, after the recent floods, just prior to the holiday season starting. He claimed nature would have taken care of the driftwood in due course and at no cost to the ratepayer. Now what do you say to someone who does not care if thousands of holidaymakers arrive, expecting pristine beaches as displayed in the marketing materials to find instead a beach literally covered in driftwood and a sea unsafe to swim in because of drift material in the water. What would you say to someone who would rather see thousands of holiday makers in future select other destinations as they would rather avoid the risk of repeating the mistake, costing our tourism dependant economy millions, to save the proportionately miniscule cost of cleaning the beaches prior to the first holidaymakers arriving.
Perhaps said person just does not understand how competitive the tourism industry is, we vie with so many destinations that are closer, cheaper, warmer and drier. With so much negative publicity generated by the floods it is essential to ensure that visitors who choose the Garden Route, become evangelists for the Garden Route and hopefully, visit repeatedly in times to come. I assure them the average Georgian welcomes and appreciates them.

My favourite sporting event in George is the annual sevens tournament. Not yet on the scale of the Hong Kong sevens tournament it has however grown phenomenally since it moved to George from Durban 4 years ago. This year I had received an invite to the George and Wilderness hospitality area which gives me an excellent view of the players as they move from the player’s enclosure to the field. If tournaments are won by focus alone I can already tip the New Zealand team as the winners this year.

From the image you can see they move as a focused single entity and you can see the steely determination in their eyes. So today will tell if they emerge the winners or not. Australia by contrast seem to be in deep trouble drawing to the Tunisia and losing to Scotland and so are eliminated from the race for the cup. South Africa looked in form against a strong Argentinean side and qualified easily for the quarter finals beating Wales 31 -0.

  Two surprises in the Quarter finals. USA ran in a surprise victory over France and Kenya shocked England to qualify.

The quarter final line up below

\nNew Zealand – USA
\nSamoa – Argentina
\nSouth Africa – Scotland
\nFiji – Kenya
\nBetween Samoa and Argentina should be interesting but as for the rest it should be fairly predictable but who knows perhaps Kenya or USA can provide another surprise but I doubt it.
Personally I am looking forward to a day in the sun with a beer in the hand and the wonderful atmosphere that the sevens format provides.

Four good reasons not to eat at The Lookout Restaurant in Plettenberg Bay.

They are overpriced.

The food is terrible

The service is pathetic

The management could not care less.

This upsets me no end. The restaurant is situated in a prime spot on Lookout Beach, on the beach, with a fantastic view. My wife and I used to drive through from George just to be able to enjoy good food and a fantastic view. Over the last few 2 years the owners either got greedy or they have lost touch because prices gradually migrated to expensive and food quality kept pace but in the opposite direction. Net result ….. TOURIST TRAP.

On Saturday, week before last, on our way to Port Elizabeth we once again stopped over at The Lookout in the hope that things might have changed.

It was a glorious day and my hopes soared with the availability of Perroni on tap which I have a particular fondness for. Shortly afterwards a whale breached right in front of us so took that as another sign of good fortune.

But I fear the day soon lost its lustre. My wife received her food and just as I was about to get antsy the manager came to apologise claiming that they were not happy with the portion of calamari steak the chef served and that they preparing a larger portion for me. This impressed me and I patiently settled back to wait. Five minutes later I was served a delicious looking plate of grilled rubber masquerading as calamari steak. After several minutes of chewing I gave up and tried to get the attention of the waiter to tell them this was frankly inedible. No luck. I eventually stood up, found the manager and complained. The rubber was whisked away and after another wait I received an equally appetising looking but inedible calamari steak. Perhaps I was being unreasonable so I asked my wife who by then had finished her food to try it. I watched her chomp and chomp and eventually give up and delicately spit out the unappetising morsel into her serviette. Again no waiter to be found. When he finally did put in an appearance I grumbled bitterly and told him to just forget about a meal for me. Now at this point I would expect a seriously concerned manager to put in an appearance and try to rectify matters but nooo, my bill arrived and management disappeared.

My advice in future when visiting Plett, drink a drink at The Lookout, enjoy the view but eat elsewhere.

