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Beautiful Warm, Sunny, Sexy, Sassy City Wants a Relationship not Footballers Wives One Night Stands
Wednesday, 24 Jan, 2010
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The Art and CultureTeam at Manenberg getting set for World Cup Benefits
What comes to your mind when you think of Cape Town? A fabulous warm winter sun destination with glorious beaches, stunning scenery, great shopping, superb food, colourful music and wild nightlife – but tempered with the edgy threat of violence, robbery and mugging perhaps?
South Africa’s beautiful, feisty and independent ‘Mother City’, (ruled by the Democratic Alliance rather than the ANC) is on a fast-track roller coaster route to racial empowerment after the 46-year bottling-up process of Apartheid.
And now, not only has this tourism destination par excellence won the prestigious Virgin Responsible Tourism Destination Award, but also it is to be a principal host of the – mass participation – 2010 FIFA World Cup. Mutually exclusive goals, you may presume.
When I interviewed Sindiswa Nhlumayo, Deputy Director General of South Africa Tourism last year, I was very impressed with her clear articulation of the SA policy to focus tourism and the world cup for local economic empowerment SEE www.travelmole.tv/watch_vdo.php
So it was worth a trip to South Africa to see how all this principle is applied in practice:
Everybody in Cape Town talks and, in particular they like to talk about sport – cricket if you’re coloured, rugby if you’re white and soccer if you’re black – generalizations of course because you can talk about sport (or politics or anything else) to anybody. Try curbing their friendliness and passion. The enthusiasm is catching.
And they all love to talk about the stadium. Greenpoint by name, and perhaps green by nature, the superb 70,000-seat stadium has the usual long list of energy-efficient, water-conservation and waste management technologies and systems. But, most important are the efforts that have been made by the City to make environmental, social and economic sustainability an integral part of each action informing responsible operational thinking at every level.
For instance, the stadium has minimal car parking places which means that spectators will have to arrive by local taxi (benefitting local business) or walk 30 or so minutes along the specially-created Fan Walk. Apart from being of benefit to spectators to get fresh air, it should also be advantageous to local traders’ financial health and spin economic benefits widely.
All of the green issues have obviously been considered and discussed very widely indeed. Although the UNEP Green Passport has not been printed, the locally-instituted Green Goal initiative has just issued an in depth 45 page progress report covering everything from Community Based Organisations to venue-specific training sites. Lorraine Gerrans, (SEE www.travelmole.tv/watch_multiplevdos.php ) Cape Town’s manager of the project told me last week that no effort has been spared to make sure the event leaves a positive legacy for the region’s people. www.capetown.gov.za/en/GreenGoal/Pages/default.aspx
Will tourism benefit, or be damaged by the one-off world cup event? Well, the fact is that June is off season in Cape Town and, after a terrible high season (maybe 20%+ down) the football event visitors will certainly provide much needed top-up revenue.
And Cape Town Tourism has taken quite enormous steps to make its tourism truly sustainable. Sadly it is unusual to talk to destination marketing organizations who really understand the opportunities inherent in sustainable tourism, but, if Marisah Smith, marketing officer of Cape Town Tourism is an example, Cape Town really talks the talk AND walks the walk.
Of course they should. Yes, Cape Town won the responsible tourism prize in 2009
SEE: www.responsibletourismawards.com/pastwinners.htm But it has been practicing the process for at least 7 years since the Cape Town Declaration in 2002 SEE: www.capetown.gov.za/EN/TOURISM/Pages/ResponsibleTourism.aspx
And key to the process is the recognition of tourism’s power as a method of economic development. In this respect, it certainly helps to have a minister of tourism who has power and responsibility for both areas. Lianne Burton, CapeTown’s destination marketing manager told me that it is really beneficial to be part of a powerful department headed by Mansoor Mohamed, who is the City’s Executive Director for Economic, Social Development and Tourism. A particular added advantage is that Mansoor is passionate and knowledgeable about the environment.
What does all this mean in practice? These sorts of policies should spawn diverse, profitable, innovative and sustainable tourism enterprises that reap the benefits of tourism, educate and financially empower the population bottom-up and create a beneficial, truly sustainable industry.
A couple of Cape Town examples:
Noordhoek Farm Village, the brainchild of Jeremy Wiley is close to the Atlantic by the statuesque Chapman’s Peak Parkway SEE: noordhoekvillage.co.za/
The village -in effect a traditional farm homestead – encompasses two superb restaurants, a gastropub, a world – class bakery and deli, a riding stable (for beach treks), a luxury boutique hotel, a number of shops and a tourism information centre. There is a market garden to provide fresh food and an innovative recycling centre to get rid of the consequent wastewww.fullcycle.co.za. Local people, domestic, regional and international tourists are thereby able to enjoy a truly local offer that compromises not one jot on quality or service.They really GET IT – adding another quality to the sustainability mix – QUALITY.
At the other end of the scale Manenberg is a 70,000 resident Cape Town township that was created by the apartheid government for low income coloured families in the Cape Flats. Manenberg is the scene of another emerging destination – the Manenberg Waterfront bordering on a large inland lake, created by the local silica mine. The area is rich in flora and fauna, especially birds. The Waterfront Development currently includes an Arts and Culture Centre as well as opportunities for a trade and craft market, residents who live alongside the Waterfront are developing campsites, walks and recreation facilities. SEE: www.proudlymanenberg.org/
So, the message is big events and tourism can benefit residents of destinations at all levels, whether you’re rich or poor, white or black or coloured. Cape Town is doing it.
The only clouds on the horizon… will the Greenpoint Stadium prove to be a nearly billion dollar white elephant? …will truly local traders actually get to sell their wares to the FIFA – controlled fans?…Will the open borders (part of the SA/FIFA proposal) let in trafficked children, prostitutes and criminals?… will the water (or the beer!) run out?
The City of Cape Town and its public/private partnership tourism organization is truly inspirational. Their tough attitude is characterized in a recent local press spat after Lianne Burton, marketing manager emphasized the need for quality rather than quantity of tourists.
Let’s hope that the 2010 World Cup truly puts this beautiful, warm, sexy, sassy city on the map and really showcases its sustainable tourism achievements. It’s not hard to fall in love with Cape Town and its engaging inhabitants – the challenge for Cape Town is to morph a brief and passionate affair into a fulfilling long term relationship.
Valere Tjolle
Full Suite of 4 2010 Sustainable Tourism Reports will be available shortly For anyone interested in sustainable tourism these are must-have reports. They will: Inform your planning * Inform your investing * Inform your colleagues * Maximise your ROI * Help you create winning sustainable strategies
SEE: www.travelmole.com/stories/1139697.php
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