With the festive season fast approaching Sapphire Coast Tourism (SCT) is gearing up to welcome holidaymakers to Amanzimtoti this summer holiday season.
“SCT is one of nine Community Tourism Organisations (CTO) in eThekwini that collates to form the Community Tourism Association (CTA) and liaises closely with Durban Tourism,” said ward 97 councillor, Andre Beetge.
“It is essentially driven by a group of volunteers who are not paid and who at their own time and expense do it for the benefit of the entire community from Athlone Park to past Umkomaas.
They are annually elected by its paid-up tourism product members.
The SCT’s mandate is actually not the initiation, activation or funding of tourism events, but rather it is a publicity organisation that collates information and uses various platforms to properly inform people about what is happening in the area. Therefore the initiative and activation should originate from within the community, including the funding model, and through the CTO that collates the calendar and assists in getting the information out to the potential target market.”
Durban Tourism assists CTOs with limited funding and relies on the local tourism product owners and event co-ordinators, as direct beneficiaries, to contribute at a ratio of 70% to the city’s 30%.
“This is where the public has an incorrect perception. They seem to be of the impression that tourism has unlimited funding which it supposedly derives from its long list of members,” said Cllr Beetge.
“In reality, nothing can be further from the truth, as some 90% of potential tourism product owners who benefit from the tourism industry are not members of the tourism body.
While we can agree that much more can and should be done, spare a thought next time you eat at a restaurant, recommend family or friends to an accommodation establishment, book a conference, enjoy a cold beverage at your local pub, dive a reef, fill your car’s tank, choose a chop from your butcher, start the day over a cup of your favourite brew, ride the fun fair, drop a few bucks at the casino, enhance your garden from a nursery, seek a valuation from a real estate agent, take your children to an animal farm or party venue, pop in for a friendly at the club, brave the crocodile farm, stare at a lighthouse, challenge someone to go carting, wet a line in a dam, relax at a health spa, rely on a shuttle or taxi, catch a movie, choose fresh produce from a farm stall, bargain hunt through a fleamarket or pawn shop, shop ’til you drop in a shopping centre or for some ridiculous reason decide to book a trip to somewhere else through a travel agent. Ask yourself – are they a member of Sapphire Coast Tourism?”
The SCT committee has plans in place for a beach activities programme in the December holiday, details of which will be publicised in the SUN.
If any local business wishes to join SCT, call the tourism office on 031-322-2852 or visit its new-look website www.sapphirecoasttourism.co.za for more information.
