NMBT hosts Cape tour operators educational

NELSON Mandela Bay Tourism (NMBT) will hold an educational workshop for tour operators in Cape Town on Friday 29 July, encouraging them to feature Nelson Mandela Bay in their travel and adventure itineraries.

The workshop, to be held at the Atlantic Imbizo conference and function studio at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, will showcase Nelson Mandela Bay’s tourism attractions, adventure routes and suggested itineraries for travellers.

“Nelson Mandela Bay has a lot to offer visitors and this workshop will allow us to tell tour operators about all our unique attractions and invite them to add our city into their itineraries,” said NMBT chief executive Mandlakazi Skefile.

The tour operators and travel representatives will also get to spend one-on-one time with NMBT chief executive Skefile, marketing manager Titus Chuene and trade co-ordinator Jonker Fourie.

The trio will answer questions related to the tourism industry in Nelson Mandela Bay and help the tour operators to come up with packages that will feature Nelson Mandela Bay.

“The reason we are in Cape Town and targeting the tour operators is to showcase more than 101 things people can do in our city,” said Chuene. “Often these key nodes in the South African tourism industry skip Nelson Mandela Bay when they plan their itineraries for tours - or they use us as a gateway to other nearby attractions.

“We want to show them that they need to and can spend at least two days minimum in the city as we have a lot of unique features on offer.”

The delegation has been in Cape Town for the past week attending the annual South African Association for the Conference Industry (SAACI) conference, which took place over July 24 to 26. They also attended the Sports and Events Exchange Conference 27 to 28 July. “We have come here with the aim of maximizing both our time in Cape Town and our reach for promoting Nelson Mandela Bay,” added Chuene.