Golf tourism tees off in East London

KEVIN MAYHEW THE RISE of the Swedish ace golf players such as Thomas Bjorn, combined with a general interest in the sport, has sparked an increase in golf tourism from the Scandinavian country to East London. Colwyn Loggenberg of Tourism Buffalo City - which promotes East London, Bisho and King William’s Town - says they have partnered with Swedish golf tourism company Gaule to promote this tourism in Sweden. There is also keen interest in the region’s golf tourism from Germans. Several tourism-related coastal golf resorts are being planned to meet the demand for this type of visitor. It is also one of the reasons why the local tourism business feels that East London airport should be upgraded to international charter status to handle tourists directly rather that through Johannesburg or Cape Town. ‘E Cape ports must focus on niche markets’ Kevin Wakeford . . . 'East London could become the only port for fully assembled motor vehicle exports and imports.' Kevin Wakeford is an Eastern Cape boy who is now based in East London as CEO of the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC). He calls for clear identities for the three major ports of the province - Port Elizabeth, East London and Coega. He spoke to Kevin Mayhew: FTW: From South African Chamber of Business to here, how? I was born in the Eastern Cape so I am coming back to my home area. But it was originally a caretaker appointment for a few months that has been made permanent. I am enjoying the change and environment. FTW: ECDC, what is it? It is the business arm of the province and has inherited activities that are far removed from its areas of expertise, such as a half billion rand property portfolio, which includes around 2000 properties. We are trying to shed such involvement and focus on our core elements. These are to develop SMME lending, develop business in general, help establish facilities such as the AIDC, the East London and Coega IDZs and of course work with the NPA at all times. We obviously have interests in all elements such as road transport, airports etc as they all have a place in development. FTW: If we look at the ambitions of the ports, are they achievable? Ports need a clear focus of attention. They must develop to fill an international niche in trade. I think Port Elizabeth has pretty much carved itself out as a capable general port with a few strong areas. It takes a lot of the pressure off an overloaded Durban, which serves much the same purpose, but remains the first choice for Gauteng and many exporters from other southern African countries. I see Coega as the southern hemisphere’s transhipment hub where huge vessels will tranship to smaller vessels servicing the ports of the world’s continents. Geographically it is ideally suited to this role and it will enable exporters worldwide that use it to minimise cost. Its IDZ could become integral to this as any key world port needs substantial back-end investment to service the heavy and complex business of shipping and port operations. FTW: East London and its automotive hub ambitions? Seeing the port and the IDZ as one, it could become the only port for fully assembled motor vehicle exports and imports. Once again it is a case of keeping focus on a key area and motor vehicle exports are important in the world today. So I believe that they are on the right track with their plans.