Comments on: Extending the stay & spreading the spend of Gansbaai’s daytrippers

By: admin

admin — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 10:43:36 +0000

Have you considered spending more time in Stanford or Hermanus – both much prettier – rather than a quick in-and-out of the region?

By: John

John — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 10:12:42 +0000

As a person that has been to Gansbaai a few times in the past, I can definitely say that the standards of the guesthouses, hotels and restaurants are not as good as Cape Town.

I have stayed at several places namely, Cliff lodge, Crayfish lodge, Saxon lodge and a few others. These were the top places in Gansbaai, but every guesthouse in the Overberg region has one thing in common. Sharks, sharks, sharks… It is a strong attraction and the main reason why I visit Gansbaai every year. It would however be nice to actually stay at a place that is not trying to sell shark diving but instead promote their own guesthouse. I have seen guesthouses bad mouthing one shark diving company to the extreme so they can steal the booking and book the guests with another company in order to claim a referal fee.

If the businesses, institutions and organisations in the Overberg put as much effort and energy into marketing their own “uniqueness” and attractions as they do trying to be a booking agent for a shark company, or blaming shark diving operators for providing a much needed bus service then maybe people might stay over longer.

The overberg is a great and beautiful place, but walking through the fynbos does not appeal to many people. The caves have been locked for over a decade, in the 10 years I have come to Gansbaai I have yet to see the historical drip caves from the inside.

The last time I was in Gansbaai (2011) I noticed the town centre was very run down, the whole town needed a paint job, there were unoccupied buildings below the mainstreet towards the harbor with broken windows, rusty gates and paint peeling off everywhere. The whole look and feel of the town was not very welcoming to me as a tourist.

I am afraid Gansbaai will not see me again unless the people in this area wake up and work for their future instead of complaining or shifting the blame to the shark industry for the state the town and its tourism sector is in. I would much rather stay in cape town and catch a bus for the day.

Regards
Johnathan

By: admin

admin — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 03:50:44 +0000

How many real MARKETERS sit on those tourism committees? Not bureaucrats or marketers who paint by numbers, but people who can pull a rabbit out of a hat?

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:35:20 +0000

It strikes me that this areas called the “Cape Whale Coast” only, when the Whales are only around for six months at most. What about the rest of the year when the Whales are not around? This area is blessed by the fact that the Great White Sharks are around and able to be seen all year round. Not to mention Fynbos, Birds, hiking trails, fantastic fishing and unspoilt arty villages like Stanford, Baardscheerdersbos and Kleinmond where visitors can explore and discover unusual artifacts and gifts. There are treasures like Harold Porter, the Penguin colony at Stony Point, great beaches, historically important caves at Klipgat and charming villages like Elim and so much more that cannot fit onto a page.
This is what we should be promoting to attract visitors. The Shark operators drive their guests to Gansbaai, often picking them up at 4 am in Cape Town and driving the sleepy people to their operation, breakfast, trip, lunch, back on the bus – sleep back to Cape Town. Some of them don’t even remember which company they dived with, let alone anything about the area they were driven through or the towns they slept through….
Getting more bums in bed sand on restaurant seats in our beautiful towns and villages has been on the cards for years now and the topic of much discussion on the agendas of Tourism committees. Yet we are still holding our breath for the “Whale Coast” tourism machine to expand their focus and create some real new tourism routes, beyond the Whales.
What does “an integrated special development plan” mean?
The tarring of the road between Elim and Baardscheerdersbos will hardly assist Gansbaai not to be “the end of the line” as B/Bos is a number of kms from Gansbaai and this is mainly dirt. Tourists drive these roads daily, and enjoy the experience of real country roads.
Please let us assist with the “plan” as what I am reading in the explanation above is not my experience or understanding of the Shark diving tourist either…

By: admin

admin — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:13:05 +0000

Thanks Caron, I’m emailing this to Sune and I hope she will comment further.

By: Caron Lee

Caron Lee — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 16:05:16 +0000

I also wonder how much research was done on the shark diving tourists profile. My experience hosting these tourists at Saxon Lodge and spending a great deal of time in and around the shark operations does not match the ‘opinion’ that these tourists are high-income bracket – celebrity status individuals. There are some, but they are not the average, to the contrary the average appears to be nature travellers or young adrenalin travellers many fulfilling their bucket list item. This appears to be a justification for lack of proper destination marketing rather than a serious look at the dynamics of the tourism to this region.
I agree that the response from tourism marketing management smacks of jargonised rhetoric with no action orientation or direction. Upward of 90000 tourists make their way to Gansbaai to spend time with the Great White sharks. The opportunity for this area is already in our hands… tourism marketing management need only shift their emphasis to the regions amazing offerings and showcase through tourism channels.