July 17, 2003
By Lucille Davie
JOHANNESBURG'S executive mayor, Amos Masondo, has appointed former Sowetan editor and NAIL executive Aggrey Klaaste chairman of the newly-created Johannesburg Tourism Company.
And joining Klaaste on the company's board is a top team of people from the private sector, offering a wide range of experience in business and tourism. They are: Spoornet General Manager Ravi Nair; National Housing finance Corporation CEO Adrienne Egbers; SABC Chief Legal Adviser Kitten Matthews; former SAA Executive Vice President of Marketing Victor Nosi; Absa Group Executive of Marketing Dana Cooper; Planet Hotels MD Brett Dungan; The Event Production Company head Karen Ashwin; author, radio and TV writer and businesswoman Tembeka Nkamba-Van Wyk; and singer and businesswoman Yvonne Chaka Chaka.
Heading this team as CEO is Deon Viljoen, on secondment from Southern Sun where he was the founding executive director of the Sandton Convention Centre. Viljoen was previously Executive Director of Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa.
Klaaste said of his appointment when it was announced on Wednesday evening at the elegant newly-launched Jacaranda Hill conference centre in Westcliff: "I am delighted and proud to have been chosen to head the board."
Regarding the people chosen to work with him, he said: "I am confident that the team assembled has the right dynamism, business acumen and tourism know-how."
Klaaste stressed that the team "will be a 'living' board, comprising influential people of wide experience able to present a perspective to tourists of precisely where we in Johannesburg are at the present time in an historical, political and spiritual context".
The Johannesburg Tourism Company was formed in April this year, as a Section 21 company owned by the City of Johannesburg, with an independent board. The City plans to pump R12-million into the company over the next three years, in an effort to "assist other tourism agencies in the development of tourism in the city through engagement with the private sector".
Finance and Economic Development councillor Kenny Fihla said at the announcement that there is "huge tourism potential in Johannesburg". He added that studies indicate that people usually come to the city to do business then fly to other areas for their holidays. The challenge for Johannesburg is to change the perception that the city is not a place for tourists. "We must make sure that people stay another day."
Through the city's 2030 development plan, Johannesburg is to become a "world-class African city". The city is ranked as Africa's economic powerhouse with a population of 3.2 million people, contributing over 16% to the national economy.
The board's first priority is to set up four units: a Conventions and Incentives Bureau; a Visitors' Information Bureau; a research unit; and a marketing and branding department.
"We want Johannesburg to become a strong convention and tourism hub that will interact with, and enrich, other convention facilities and tourist destinations in South Africa and southern Africa," said Klaaste.
Hosting exhibitions will be a prime goal of the Company, enhancing the present role of Johannesburg as host of 56% of all exhibitions in the country.
Klaaste sees Soweto as a key target area for tourism. "I would like to see greater emphasis on telling tourists, and our own people, the story of Soweto. It is already a major tourist attraction for foreign visitors and we can certainly build on that."
Klaaste considers mining to be pivotal in the growth of the city. "The impact from the mines was both positive and negative. We must tell that story properly and in context," he says.
After the City's three-year involvement in the company, they plan to cut their financial contributions to not more than 60%. Additional funding will be generated from the private sector.
