07-09-2012: Love Joburg - It's Spring, It's Tourism month and Joburg is set Rock
“Every year, Joburg bursts into spring with a flurry of festivals, activities and events, encouraging all to celebrate the new season by getting out and
about - and this year is no different,” says Phelisa Mangcu, Acting CEO, Joburg Tourism.
“Our current seasonal campaign tagline “Love Joburg In Spring” resonates with the enormous surge of energy and enthusiasm which the new season brings to our
City,” explains Mangcu. “Every Spring Joburg bursts into life with a renewed sense of vigour, firmly entrenching itself as the African continent’s most
exciting, happening destination. From signature events like Arts Alive in September, to the Mercedes Benz Africa Fashion Week in October and the Sansui
Summer Cup in November, Joburg pulsates with a broad range of consumer, lifestyle and sporting events.”
“Besides being the beginning of the much anticipated spring season, in September we also celebrate Tourism Month and Heritage Day. What better way to
experience your city anew than by taking a new perspective – being a tourist in your own city - and delving into history, the arts, culture and heritage
like a visitor would do?” challenges Mangcu.
“Try out the Gautrain, take the Rea Vaya and explore corners of Joburg you might never have even known about before. Immerse yourself in what makes our
destination and our city unique, this is what building a domestic tourism base and culture is all about!” (Visit the JTC website www.joburgtourism.com for
a listing of the multitude of events taking place in Joburg this Spring).
DISCOVER YOUR OWN BACKYARD
Joburg Tourism is using Tourism Month to launch its Discover Your Own Backyard tourism awareness campaign. Locals are invited to share their favourite,
authentic Joburg experiences via the Joburg Tourism website and Facebook pages - hyperlinks: • http://www.capturejoburg.com/discoveryourbackyard and •
http://www.facebook.com/JohannesburgTourism/app_232123406906856
Weekly/monthly prizes will be awarded for the best, most original experiences which showcase Joburg’s vibrancy and diversity.
“Aside from creating awareness about tourism and about Joburg as a destination amongst locals, the ongoing tourism awareness initiative is intended to also
bolster civic pride, effectively utilising residents and locals as advocates and ambassadors for their City,” explains Mangcu.
CAPTURE JOBURG WINNERS ANNOUNCED
In collaboration with the Vega School, Joburg Tourism will be unveiling the finalists in the Capture Joburg photographic competition on Friday, 7 September.
“This is not the first time that Joburg Tourism has collaborated with the Vega School, drawing on the fresh, inspired flair of its dynamic students, giving
them exposure, while also benefiting from their talents,” says Phelisa Mangcu, Joburg Tourism’s Acting CEO. “As the City’s destination marketing
organisation, we’re always on the lookout for fabulous images to promote Joburg’s rich, multi-faceted appeal, so we thought what better way of refreshing
our database, than by once again appealing to the youthful talents of Vega School’s photographic students?”
In July Joburg Tourism and Vega School joined forces to run their first collaborative photographic competition - Capture Joburg, offering prizes to the
value of R40 000 – including short courses of photography. Aside from showcasing Joburg through the lenses of keen photographers, the objectives of the
competition include identifying the talents of up and coming Joburg photographers and promoting their work. The competition was so enthusiastically
embraced by the students that it quickly went viral - and due to public interest, this first phase of the competition was expanded to include an open
category for the general public.
“Having attracted over 800 entries, we were delighted with the response to the first phase of the very first photographic competition we have run with Vega
School and are now launching the next phase, which comprises a monthly contest,” says Mangcu. Widespread public participation is encouraged and entries can
be submitted online, by visiting: • http://www.capturejoburg.com/discoveryourbackyard and •
http://www.facebook.com/JohannesburgTourism/app_232123406906856
This competition is just the start of an ongoing collaboration to showcase our city, bolster civic pride and encourage an awareness of tourism among
locals,” says Mangcu. “Joburgers are passionate about their city and we want to capture and communicate this enthusiasm and vibrancy, using it as a tool to
attract interest in and visitors to the various inspiring facets of this great city we call home.”
GDS 2040
In terms of Johannesburg’s Growth and Development Strategy 2040 [www.joburg.org.za/gds2040], tourism remains an economic growth imperative on the city’s
agenda. It is an important catalyst to encourage the development of the SMME sector in order to stimulate the growth and development of a vibrant second
economy. It is the Johannesburg Tourism’s strategy to attract increasing visitor numbers Joburg, encourage them to stay longer, spend more, improve
seasonality patterns and the spread of visitors across the city.
In line with these developments and as part of the institutional review process to effect closer alignment with City goals, this year Joburg Tourism Company
is being incorporated into the City’s Communication & Tourism Group. The GDS is coupled to the city’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and both are
aligned with the National Planning Commission’s New Growth Path.
“Our ongoing local and international promotional campaigns include exhibiting at business and leisure trade exhibitions where JTC shares its plans to
maintain, defend and grow its market share,” says Mangcu. “As the City of Johannesburg’s destination marketing organisation, Joburg Tourism remains focused
on positioning the city not only as the continent’s leading business hub, but also as an exciting, vibrant year-round destination for signature events,
lifestyle, the arts, culture, fashion, sports – and of course, mega-events.” /ends
Follow us on: www.joburgtourism.com Released by: Laura Vercueil
PR & Communication Manager
Johannesburg Tourism Company
Tel +27 11 214 0700
Fax +27 86 520 0713
Cell +27 82 920 2574
Email : laurav@joburgtourism.com"> laurav@joburgtourism.com
___________________________________________________________________________
Johannesburg Tourism is a destination marketing organisation, dedicated to promoting tourism growth in the City. Its primary function is to promote
Johannesburg as a business, lifestyle, sport and leisure destination, both locally and internationally. Its operations include running a Convention Bureau,
a Visitor Services Bureau, as well as co-ordinating city-wide tourism marketing programmes, tourism information gathering and analysis.
Johannesburg Tourism Company has three offices:
Joburg Tourism Head Office,
Parktown North
Tel: +27 214 0700
Soweto Tourism Information Centre
Tel: +27 11 342 4316
Park Station Tourism Information Centre
Tel: +27 11 333 1488
Operating hours 08:00 – 17:00
Monday - Friday
Info Line 0860 333 999
www.joburgtourism.com
