Brand South Africa, Proudly South African and South African Tourism host a Heritage, Tourism and Investment Media tour to KwaZulu-Natal

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Brand South Africa collaborated with Proudly South African and South African Tourism to host an insightful Heritage, Tourism and Investment Media tour to KwaZulu-Natal in celebration of Heritage Month on the 05th – 06th September 2018.

Heritage Month is celebrated annually during September as a build up to the significant public holiday – heritage day on the 24th of September. On this day we are all encouraged to celebrate our cultural traditions that make up this diverse beautiful South Africa.

Over 10 media personnel from Johannesburg were invited to be part of this two-day media tour which featured heritage, tourism and investment sites in KZN. This was the first for the tripartite collaboration and heritage month was a proudly South African platform.

The day began with an early flight courtesy of Comair a Proudly South African member. On board, the media was warmly welcomed by the Captain as flight BA6203 took to the skies.

Upon landing the team was met with a 32 bus seater and a welcoming smile from the travel agent courtesy of KwaZulu-Natal Tourism.

First spot -Investment site, the Dube Tradeport for a tour of the Special Economic Zone. The Dube TradePort Corporation, is a business entity of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government, which is charged with the responsibility to develop the province’s biggest infrastructural project. It is considered one of South Africa’s top 10 investment opportunities, this designated Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is geared to promote foreign and local investment.

A quick presentation of the Dube Trade Port journey was shared by Mr Tim Hudson and Taryn Muller took the team on the Agrizone tour.

Summary of the site visit included pointers on;

  • Dube Trade Port aims is to contribute to the economy through nurturing small South African businesses for job creation and localization of products and import substitution
  • The future of Dube Trade Port includes a Durban Aerotropolis to attract investors working with landowners for future investments
  • The AgriZone grows various vegetables one of is the super-efficient vertical growing cucumbers of which over hundred thousand cucumbers are produced in a week

Follow the link for more about Dube TradePort

Second spot Heritage site, the Luthuli Museum. The team couldn’t hold back their emotions and took to social media to share this heritage site filled historical memorabilia;

Follow the link for more information about the Luthuli Museum

Third spot – Tourism site, the Beverly Hills Hotel in Umhlanga, the host for the night, courtesy of Tsogo Sun. A cocktail reception and dinner at the hotel was hosted that afforded the tripartite collaboration to engage with media about this partnership. Fast facts shared by the hotel Manager as he welcomed the guests to the cocktail dinner, “Beverly Hills Hotel is the first 5-star hotel in the country”

Speaking on the tripartite collaboration, Brand South Africa’s GM for Stakeholder Ms Mpumi Mabuza said, “The reason for the conceptualization of this collaboration came to be, because of a need to support each other’s strategic mandates that aim to enhance features of the Nation Brand that contribute to the bigger vision of the country – to be globally competitive and as an investment destination of choice.”

Research shared in the 2017 City Brand Index on the performance of Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg. The report reflected on the role cities and metros play in the global economy.

Cape Town and Johannesburg make marginal gains in the 2017 index, with Durban seeing the strongest improvements in several of the indicators of the study – Durban is most admired for its cleanliness.

One of the messages emerging from the report is that a Nation Brand’s reputation is directly influenced by those of cities and metros.

South Africa is one of the most sophisticated and promising emerging markets, offering a unique combination of highly developed first world economic infrastructure with a vibrant emerging market economy.

“Proudly South African seeks to strongly influence attaining an increase for local production, and influence consumers to buy local. It’s for this notion that we have launched an online store that makes supporting local products easily accessible to everyone through a click of a button” said Chief Marketing Officer Ms Happy Ngidi.

The Proudly South African Campaign is in line with government’s plans to revive South Africa’s economy so that millions of jobs can be created and unemployment can be decreased under the New Growth Path Plan. Proudly South African fits hand-in-glove with the broader national development agenda and the Local Procurement Accord.

South African Tourism, GM: Global PR, Communications and Stakeholder Relations Mr Altaaf Kazi, “We all need to tell our stories, we have a beautiful country and through these collaborations, we can increase domestic tourism numbers. I am more than eager to take this concept across the country.”

After the formalities, the guests were given an opportunity to mingle, share their thoughts on the importance of heritage, tourism and investment to afford the country an opportunity to be competitively capable on a global and domestic stage.

Day two was the final spot – Investment and Tourist attraction, the Cappeny Estates Strawberry Farm. Cappeny Estates is KwaZulu-Natal’s newest and arguably its most popular hydroponic strawberry farm. It is the only commercial strawberry farm in Ballito.

Giving the presentation was co-founder Mrs Yolisa Gumede, “The 17-hectare farm was built entirely from scratch by my husband and me, who are first-generation farmers and proud members of the Ballito community. Their journey is one of research, courage and passion. The journey began in 2010, with extensive worldwide travels and research to various strawberry farms.”

The farm now employs 28 permanent workers, 5 graduates and 50 seasonal employees which contribute to the wide range of products that Cappeny Estates exports to the world.

Every year the estate hosts a strawberry picking festival with people travelling from all over the country. The team had missed out on this festival but were fortunate to be granted a picking experience.

Follow the link for more on the Cappeny Estate

The Media Tour came to an end with a flight back to Jozi and an experience that hopefully triggered the travel bug. Most importantly, the necessity for each and every person to contribute towards positively marketing the country and telling inspiring stories of the Nation Brand’s heritage, tourism and investment sites.

Follow #KZNMediaTour to see the two days shared by our local media and tripartite partners.