Johannesburg Tourism will be in full swing at Indaba 2016, not only promoting its #Welcome2Jozi domestic tourism awareness campaign, but also formalising important industry partnerships to promote visitor numbers to Joburg.
The City’s destination marketing organisation will be exhibiting at Indaba from the 07th – 09th May 2016. INDABA is one of the largest tourism marketing events on the African calendar and one of the top three ‘must visit’ events of its kind on the global calendar. It showcases the widest variety of Southern Africa’s best tourism products, and attracts international buyers and media from across the world.
“Joburg Tourism’s priority will not only be to expand upon the leisure and lifestyle appeal and activities which the City offers, but also to ensure that the trade understands that Joburg is so much more than just a business destination or stop-over en route to other exotic locations,” says Nabintu Petsana, Head of Joburg Tourism.
“We aim to create top of mind awareness of Joburg offerings as an all year round sports, shopping, fashion, lifestyle, mega events, heritage, arts and culture destination of choice in Africa.”
UNION PAY PARTNERSHIP
Represented by UnionPay International representative Xing Gan and Joburg Tourism’s Head, Nabintu Petsana, the two entities will utilise Indaba 2016 to sign a Strategic Memorandum of Understanding to jointly promote the acceptance of UnionPay cards, optimize the card-using environment and provide more convenient services to UnionPay cardholders visiting Johannesburg.
The signing of the MOU between Joburg Tourism and Union Pay will take place at the Joburg Tourism Stand (DEC 1D31) at the Durban Exhibition Centre, on Saturday, 7 May from 15h30 to 17h00.
The two parties will also conduct joint marketing activities to increase popularity of Johannesburg tourism services and products among Chinese tourists.
With 5.2 billion cards in issue and a presence in 150 countries, UnionPay is larger than Visa and MasterCard combined.
More than 100 000 of UnionPay cards have been issued in 48 African countries.
Two South African banking institutions – First National Bank and Standard Bank – are already in partnership with UnionPay. Absa, which entered the scheme in January, will start processing payments in June this year.
Every month, more than 14 000 Chinese tourists, most of whom are UnionPay card-carrying members, visit South Africa.
China has become South Africa’s fourth largest overseas resources market. Statistics from the China Tourism Academy also show that China surpassed Germany and the US as the biggest market for outbound tourism in 2012. China will have more than 400 million outbound tourists in the next five years; on average a Chinese tourist spends $6 200 (nearly R100 000) on a 10-day trip.
As Chinese tourists travel groups and have high spending power, they are a sought after tourism market sector.
Joburg Tourism is working with local tourism industry players, encouraging them to embrace the Union Pay partnership, which will also be promoted when the marketing team participate in international Asian tradeshows.
EVENTS CALENDAR LAUNCH
In partnership with Gauteng Tourism, Joburg Tourism will be launching the City’s Events Calendar 2016 at the Tourism Indaba 2016 in Durban. This is set to take place on Sunday, 8 May at Lambert House in Florida Road, from 18h00 – 20h00.
“Events are one of the biggest contributors to the tourism sector, particularly in Joburg, attracting people from all over the country and the continent to our City,” says Nabintu Petsana, Head of Joburg Tourism.
Many events that take place in the City have grown over the years and have contributed and boosted the local economy significantly. These events are a major draw card on the City’s social and tourism calendar and give the province an opportunity to showcase its wide range of offerings.
Events such as the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz, Gauteng Summer Cup, Tribute Concert, Go West Heritage Week, Vaal River Carnival, Eid Shopping Festival, Land Rover Africa Polo Cup, Soweto Wine Festival, FNB Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg Shopping Festival, Spring Fiesta, to mention but a few, attract both local and international visitors, significantly boosting revenue throughout the tourism value chain and creating employment opportunities in so doing.
“Gathering at the Indaba 2016 (Lambert House, 210 Lambert Road off Florida Road Morningside) will give our celebrated events and event organizers the opportunity to showcase their fascinating events and provide opportunities to create attractive packages to increase visitor numbers to Joburg,” says Petsana.
Joburg’s boasts an extraordinary array of arts and cultural festivals, exhibitions, expos, trade fairs and the many great sports events that take place at our world-class stadiums. These include test cricket at the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium, Currie Cup rugby at Ellis Park Stadium, and soccer at FNB Stadium, which also plays host to major entertainment events and concerts by local and international music stars.
Joburg plays host to major music events annually. In 2014 Johannesburg played host to 2638 music concerts, while from January to mid November 2015, 2001 music events took place in the city. Among Joburg’s top music venues are the FNB Stadium, the Coca-Cola Dome, the Bassline and The Orbit.
Many of the world’s musical greats have performed or are soon performing in Johannesburg. Among these are John Legend, Carlos Santana, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Rodriguez, Roxette, Kenny Rogers, Michael Buble, Usher, Alanis Morissette, Josh Groban, George Benson, Alicia Keys, ZZ Top, Michael Jackson and Farrell Williams.
