Message from Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism Board

NMBT engagement with Nelson Mandela Bay Economic Development, Tourism and Agriculture political boss Siyasanga Sijadu

Please invest this time to recover your tourism revenues.

This has got to be the hardest thing I have ever done in my life!

Having to focus on the future, while our industry is in such crisis and the wave intensifies, is so challenging.

BUT the reality is that if we do not prepare to be extremely competitive when tourism recovers, we will get lost in the ‘noise’ of many other destinations competing at once. That will simply allow the misery in our Nelson Mandela Bay tourism industry to continue and totally delay our recovery by a year or 2.

So my awesome bunch of volunteer Board Members have, despite their own health and financial fears, dedicated many weeks of their last 18 months to re-imagining tourism in NMB and deciding how we can be ultra-competitive when the ‘recovery’ happens. We have also brainstormed how we can deliver better value to our members and be more relevant as we see the end of tourism as we knew it.

Here are a few of the things we have done:

• The new beginning of tourism brainstorms. We have looked at how our visitors are likely to emotionally ‘feel’ when travel picks up again. We believe that we have been able to capture their fears and desires and how we can meet those as a destination. We have re-looked our product and experiences in this context and realised that they will be far more relevant and desirable when tourism re-launches.
• Re-imagine sessions. We realised that we might be a little close to things to see all of the possibilities. So we got 6 groups of creative and non-tourism business people in to help us to re-imagine our future destination and our roles.
• Membership value re-think. We have thought deeply about our role as an organisation in the digital-dominated tourism marketplace. We believe that destinations will grow because of what their visitors say on Facebook and other Apps. We need move from being promoters of our destination to being the coach of our tourism products. We need our visitors to become our promoters and to achieve that we need to build the skills of our members in delivering exceptional visitor experiences. We will target becoming amongst the top 3 most recommended destinations in Southern Africa. So we will be launching a new, more valuable set of benefits for our members at our brand re-launch (see next point).
• NMBT Brand re-launch. We have had lots of feedback that our role has become confusing and that many are not aware of what our offering is since the Council budget re-allocation to the Municipal Tourism Department (EDTA). We will launch a new visual identity and a tighter focus on representing and adding value to the tourism businesses of NMB.
• Relationship with EDTA - Economic Development Tourism and Agriculture. We have worked hard to build a strong and complementary relationship with the Municipal Tourism Department. This will boost our tourism recovery and the effectiveness of both bodies.

We have very little funding at present but the efforts of our Board Members to re-build tourism in NMB have been monumental and we all owe them a huge tip of the cap. I would like to single out, with the indulgence of my Board Members, Glenn Pappin has run the finances, cleaned carpets to raise funds and fought continuosly for the security on our Beachfront. Also to Cheryl, our only full-time employee at present, who is absolutely amazing in her dedication to tourism.

Please support NMBT!

I know that you, as a tourism business, are going through a huge crisis in your business finances! We need your support, though, to create some sort of tourism recovery for the Summer Holidays and 2022.

We are getting a database finalised and our members and other tourism businesses will be invited to a Zoom Session at 11am on Thursday 15 July when I will do my best to answer your questions about NMBT and the future of tourism in general.

PLEASE renew your membership or join NMBT so that we can cover our basic expenses and deliver a better future for you and our tourism industry in Nelson Mandela Bay.