The Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) has set its goals on target, with its initiative to market the Eastern Cape as a business and leisure destination.

In a bid to capitalise on the scores of soccer fans visiting the province for the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup™, the ECDC has taken its Eastern Cape From Above (ECFA) picture exhibition to the Port Elizabeth airport departure hall. The marketing campaign will run from mid-June to December.

This is the first time since the exhibition started in 2008 and shown in a number of German cities, is shown in South Africa.

“Selecting the departure hall was because people arriving at an airport are not in the frame of mind to study photos and read write ups. They would normally be looking for their baggage and wondering where the car hire company is located.

“At the departures, people usually need to wait for flights hence we expect a high number of people to view the exhibition and read the info panels attached to each picture,” says ECDC’s Pierre Leppan.

PE to host 8 of SA’s 64 matches

Port Elizabeth will host eight of 64 2010 soccer world cup matches. According to Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA), the city’s airport will handle 6,000 visitors per day during this period, a 200 percent surge on the normal count. Over 30 days this will translate to 120,000 more people passing through the airport.

The ECFA exhibition shows panoramic views of Eastern Cape’s tourism spots as well as investment and industrial projects.

The goal is to entice visitors from abroad and elsewhere in the country to return to the province, and consider Eastern Cape as a venture and leisure destination.

“We want to encourage them to see more of the province next time. We want to showcase to business people the infrastructure the province has to offer at industrial development zones (IDZs) and ports,” Leppan says.

Leppan added that a similar exhibition had been on track in German since April. This year’s German exhibition started in Munich station and has been to Düsseldorf, Bremen and Kiel stations. It was due in Hannover from June 22 to July 7. Its final German destination for 2010 would be Mannheim station from July 19 to August 12.

ECFA “plays” to great reviews

The parastatal tasked with promoting Eastern Cape investment and development says in Germany, the ECFA exhibition got great reviews. The result was that Buffalo City Municipality (BCM) and the Office of the Premier (OTP) secured twinning with La Rochelle municipality in Germany.

“La Rochelle was so impressed with the exhibition that they requested we extend the time for another two weeks,” Leppan says.

Twenty eight of 40 pictures have been selected for Port Elizabeth airport departure hall where they will be displayed until December, says ECDC.

Seventy percent of the pictures show tourist attractions, while the rest illustrate investment hubs and activities.

The ECFA exhibition dispelled myths and distorted perceptions of the province as a destination exclusively suited for travelers with an appetite for adventure, showing the full spectrum of EC’s tourism sites, says ECDC.

“The impact will be on tourism industry as well as future investment into the Eastern Cape. General tourism promotion and awareness of the EC must increase,” Leppan adds.