Joburg is home to the iconic 94 736-seater FNB stadium, the largest venue in South Africa. It has hostedsome of the biggest international and local events including Memorial Service for Tata Nelson Mandela, musical acts including U2, Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber. It also plays host to major sporting events such as the final of the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™, the African Cup of Nations final in 2013, as well as major football matches like the popular Soweto Derby that involves two South African Premier Soccer League football giants Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.
Johannesburg hosts by far the greatest number of lifestyle expos in South Africa. In 2015, Johannesburg hosted 134 lifestyle expos up from 103 in 2014.
JOBURG TOURISM TO PROMOTE #WELCOME2JOZI DOMESTIC TOURISM AWARENESS CAMPAIGN AT INDABA
Launched in February 2016, the fun domestic tourism campaign [#Welcome2Jozi] is designed to encourage Joburg’s residents to make the city’s visitors feel warmly welcomed. It also has an important educational objective, designed to inform Joburgers of the tourism sector’s importance, who constitutes a tourist and how to be even better hosts.
What is the Welcome to Jozi Campaign About?
The Welcome to Jozi – Make a Visitor’s Day! campaign, which launched in February 2016, aims to inform and educate Joburgers on how to be great Johannesburg ambassadors, promote the city, enhance the Joburg visitor’s experience and ensure that visitors have great memories of Joburg. It will also illustrate how tourism impacts each and every Joburg resident.
As Africa’s most visited city and the continent’s leading business and lifestyle destination, Joburg attracts visitors from Gauteng, from South Africa’s other provinces, from other African countries and from destinations around the world. The reasons they come to Johannesburg are as diverse as the visitors themselves. They could be students studying at our tertiary institutions, people who come for medical reasons, business people visiting the city for meetings, business events, exhibitions and incentives, sports enthusiasts, concertgoers, those seeking leisure, lifestyle, heritage and cultural experiences, and those who come to visit friends and relatives.
- The Domestic Tourism Awareness Campaign (#Welcome2Jozi) is all about educating Joburg residents about the importance of the tourism sector, who tourists are and how everyone in the City has a role to play in the Tourism Value Chain – dining out, shopping, being entertained, taking tours,visiting sites and attractions, attending events, shows and so on.
- The Campaign explains how there are different types of tourists/sectors through seven different themes:
- International Students are Our Tourism Business
- Meetings are Our Tourism Business
- Shopping is Our Tourism Business
- Leisure is Our Tourism Business
- Friends and Family are Our Tourism Business
- Health is our Tourism Business
- Sports are our Tourism Business
The Welcome to Jozi – Make a Visitor’s Day Today! campaign takes a collaborative approach, encouraging all Joburgers to go the extra mile and make a visitor’s day each and every day.
They are encouraged to be helpful, courteous and friendly. This may be a simple gesture such as – helping a visitor with directions.
They are also encouraged to learn more about visitors to Joburg – for example by providing Indian diners with plenty of serviettes and a finger bowl as they generally eat with their hands. The campaign will also educate locals on how to interact with visitors. For example, etiquette and conversing in their languages to make them feel welcome
Joburgers can also make a visitor’s day by showing them the city’s rich culture, heritage, leisure and lifestyle attractions and activities. This means that they have to be familiar with the city’s tourist attractions and how to access them.
As in many other destinations around the world, residents often remain unaware of their city’s tourism and leisure offerings and the campaign aims to address this.
Joburg is so much more than a stopover city, with a great deal to experience and explore. Our struggle history, and culture and heritage attractions provide fascinating insights into the city’s past and current developments.
Among the many exciting things to do:
- Visit historical sites such as the Apartheid Museum, Constitutional Hill and Liliesleaf;
- Take a walking or cycling tour of Soweto or downtown Joburg;
- Hang out in the funky Maboneng District and Braamfontein where you’ll find Joburg’s hip crowd exploring art galleries, theatres, bookstores, food markets, bars, specialty stores and more ;
- Adventure and adolescent junkies love the bungee jump at Orlando Towers in Soweto, zip lining in Melrose and go-karting at Kyalami Race Track;
- The City Sightseeing Red City Tour hop-on-hop off bus takes visitors to some of Joburg’s most iconic attractions and is a must-do adventure for any visitor to Joburg;
- Eating out at our many fine restaurants for a culinary experience;
- Shopping at our world class malls;
- Explore Joburg’s art scene at fine art galleries and markets;
- Enjoying World Class productions at our many theatres;
- Taking part in our many outdoor annual sporting events;
- Being part of exhilarating music concerts, entertainment and lifestyle events.
When compared with other global cities, Joburg is one of the most affordable to visit for both domestic and international visitors, whether it’s paying for transport and accommodation, entry into the city’s many tourist attractions, shopping, or enjoying its superb restaurants, nightlife and cultural attractions.
