Collaborative efforts between business and tourism bosses in Port Alfred are paying off as the town becomes something of a host mecca for national and local events.
This year has already seen the staging of the inaugural Port Alfred Easter Festival, a hugely successful funfair carnival, the Royal Golf Tournament, The University Boat Races, the SA Bodyboarding championships, (ongoing) and the upcoming national schools boat race festival on the Kowie that was broadcast live on SuperSport last year and proved the perfect marketing vehicle for the Ndlambe region.
Last week’s Mzansi’s 7s Rugby Festival which drew teams from across the region to Station Hill Fields was also live-streamed on the internet by SuperSport. There was also the hosting of a national croquet tournament at the PA Bowling & Croquet Club recently.
The ever-popular Pineapple Cricket tournament that celebrated 120 years this year, draws teams and visitors from around the region and is seen as a boost to the local economy, especially the food and beverages sector.
Chairperson of the Sunshine Coast Tourism board Wouter Hensens says it’s an ongoing priority to attract visitors to the town through sports and other events.
“My role as the chair of tourism is to put like-minded people together at the table and let them come up with cool stuff and then you tap into wider networks. And also it’s important to be very honest to each other.
“ For instance, within the hotels, it’s very tempting to say, ‘Oh gosh, we’re going to have the rowing weekend. Let’s all pump our prices up.’
“We’re trying to be very conscious about that and say, ‘No, let’s not because, you know, at the end of the day, we want these people to leave and say, ‘Hey, I had great value for money’.”
“What everyone understands is that of course an event brings feet and automatically business. If there’s 150 people from out of town we know that we’re sleeping 150 people from out of town that need to sleep somewhere.
“So the hotels are going to be full, the guest houses, B&B, self-catering. The accommodation sector benefits; these people are going to eat in restaurants, takeaways, supermarkets and visit retailers (in malls).”
Hensens makes the point that as a tourism board they view themselves mostly as facilitators not organisers. He says though they will offer organisers assistance with navigating the “red tape” that is an integral part of the planning of some key events.
“Look, it’s not super difficult but it can be intimidating for an organiser.”
“So automatically if you bring people to town there, there is an economic spin-off. And that is one of the reasons for us to organise events or to facilitate events.
Hensens says it was good to see that though different events appealed to different people “Port Alfred’s sport-loving community typically support the events”.
“Some events are of course more popular than others. For instance, when the rowing is there, some bars, nightclubs might play their music a bit louder and a bit longer. And people might have an issue with that. But I think overall, people here enjoy having people visiting the town.”
He said it was important to see the potential that first-time visitors represent to the town and to ensure through good service and entertainment they can be lured back.
“When people come here to participate in a sporting event, they think actually the family would love it and say, ‘let’s actually come back in December’. So that’s another reason for hosting events,” says Hensens.
Hensens says another reason why the board gets involved in events is “simply to enhance the experience of people who are already here”. For instance, if you look at December, we don’t actually have to try very hard to be full. From let’s say the 15th until the 3rd of January we know that pretty much the town is full. The accommodations are full. The restaurants are full. “Everything is full-up”
So why would you still organise events and risk an over-influx of people if that is the case over December-January?
“Well, what we’re trying to do is to not just make sure that we have people here. But that people who come here really have an awesome experience.
“So if we organise fun events that people can participate in … It can be anything from a float to a golf tournament to music performances. You know, that simply enhances the experience.”
The board has honed its focus on sporting events and music and “in all fairness we have drawn inspiration from Kenton”.
“As you already know, Kenton falls under our office. But they have their own little sub-chapter with their own committee.”
There’s a lot of stuff happening. Especially if you look over December. And again, there’s no reason for them to do it. Because they are already chock-a-block full. But they want their visitors to have an awesome time.
“So that they’re going to be even bigger promoters when they go back to wherever they came from and telltheir friends about their experience.”
“I think typically our locals are very accommodating to visitors and I thinkmost people in this town are proud of their town. “
Clinton Millard who sits on the board of Sunshine Coast tourism and main organiser of the SA Bodyboarding champs in the town, said if they didn’t have all the parties working together in the background, including sponsors, this event would not be hosted.
“There are over 200 people who have come in to Port Alfred just for this specific event … who wil be eating at our restaurants, booking in to accommodation, shopping at our shops and they come back because they see how good our beaches are and how good our hospitality is and they then come back year after after year,” said Millard.
Pat Harris, president of SA Bodyboarding, gave hosts Port Alfred the thumbs-up for their welcome and hospitality at a welcoming ceremony at Royal St Andrews Hotel on Sunday.
“It’s the second time I’m here this year for competition … it’s awesome, I love this place … the waves are always contestable … it’s great for the kids. The hotel always supports us and also the local media, so as always we are very excited.”
Some of the rowers surveyed who participated in the University Boat Races on the Kowie two weeks ago, were all unanimous that there is always heaps of excitement to get to the town for boat races. The Chief race official Gordon Doge at the time summed up his stay in Port Alfred as follows.
“I’ve been very lucky, I’ve been overseas to the UK, the Royal Cup in Luasanne, SA school champs, etc … this (Kowie) is still my favourite regatta. From the heads races (in Port Alfred), it’s totally different to anything else I’ve been to in my life” said Dodge.
“We want to invest in Port Alfred as much as they want to in us …. A massive thanks to the hotel they host us free of charge – we use all their facilities, wifi etc. When there are problems they help us and they always go above and beyond for us. We are definitely coming back next year.”
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, September 26, 2024. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
