GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - "Mossel Bay is most probably one of only a handful of towns in South Africa that can organise a business seminar where surrounding towns, local authorities and the private sector get together to plan.
"You plan with a positivity – even as far ahead as 2050 – while most other places in the country are in the grips of survival and crisis management."
These were the words of Lourensa Eckard, a journalist and a television talk show host on kykNET's In Gesprek, after she had facilitated the Mossel Bay Business Chamber's regional business conference held at the Diaz Hotel last week.
Dr Francois de Wet, CEO of Cape Karoo International from Oudtshoorn shared Lourensa's sentiment about the positivity of the whole conference and the passion with which most of the speakers presented their topics.
"With this kind of positive energy, we can really achieve much if we all only do our best," he added.
Lourensa Eckard and Dr Francois de Wet.
The purpose of the conference was to take stock of the assets and unique selling points of Mossel Bay and surrounding areas and to collectively plan to maximise different areas' assets and uniqueness.
Vision 2050
One of the speakers, Dieter Jansen, presented a vision of "Garden Route 2050".
He quoted Albert Einstein: "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
Dieter Jansen
He used Dubai as an example of what imagination could accomplish, showing its transformation from what it was in 1976 and where it is now as one of the top travel destinations in the world.
On the South African front, he used Cape Town International Airport as an example, stating that it was the third largest airport in Africa and the Johannesburg to Cape Town route the ninth busiest in the world.
His point? Someone had a vision and took action to make this possible.
Jansen's proposal for the Garden Route and how it could look by 2050, a concept he referred to as Vison 2050, entails the following aspects: how do we want it to look in 2050 or be famous for in 2050? How can we achieve this?
By holding a series of facilitated workshops with stakeholders to answer these questions.
This is planned for as soon as January to December 2025 and if you want to be part of it, you can WhatsApp your details for "Vision 2050" to 064 803 3303 or send an email to admin@mosselbaychamber.co.za.
Film tourism
Delegates were blown away with the income and potential employment opportunities that exist in Film Tourism in the Garden Route.
Patrick Walton from the Garden Route Film Commission had them nailed to their seats when he started citing the amount of money spent in the area.
During 2022 R36 million was spent in the Garden Route and numerous opportunities were created to teach locals skills that are used in productions in the area.
At present there are five productions being filmed in the Southern Cape and the income from this exceeds more than R23 million for only six weeks.
Patrick Walton from the Garden Route Film Commission.
Just about every single business in the area can register on the Film Commission's data base to share in these opportunities.
Cruise liners
The same applies for the cruise liner business. During the past few years, cruise liners visiting our shores have increased from four to 26. The potential is three million visitors during the cruise season which is from October to May.
According to Andrea Bradford, a director of Mossel Bay Tourism, businesses must take hands with tourism, because together, the marketing power is just so much bigger.
Andrea Bradford
Another highlight was the medical services in the area. Although the public and private hospitals offer quality service, according to Nevil Vlok, hospital manager at Life Bay View Private Hospital, there are some challenges such as supplying enough qualified nursing staff.
The whole area has only one nursing college in Oudtshoorn and he sees an opportunity to create another in the area.
Agriculture
On the agriculture front Theo Adams from Herold, east of Mossel Bay, shared his story of a small farmer's success with indigenous honeybush tea and proteas.
His core message was that one must use all the opportunities for funding that are available.
He suggested that you apply for all the assistance, even if you do not think you tick all the boxes. "You may be the one that ticks most boxes and then often you win the challenge," he said.
PetroSA and the future is something that plays a direct role in the economy of the area.
Carel Steyn, a representative of PetroSA, said that although the refinery is not in production at present, it will be in operation in future.
According to him there are no plans to close the site. Mossel Bay's port is also in for several changes and expansions.
Captain Vania Cloete, acting harbour master, was there to share some developments pertaining to cruise liners as well as exports.
Other topics included local authorities and development, training and education as well as retirement.
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