NMBT shines at Die Beeld, Meetings Africa shows
01 April 2011
“February was a busy month for Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism, which wanted to capitalise on the shows that take place early in the year. It may sound strange to some, but people do plan their annual holidays and meetings in the first couple of months of the year,” said Titus Chuene, NMBT marketing manager. “There was no way we could miss such a unique opportunity to market the city and lure consumers to our shores.”
Die Beeld holiday show took place over three days from February 11 to 13 at Gallagher Estate. NMBT’s trade co-ordinator, Jonker Fourie said the event was an “eye-opener” on the profile of the adventure tourist. “The main sponsors behind this show are Die Beeld newspaper and Weg magazine, which really draws in a large contingent of Afrikaans travellers. But moreover it is an outdoor consumer holiday show, so the camping, adventure, caravan, explorer market is represented in a big way,” said Fourie.
“Nelson Mandela Bay is uniquely situated on a massive adventure route, from the Wild Coast to the Baviaanskloof, people often travel through the city – we are not called the Adventure Province for nothing.
What’s nice is that the city is surrounded by places that are not very well explored, so it’s an ideal destination for those who have a bit of an adventurous spirit.”
Fourie said the city, which shared a stand with the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency (ECPTA), had a good response from those who visited their display. “People are a lot more positive about the destination, especially those looking for a more affordable option, and the Afrikaans market is a very strong travelling market.”
The tourism body also learnt from stats released at the show that the country currently has more campers now than ever before, something the city wants to benefit from. “Although we have camping facilities in the city at The Willows and Pine Lodge we are looking at encouraging tourism product owners to expand their business into this growing market. The surrounding province also boasts a number of camping sites, inclusive of the Baviaanskloof which is one of the most pristine natural areas in the world,” added Chuene.
The ECPTA stand, inclusive of NMBT, won the prize for best big (52m²) stand at Die Beeld.
Another show stop over for NMBT was the illustrious Meetings Africa at the Sandton Convention Centre from February 21 to 23. Meetings Africa is known as Africa’s business tourism lekgotla which serves as a business tourism marketing platform aiming to expose local and international buyers to the range of services and products in Southern Africa's MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conference, Exhibitions) industry.
NMBT had its own display stand and took sharing exhibitors, Summerstrand Hotel and The Boardwalk, along to the show. A record of 7 387 meeting requests were sent at the event, with 6 176 (83.61%) already actioned halfway through day two, and over 3 222 meetings confirmed, according to provisional figures released by South African Tourism, which hosted the event.
“A lot of national tour operators were interested in the city and the Nelson Mandela Bay pass which boasts a lot of value for money. We also had many meetings booked with tour operators and agents, which we are hoping to leverage to get more business tourism into Nelson Mandela Bay – a place we believe is ideal for MICE market.”
The next big show is the Tourism Indaba over May 7 to 10 at the Albert Luthuli Convention Centre in Durban. Indaba is the largest tourism marketing event on the African calendar and one of the top three ‘must visit’ events of its kind on the global calendar.
NMBT will share a stand with Kwantu Game Reserve, Ectour, Summerstrand Hotel, Emthandeni Guest House (KwaDwesi), Rainbow Restaurant (KwaNobuhle), Djembe Heritage Initiative, Mecasa Guest House (Bluewater Bay), Jama Tours, Lwandile Tours and Jeya’s Jazz Corner.
Author: Amy Shelver
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