Wesgro, the Western Cape’s trade and investment agency, has taken over the province’s tourism destination marketing, and will become the single economic development delivery agency of the Western Cape Government and its official implementing agency.
Cape Town Routes Unlimited (CTRU) will be wound down and will no longer be responsible for tourism destination marketing in the Western Cape.
This follows an announcement made by the Western Cape's Finance, Economic Development and Tourism Minister, Alan Winde, in December on behalf of the Western Cape Government.
“Our financial and personnel resources will be combined to drive a far more aggressive international marketing campaign with a unified brand focused on business and tourism. In addition, our research capabilities will be combined to gain more efficient and real time market data which will drive our understanding of the global economy and positively impact our action plans and delivery,” said Winde.
It was agreed by the minister and the boards of CTRU and Wesgro that incorporating trade, investment and tourism marketing under one roof would bring greater efficiency in the current economic climate, and ensure co-ordination of the Western Cape Government’s outward-facing marketing initiatives.
The Board of CTRU will continue as the oversight and legislative body governing the legal mandate of CTRU and the functions of fulfilling the delivery mechanisms for the entity until such time as the Western Cape Tourism Act (Act 1 of 2004) is repealed.
The CTRU board has entered into a service-level agreement with Wesgro to ensure that delivery of the CTRU functions is properly executed. As part of this transition, the permanent staff of CTRU will be absorbed into Wesgro to ensure continuity of functional delivery within Wesgro.
“On behalf of the Provincial Government, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Boards of CTRU and Wesgro, as well as to the CEOs of the respective agencies, for their commitment to ensuring a smooth transition,” he said.
CTRU CEO, Calvyn Gilfellan, left at the end of March, and Deon Cloete replaces Peter Bacon, outgoing CTRU chairman, as chairman.
“I would like to assure all stakeholders and partners in the tourism industry that we are committed to ensuring even better tourism destination marketing programmes and support. Tourism accounts for 10% of this province’s GDP, making it very serious business. This move will allow us to give this industry the attention it deserves,” he concluded.
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