Published on : Thursday, February 14, 2013
After nine years as CEO of Cape Town Tourism, Mariette du Toit-Helmbold has announced that she has decided not to renew her contract with the tourism organisation for another term.
The City of Cape Town recently confirmed a three year tourism marketing and visitor services mandate for Cape Town Tourism, securing its financial and strategic future.
“It has been an exciting, fast-paced few years and I have been proud to lead Cape Town Tourism through a fascinating and challenging era for tourism. The renewal of our mandate from the City and confirmed funding for three years is definitely a highlight. I am confident that the organisation is stable and sustainable with a very capable team and a committed and progressive industry board. Cape Town Tourism’s reputation is established globally as one of the best practice examples of tourism destination marketing and private/public partnership tourism organisations. I leave behind a legacy that I am immensely proud of and look forward to a new chapter in my life and career”, says Du Toit-Helmbold.
Under her leadership, Cape Town Tourism has won critical acclaim as a Visitor Services and Marketing Organisation doing sterling work at the coalface of one of the country’s fastest growing industries. Cape Town Tourism has been recognised by the UN World Tourism Organisation for its “world best practice tourism organisational model and innovative initiatives in destination marketing”.
Her achievements are manifold. In 2004, she was widely praised for her change management and project management initiatives, which culminated in the then fragmented tourism industry in Cape Town being brought under one roof, with the establishment of a unified tourism body for the greater Cape Town Metropole – Cape Town Tourism. She was appointed CEO of Cape Town Tourism in 2004.
Other milestones include the development of Cape Town’s first comprehensive Visitor, Industry and Tourism Marketing Strategy (2004), an integrated Cape Town Tourism Visitor Safety and Support plan (2005), securing the destination marketing mandate for Cape Town (2008), the first Digital Tourism Marketing Strategy for Cape Town (2009) which culminated in Cape Town Tourism being recognised as the “most connected” DMO in Africa in 2012, the 2010 FIFA World Cup Tourism, Visitor and Marketing Strategy for Cape Town (2010), an Urban Tourism Marketing Strategy and Campaign incorporating the first ever global media partnership between Cape Town, Durban and National Geographic (2011) and the three city partnership between Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban Tourism in association with SA Tourism (2011).
Du Toit-Helmbold says that the last few years have involved making tough decisions within a changing global environment and local tourism landscape; “We have adjusted our marketing and visitor service strategies and adopted a centralised organisational structure with a strong focus on digital marketing and communications in response to changing consumer behaviour and trends. We harnessed the power of the internet to attract visitors to our city and to ensure that our interaction with them during and after their visit is always personal, authentic and dynamic. We have also made central, the important role local citizens play in the marketing of their own city.”
“We applied sound business strategy and practice to self-generate a substantial part of our annual budget, from a zero base in 2004 to R6million by 2010. We are ready to grow this substantially with the implementation of a new commercial strategy supported by the City in 2013.”
Says Sabine Lehmann, Chair of Cape Town Tourism Board: “Mariette has been a fearless and passionate leader for tourism and a champion of all things Cape Town during her time at Cape Town Tourism and her energy, optimism and creativity will be missed by her team and by our board. We wish her every success in her next chapter.”
Du Toit-Helmbold will leave Cape Town Tourism in the second half of 2013 to continue working on tourism and marketing strategy initiatives, nationally and internationally, as an independent tourism and marketing strategist.
“Tourism and Cape Town remain my first love and I will remain involved and committed in helping to grow the tourism sector in Cape Town and beyond. Besides its impact on economic progress and sustainable development, tourism is one of the sectors best positioned to deliver on job creation, perhaps the single most collective issue of concern at this time. Tourism creates prospects for entrepreneurship and provides millions of direct jobs worldwide, as well as countless more through its multiplier effects on related sectors such as trade, manufacturing and agriculture. It is one of the largest employment sectors in South Africa and a fast entry vehicle into the workforce for young people and women in both urban and rural communities. It is an exciting time to work in tourism and I look forward to applying what I have learned and working with government and the industry to make a positive difference.” concludes Du Toit-Helmbold.
Says Cllr Grant Pascoe, Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events and Marketing: “The City of Cape Town thanks Mariette for her leadership, commitment and dedication to promoting Cape Town, both locally and internationally. She has left an indelible mark on Cape Town and the tourism industry. We wish her well and trust that she will do well in all her future endeavours.”
Source :- Cape Town
|
||
   
|
||
