The tourism bureaux along the Garden Route recently built ties with its important eastern gateway area by facilitating a tourism road show by ECTour, an independent organisation that promotes the formation of a network of marketing associations in the Eastern Cape.

ECTour consists of more than 170 members from the tourism industry, grouped into seven nodes namely Karoo Heartland, Sunshine Coast, Tsitsikamma, Wild Coast, Kouga Surf & Safari, Hogsback and Frontier Country.
Representatives of each of these nodes highlighted the main attractions within those areas and delivered short talks to large audiences of local tourism operators in both Plett and Knysna on March 24.

The high-powered ECTour delegation also included delegates from the Eastern Cape Tourism Board, 2010 host city Port Elizabeth, and East London. In Plett, the day started off bright and early with a community walk through Kurland Village in The Crags before the ECTour presentation to local tourism stakeholders. Bitou Tourism CEO Dianna Martin concluded the formalities with a summary of Plett attractions.

The group then had an opportunity to admire and buy local craft before retiring to Bramon Wine Estate for a scrumptious lunch. Over pates and cheeses, delicious home-baked breads and chilled wine, friends were made and business cards exchanged. All too soon, the group departed for Knysna, where the presentation was repeated before they booked in at Knysna Hollow for the night.

Knysna Tourism CEO Shaun van Eck said the road show was the perfect opportunity to create a referral alliance with the Eastern Cape. "The Eastern Cape represents a largely untapped market and serves as an important gateway to the Garden Route with more cars being hired in Port Elizabeth and dropped in Cape Town than vice versa.

"Both our regions are renowned for their natural beauty and the Eastern Cape complements our offering with its strong wildlife and cultural products," van Eck explained. "We have to realise that we are not in competition with each other, but are actually in a position where we might assist each other and ensure that travel to both regions increases and continues to do so in a sustainable manner."