Mayor Dave Swart addresses Plett’s tourism sector
Plett Tourism held the first of its Plett Conversations for 2022 with special guest speaker Bitou Municipality’s Executive Mayor Dave Swart.
Dave addressed the hospitality sector of Plett, with insights into the vision for tourism in the area and for tourism development in the Bitou Municipality. The Mayor stressed the importance of tourism in the economy of the town and the need for out-of-season events in order to attract tourists and holidaymakers to the area during the quieter months of the year.
Mr. Swart went on to say that the municipality was committed to ensuring that the people in the town had a means of making a living and that the delivery of services to all residents of the town was vitally important to the municipality.
After that, there was a Q&A session where the audience had the opportunity to participate in the conversation by voicing their opinions and posing questions to the Mayor and to the CEO of Plett Tourism, Patty Butterworth.
Among other concerns were questions about the airport, the matric Rage, events, and the importance of the tourism association’s relationship with Wesgro.
The new development at the start of Main Street was also a concern that was raised. Dave and Patty both highlighted the need to encourage an environment in Plett’s accommodation sector where there was more accommodation in central locations for tour busses to make use of, which would have the effect of discouraging tour busses from moving on from Plett to other close-by towns in search of accommodation once their guests had completed their sightseeing or activities during the day.
Patty ended off the meeting with a quick overview of season stats and a roundup of highlights expected in the coming year.
01:35 Dave Swart’s address
19:10 The Q&A session
01:10:22 Patty Butterworth’s presentation
For further information or to download the presentation, please click here.