The Plett Tourism Association – A Review of 2023
“The Plett Tourism Association acknowledges the Bitou Municipality and the communities throughout Bitou for their commitment to our land, forests, waters and indigenous cultures. We thank you for your continued support to uphold the integrity of the Plett Tourism brand – ‘Plett it’s a feeling!” – Patty Butterworth, CEO Plett Tourism Association.
TOURISM IN PLETT, AN OVERVIEW
The Plett Tourism Association recently held their AGM on the 30th August 2023 at the Beacon Island Resort. CEO Patty Butterworth shared the yearly report filled with encouraging statistics, stories, and anecdotes to a full house of attendees from the tourism industry.
Findings revealed that Plett and the Western Cape have been resilient as a destination for both local and international travellers, and the hospitality industry is gradually recovering from the devastating pandemic. As the post-pandemic demand for travel increases, the Association recognised the global trend for spending more time outdoors, and acknowledged that Plett is primely positioned to take advantage of that opportunity.
DESTINATION MARKETING HIGHLIGHTS
The new Plett Trails app features the international accreditation Green Flag trails, launched in April of this year. This brings to market a product of global standards following 18 months of development alongside SANparks, CapeNature, the MTO Group and private stakeholders. The project was managed by chairman of the World Trails Network, Galeo Saintz. Plett Tourism not only launched an easy-to-use, comprehensive hiking trails app with accredited Green Flag Hiking Trails but also brought to market the world’s first Green Flag MTB Trails.
Green Flag Trails is an international standard for trail accreditation – much like Blue Flag Beaches – to enhance public awareness and confidence in trails with a system designed to meet the needs of trail users in relation to trail information, difficulty grading and skills, and trail classification. The system ensures well managed and environmentally accountable trails remain a valued and on-going resource for access to nature, recreation and trail sports, for health and tourism and the many benefits trails offer local communities.
Events in Plettenberg Bay is another area showing growth as the comparison below shows the confidence of event organisers is returning, putting Plett well on track for pre-pandemic numbers.
This year, the Plett Ocean Festival and Plett ARTS Festival were recognised by Wesgro (the official tourism, trade and investment promotion agency of the Western Cape) as two “jewel” events of only six recognised in the Western Cape, fulfilling criteria of measurable excellent marketing, annual growth, inclusivity and uniquely Plett niche events garnering financial support from Wesgro of R25 000 for each event.
The events are designed to bring visitors to Plett to have a unique experience and, importantly, to provide a snapshot of the town – through media coverage. The events have seen staggering Returns on Investment from media exposure alone:
- PLETT ARTS FESTIVAL: 380% ROI: R686 138 return on an investment of R180 000. On measurable events, the audience was 60% local, 40% visitors, 17% being international.
- PLETT OCEAN FESTIVAL: 430% ROI: R1 154 348 on an investment of R260 000. The first Plett Ocean Festival took place in July 2022 opening with a three day Marine Science Symposium and ten days of ocean and shoreline family events and learner educational programmes in all communities.
COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS
Plett Tourism appreciates partnerships with local stakeholders and individuals also working with Garden Route District Municipality, Wesgro, SATSA, SA Tourism, Bitou Municipality, Plett Business Chamber and Plett Ratepayers Association. Supported by a municipality that embraces the value of tourism, all its communities and aims to enrich the lives of all who live here, Plett Tourism’s four marketing pillars: Plett Summer, Plett Food & Wine, Plett Adventure & Nature, and Plett Arts & Culture are strategically placed to cover an enticing range of tourism options.
At WTM Africa this year, Plett Tourism launched the first iKasi Life campaign video, introducing tour operators to new experiences in Plett showcasing township hospitality. To be launched in September, Plett goes Paleo will highlight the prehistoric stories to be discovered along our coastline as a part of Western Cape’s Cradle of Human Culture Route.
In a story that exemplifies community members who have made an extraordinary contribution to Plett’s economic opportunities, exposure and attractiveness as a destination is the town’s recent accreditation as a World Cetacean Alliance, Whale Heritage Site.
One of only seven such sites in the world. The story begins at the Plett Ocean Festival in 2022 when Plett photographer Rob Smith was so inspired by a presentation at the Marine Science Symposium that he initiated the process of accreditation and formed a Whale Heritage Site steering committee, including Plett Tourism’s representative Cindy Wilson-Trollip.
The steering committee – composed of volunteers from the marine science and marine tourism sectors – worked tirelessly on the application and, in June 2023, Plett was awarded this highly regarded accreditation, which has garnered much interest from the media, government, tour operators and travellers.
THERE IS STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
Plett Tourism stresses the importance of data-driven strategy and decision-making based on surveys, analysis of trends and reporting to ensure that Plett Tourism aims to stay ahead of the curve. The accommodation numbers for the past year and predictions for the coming year are encouraging:
JULY 2022 – JUNE 2023
- Plett accommodation establishments reported an increase of 60% for International Travelers July 2022 – June 2023.
- Plett accommodation establishments reported 55% of bookings were for a Domestic Market and 45% for an International Market
* ** Plett accommodation establishments reported an increase of 106% for pre-bookings July 2023 – June 2024.
Plett Tourism conducts walk-in surveys, quarterly member surveys and engages with the Garden Route District Municipality Tourism office (Garden Route & Klein Karoo, Wesgro, SATSA and South African Tourism research and analysis, and takes their lead from the results and indications of these.
Analysis Reports currently rank the Western Cape as:
- TOP province for overseas markets in 2022, and 2023 is looking just as positive according to recent reports released by Wesgro.
- TOP in overseas tourist arrivals: 697,132;
Additional Report findings include:
- Western Cape international two-way passengers remained strong between January and June 2023, reaching 104% recovery against the same period in 2019 and a 76% year-on-year growth compared to Jan – Jun 2022.
- Visitors to Plett’s iconic Robberg Nature Reserve are an excellent indicator of travellers to the region as these CapeNature stats illustrate: Day visits of 81,835 visitors in 2022 – 2023 / 38,156 in 2021- 2022 / 75,000 in 2018 – 2019.
FEELING OPTIMISTIC
Plett Tourism recognises that, in destination marketing, the competition is fierce as travellers have a buffet of destinations from which to choose. The Association aims to invite South Africa and the world to experience the Plett lifestyle through strategic campaigns that increase the desire to travel to Plett and reinforcing “Plett it’s a feeling!”.
Finally, the agreement of a three-year Service Level Agreement with Bitou Municipality which will extend Plett Tourism’s opportunities for planning and growth, enable opportunities to work closely with the Local Economic Development office of the municipality and further strengthen Plett’s offerings to adapt to new markets was announced at the AGM.
“Get ready to meet the younger luxury traveller, the intrepid adventurer, the ecowarrior, the pilgrim, and those focused on sustainability, inclusivity and the needs of diverse communities,” said Patty Butterworth, a direct excerpt from the Africa Travel Week post-WTM Africa Trends Report.
View the full AGM Report on www.pletttourism.com or contact info@pletttourism.com for more information.