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Lately when things happen to me the first thought that goes through my mind when something happens is… I am so blogging about this. But as usual life happens and within a day or two things get busy and you let it ride. Now and then something so ridiculous happens that you almost can’t let it go. During our recent visit to P.E. we popped in to the Boardwalk Casino. I had my trusty Nikon D70 (not exactly a small camera) over my shoulder on the standard black and bright neon yellow Nikon labelled strap (nor inconspicuous). The security Guard wands me, welcomes me and opens the door in welcoming manner. My wife joins me inside and enquires whether anything was mentioned about the camera because the female security that searched her purse specifically asked if she had a camera in her bag. I shake my head having, as usual, only half listened. After wondering the halls of the casino for about 15 minutes we were intercepted by a female, walkie talkie bearing, security guard. Judging by the obvious consternation and animated discussions taking place between said individual and nameless, faceless person on the other end, a serious breech of security had occurred. The serious breech, I was informed, was my camera laden body which posed a serious security risk. Needless to say I was unaware of the dangers camera laden bodies posed. I inquired as to the nature of the security reasons. It seems that I could use this dangerous instrument to take a photo of someone gambling and use it for nefarious purposes. I then inquired as to the security risk of cell phones in this den of inequity. Imagine my surprise when I was told that cell phones, even those bearing cameras are no security risk and perfectly permissible. However she was at a loss to explain why and so was the superior at the other end of the walkie talkie. We were escorted out.

So to the Boardwalk casino I have this to say

“Your policy has been outstripped by technology”

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For months I have been lamenting the state of internet awareness amongst  the tourism industry. Regular readers of my blog will attest to that. The internet marketing seminar held at the Tourism Indaba in Durban this year got me thinking. They were not just moaning they were doing something about it. It was clearly time to put my money where my mouth is. I contacted the various local tourism offices in the Garden Route and arranged several internet marketing seminars which will be held under their auspices, or those of a local tourism marketing body. Mossel Bay Marketing as usual was the first to react and have already requested a second date. I am not only amazed at the interest shown band am chiding myself for moaning instead of doing something sooner.

It is clear from the response that the industry is aware that the internet is an important weapon in their marketing arsenal they are just lacking the knowledge to use it effectively.

Below a schedule of dates and venues

18 July Mossel Bay (arranged by Riaan Jordaan of Mossel Bay Marketing)

20 July Mossel bay second seminar (arranged by Mossel Bay Marketing as it seems the first         is fully booked)

24 July George (arranged by Joan Shaw of George Tourism)

25 July Plettenberg Bay (arranged by Dianna Martin of Bitou Tourism)

For more information or if you would like to attend please contact me as there is limited space available

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At this years tourism Indaba in Durban I spoke to several clients who would not normally be within my geographic reach. Which I suppose is one of the reasons we all take the annual great track to Indaba, the other reasons have more to do with beach parties, rugby and a fairly hectic social calendar.

When speaking to the clients I ask two questions routinely:
1) “How important is the internet in terms of your marketing plans?”
2) “What is your current online strategy?”
Now, not surprisingly the answer to question one is always “very important”. Surprisingly the answer to question two, more often than not is…. “We have a web site.” I would argue that it is a minimum requirement and yet, so many tourism establishments do not even meet this requirement, sadly many of these are accommodations and in this sector of the tourism market that is an automatic exclusion of a minimum of 60% of your client base.(it is estimated that 60% of bookings for accommodations are online).
From a pure marketing perspective does a web site constitute an online strategy? With over 100 million websites the average tourism establishment has very little hope of reaching top 20 in a Google search for accommodation. Clearly visibility must be attained by other means. Many of these establishments have very good marketing ability but are steeped in traditional media channels. I had a very lively argument with an outdoor media executive recently while visiting Jhb. I asked him, innocently enough, to justify a spend of R45000 a month for a billboard.

Well he made a few good points namely

1) A billboard reaches everybody regardless of technological ability
2) A billboard is in your face whether you want to see it or not.
3) It is measurable. (X number of feet in a given time period).

I just could not help but think in terms of the internet what I could do with an adspend of R540 000 per annum. But my counter points were basicaslly

1) The internet has a global reach of over 1 billion

2) Ad campaigns can be very targeted ( geo/date/keyword)

3) Very measurable to the point of ad cost per sale.

All at a fraction of the cost of a billboard.

It however highlighted the traditional media channel thinking in ad agencies and perhaps the techno divide in terms of core competencies in internet marketing. The traditional media channel thinking is still very present amongst the tourism industry and I believe a major factor is the fear and ignorance of the technologies available to them.

To illustrate my point

Out of the 70 odd tourism establishments I spoke to

4 had heard of You Tube

2 had heard the term Web 2.0 (only one could tell me what it was)

2 had heard of ppc advertising

1 could tell me what an RSS feed was

And most damning of all …….. almost all still used I.E. as the browser of choice.



Makes you think.

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Saturday was a day of disasters and I am only glad to be able to be here to report on the Indaba.

