CWC DMO Up To Speed

The Cape Whale Coast DMO recently put out an open invite to all the relevant businesses in Hermanus to attend a presentation on tourism marketing. Amongst the group, there was representation from: Hotels, guesthouses, adventure operators, tour guides, pamphlet distributors, and destination marketing companies.

Ms Neesha Padayachy, Manager - Trade Relations - Product Support, presented the attentive audience with hugely interesting inbound tourist statistics and it was patently clear that Germany and the USA were South Africa's target market. German tourists rely on television to decide on a holiday destination, while the USA relies on word of mouth.

It was also clear from the stats that to be successful, a guesthouse or tour operator must have a website and actively make use of social media marketing. One of the attendees, Ms Joan-Anne Harris co-owner of Southern-Stroll Marketing said, "I decided a month ago to undertake a trip to the USA to actively market interested companies in the Hermanus region. Our busy itinerary is well advanced and we will be visiting the larger cities such as Miami, Chicago, Washington DC and others to entice the USA tour operators and travel agents to send holiday makers to our shores. The invitation to be part of this groundbreaking trip is open to all interested companies and I look forward to representing them in the USA."

"This will be my fourth such vist to the USA and the CWC DMO has sanctioned our trip and we look forward to this pro-active exercise with great interest", said Harris.