The future of Paarl and Wellington Wine Tourism remains strong amid the withdrawal of funding from Drakenstein Municipality.
The Drakenstein Local Tourism Association (DLTA) was established by the four key tourism organisations within Drakenstein region, to eliminate duplication and share resources to the benefit of Paarl and Wellington. The DLTA is a non-profit organisation with a member base of businesses, tourism entities and wine producers, which support the vision of building Paarl and Wellington into sought-after tourism destinations, and each town has its own unique heritage, scenery, tourism products and appeal.
When the municipality made the decision in 2005 to withdraw their support for the local tourism businesses in Paarl and Wellington, and decided to operate the tourism functions in-house, there was very little marketing effort and budget applied. Despite this decision the four member organisations continued with their marketing initiatives with limited funding and resources and welcomed the revised agreement in 2013 with the municipality to provide funding once again for administration and marketing to grow the visitors numbers and tourism awareness of the two towns, within the Drakenstein valley.
From the beginning of this joint initiative, which commenced in 2014, a dedicated team in the DLTA started rebuilding the tourism appeal of Paarl and Wellington, and this continued regardless, even though during this period the organisation had to contend with a severe drought, the impact of Covid 19, and the extensive lockdown restrictions until recently.
In a survey conducted under the umbrella of travel trade for the period from 2013 to 2017, the inclusion of Paarl in tour itineraries grew from 2% to 11% and accounted for the fact that Paarl is now promoted alongside established tourism areas such as Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, while Wellington competes equally alongside Tulbagh and Paarl, says Annelize Stroebel, CEO of the DLTA.
“Since the inception of the DLTA, we have embraced technology developments and ensured that Paarl and Wellington receive the best tourism exposure possible on many digital platforms, online media, consumer and trade shows and has a well-presented tourism appeal in the print media. The structured collaboration with international, national and provincial institutions in promoting this region as a destination has also built solid relationships with tour operators and the media.
The last three-year service level agreement between the DLTA and the municipality ended on 28 November 2021. Negotiations for the renewal of the SLA were halted as per the Auditor General of South Africa pronouncements on the unlawful procurement practices of tourism-related services at local government level.
On 4 November an advertisement for the tender of Destination Marketing Services for Drakenstein Municipality was published, and the DLTA was one of two businesses that submitted tenders by the closing date, 18 November.
On 21 December, the DLTA received an email informing the organisation with the attachment of the minutes of the Procurement Bid Application Committee meeting held on 17 December that tender EG1/2021 was cancelled as per Regulation 13(1)(b) of the Preferential Procurement Regulations, 2017, as there are no longer funds available to cover the total envisaged expenditure.
The DLTA confirmed the tender requirements (EG1/2021) included additional deliverables over and above the previous deliverables of the terminated SLA and therefore resulted in a higher bid than the annual budget of R2 300 000 of 2021-’22. The other bidder was also aware of this budget and noted that, based on the tender requirements, they assumed the budget would increase, and this raises some serious questions about the credibility of the process. The question was asked, “how can you put out a tender with specific deliverables, way above the existing SLA with the DLTA, in the knowledge that there are budget restraints? Did no-one at the municipality cost the deliverables to determine the necessary budget requirements?” asked Trevor Harris, Chairman of the DLTA. The tender of the other company was 130% higher than the cost of the DLTA. The DLTA quote was 54% higher per annum based on the required deliverables set out in the tender.
The DLTA was invited by the municipality to submit a proposal to continue the management of the two Visitor Information Centres and save the jobs of seven employees, which it did. Nevertheless, the municipality informed the DLTA it would not be able to provide a financial contribution. It did confirm, however, that the DLTA could remain in the buildings it owned. But the DLTA emphasised it was not in a financial position to maintain the operations of the offices.
The DLTA will close its operations at the Visitor Information Centres, and all staff will be retrenched at the end of February.
The DLTA will continue with the promotion of the two destinations via their well-established digital platforms, media relations built over the last seven years, and related industry organisations. We have a strong member base and believe with the lifting of travel bans, that the wine industry and tourism entities will slowly start to recover.
“We want to ensure our members and the people of Paarl and Wellington, that the DLTA remains positive about these two unique towns and will continue to build on our established record and reputation and help in the recovery of tourism in the region,” Harris said.
See pg. 5.