An accident rerouted traffic from the N3 through Pietermaritzburg, 2 hours and 8 kilometres later we were back on the N3 and arrived in Durban 2 hours late. At 5 pm I decided to call it a day and at least catch the tail end of the Bulls Game only to find my bakkie with a flat front tyre. Normally, no problem, but the spare tyre’s locking mechanism was rusted solid. Several phone calls later a locksmith finally agreed to come out, charging a fairly outrageous call out fee, but after twenty minutes even he called it a day and took my tyre to be repaired instead, which was nice of him. By now it was after seven we were already late for the Beach Party (if you’ve never been to Indaba the beach party is the reason we all go). So we rushed down to the central beach area and realised we had now given all our cash to the locksmith, so we popped into the local ATM at the bottom of West Street. Within 20 seconds we had two attempted card swaps and an attempted armed robbery on our persons( my wife and mine). I am glad to say I still have my cards, my cash , my cell phone and my wallet, but only because I am to pig stubborn to be robbed.

The beach party however, was nice.

Indaba was, as ever, hectic. The seminar on Internet Marketing I believe was a start in the right direction however tourism in general has a long road ahead of it when it comes to effectively tapping into the potential of the internet. We as internet marketers however have a huge responsibility in terms of education and effective advice. The fact that the seminar recognised web 2.0 and spoke about it was fantastic. It made my job so much easier and after the seminar my phone did not stop ringing. You know how it goes. If you tell someone to take note of something it is “yes, well, you are trying to get me to buy your product”. Should a neutral third party like Luisa (who gave the talk on Web 2.0) get up and say “take note of Web 2.0” well all of a sudden they take note, hence the phone ringing off the hook. All in all a worthwhile trip and I am already looking forward to next year.

Provided I can convince my wife.

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Firstly an excerpt from the Cape Argus

“Cape Town Routes Unlimited head Sheryl Ozinsky resigned today after less than two months in the high-profile position.

Ozinsky took up the position on January 10 after being headhunted from the private sector in which she had worked for several years after her previous job as head of Cape Town Tourism.”

Now the tourism industry is my daily bread and I am sure I am not the only one concerned when the major tourism marketing body of the Western Cape flounders as it has in recent months. Ozinsky’s resignation has renewed speculation and criticism that CTRU is bogged down by bureaucracy and unable to function effectively. Tourism is a competitive business and we in the Western Cape are not only in competition with highly organised provincial tourism outfits like Kwa Zulu Natal, we are facing stiff competition from other developing and developed countries. We can ill afford a marketing body which is limbo.

I was also under the impression that Ozinsky was appointed on a three year contract, surely then their must be implications for Ms Ozinsky. Minister Brown and Mayor Zille who both supported the Ozinsky appointment have been decidedly silent on her resignation.

So Minister Brown and Mayor Zille, what are the repercussions for Sheryl Ozinsky in terms of her contract and subsequent early departure and who will lead the way forward ?

What will be done to ensure that CTRU can function effectively and free from bureaucracy ?

Dare I expect an answer or are these questions uncomfortable and inevitably and inevitably will end up being ignored by our powers that be.

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Tourism is touted by Government as one of our South Africa’s key future growth industries and plays an important role as a source of foreign currency. Much has been made too of the 2010 World Cup and the role it can play in encouraging future tourism to South Africa. Should all Government departments not then work in a synchronised manner in promoting and encouraging visitors to come to South Africa. This can be done by offering subsidized flights and encouraging more airlines to fly to South Africa and reducing berthing costs to cruise liners etc.

Instead the Western Cape MEC for finance and tourism, Lynne Brown, proposes in her budget speech on Tuesday that a passenger movement tax be paid by every passenger arriving or departing by air, tour bus or rented car. Instead of offering incentives to visit the fair Cape our myopic government is instead suggesting we tax them for the pleasure and thereby effectively discouraging them. It is clear I do not understand economics. I thought the provincial coffers would swell if we increased tourism numbers. Surely increases in tourism result in spending, levies, vat, job creation etc However Ms Brown would have me believe that if we discourage tourism by increasing taxation on visitors we in fact benefit the provincial coffers far more.

Go figure

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Everyday I am delighted by the experiences that cross my path. Today was a prime example. Sitting in the restaurant area, in Oudtshoorn, while waiting for my client, this wonderful scene played out. The last week had been hot and today contrary to the norm in Oudtshoorn it was hot and humid. The elephants at this game farm took the opportunity to have a little cool down and to be honest, I really wanted to join them.

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