September is Tourism Month – and while this annual, world-wide celebration looks and feels a lot different this year, it continues to shine an important light on the industry, our attractions, our development initiatives and, crucially, the way forward in fully actualising our collective vision of growth and job creation.
Our September edition of Tourism Talk offers a snapshot of our industry and the people who drive this important sector in the Eastern Cape. It is necessarily tinged by the realities of COVID-19, and the many ways in which the pandemic has impacted our industry, and forced us to adapt and innovate.
But as we emerge from lockdown, and begin to re-open our domestic market, it is, first and foremost, a celebration of our products, our people, and our potential – and the incredible resilience we have shown over the past six months.
ECPTA kickstarts our Tourism Month activities with a launch event, which will take place on 8 September. The event will feature tourism guest speakers from around the province, as well as a keynote address from the Honourable MEC for Finance, Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Mr Mlungisi Gerald Mvoko. Eastern Cape Premier, Oscar Mabuyane will be in attendance.
It will also afford us the opportunity to formally introduce the Eastern Cape theme for Tourism Month: ALWAYS OPEN.
open for hiking
open beaches and coastline
open for adventure
open for wildlife
open for culture and heritage
This newsletter unpacks some of our Always Open initiatives which will be rolled out across the province throughout September, including a range of special travel deals and offers.
We also introduce an exciting new digital initiative, a Virtual Familiarisation Tour, which was held in partnership with the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (SATSA) earlier this month, as well as a new social media influencer strategy.
You can also read more about ECPTA’s new training focus, our ongoing initiatives around customer care and service excellence.
“The Eastern Cape is truly open for travel, and we will work hard, in partnership with our products, especially our many rural tourism products, to showcase this message in the most effective and innovative ways possible.”
