Eastern Cape Business 2017 edition

OVERVIEW
cial tourism body’s informative
website: Kouga has superb golf
at St Francis Links and matchless
surfing at Jeffrey’s Bay; spectacular
routes traverse the wilderness
of Baviaanskloof; Frontier Country
offers the history of a fractured
past and peerless game reserves;
the Greater Addo Route encompasses
the huge park devoted to
elephants; the Friendly N6 takes
visitors high into the snowy
mountains near Lesotho; and
the Wild Coast offers nature at its
pristine best.
New developments
The decision by the South African
National Roads Agency (SANRAL) to
go ahead with plans to build bridges
over the Mtentu and Msikaba rivers
which will open up the quite remote
eastern parts of the province
(to mining and tourism).
SA Express airline announced
in 2016 a new direct flight from
Cape Town to Mthatha. Port
Elizabeth and East London have
large airports and regular flights
to all of South Africa’s other major
destinations.
The move by the Mandela Bay
Development Agency (MBDA) into
the renovated Old Tramways building
near the mouth of the Baakens
River has created a new meeting
space in a characterful building
and more than 1 000m² of new
exhibition space.
Within its first year of operation,
the Tramways building hosted a
visual arts exhibition (Tramways
Memory Project) and a fashion
show and it hosts a food market on
the first Saturday of every month.
The building is also close to the section of the Port of Port Elizabeth
that is designated to become a waterfront which will include a marina
and cruise-liner terminal. These plans depend on Transnet moving its
manganese storage to the Port of Ngqura.
Another MBDA initiative is boosting the city’s tourist offering: Route
67 consists of 67 public art works symbolising the years spent by Nelson
Mandela in the service of his fellow man. It starts at the Campanile (a
tribute to the 1820 Settlers) and forms part the greater Nelson Mandela
Bay Arts Journey.
Hotels and casinos
South Africa’s large branded hotel groups have a strong presence in
the Eastern Cape but there are also groups whose focus is more concentrated
on the province (like the Kat Leisure Group) together with
independent hotels and resorts such as East London’s Blue Lagoon
Hotel and Conference Centre, located in a prime spot at the mouth of
the Nahoon River.
Kat Leisure Group’s offering extends from the well-known Kennaway
Hotel, which has been a feature on East London’s beachfront for many
years, to the Queens Casino and Hotel in Queenstown and accommodation
options in the mountainous interior of Katberg and Hogsback.
Premier Hotels has two hotels in East London and the Mpanga
Private Game Reserve just beyond the city limits. Premier Hotels also
manages the East London International Convention Centre which offers
17 conferences room in various configurations, boardrooms and
an exhibition hall.
Many resorts take advantage of the beautiful bays and inlets of the
Eastern Cape, both along the Wild Coast, and nearer to cities, such as
the Mpekweni Beach Resort which is located between Port Alfred and
East London.
The Eastern Cape Gambling and Betting Board issues gaming
licences and regulates the industry in the province.
Sun International’s three properties extend along the coast from the
Wild Coast Sun Resort and Casino in the far east, to Port Alfred’s Fish
River Sun and Country Club Resort and the five-star Boardwalk Casino
and Entertainment World in Summerstrand, Port Elizabeth. Located
close to the blue-flag Hobie Beach, the Boardwalk Hotel, Convention
Centre and Spa won a 2016 Lilizela Tourism Award for excellence in the
five-star meetings, exhibitions and special events category.
Tsogo Sun has five Eastern Cape properties. In East London the
four-star Southern Sun Hemingways is next to the Hemingways Casino
complex and the city has one Garden Court, as does Mthatha. Port
Elizabeth has a Garden Court and a SUN1, both near Humewood Beach.
City Lodge has one property in East London and five in Port Elizabeth,
across four brands.
57 EASTERN CAPE BUSINESS 2017