Challenge : Best Dressed World Cup Business

Southern Stroll Marketing Challenges all the businesses in the Cape Whale Coast to show their World Cup GEES.
We look forward to seeing the SA Flag (and the 31 others) adorn your buildings, cars, etc.

Calling businesses from Kleinmond - Hermanus - Stanford - Gansbaai : We are looking for the Best Dressed World Cup Business in the Cape Whale Coast!

Let's celebrate the World Cup 2010 and have FUN, FUN, FUN so we can tempt the world that are watching, to visit us very soon!

Best Pitch We Have

Cape Town Stadium has the best pitch of all the 2010 soccer World Cup venues, Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke said on Wednesday.

He was speaking at the ceremonial handover of the 68 000 seater stadium to the world soccer body ahead of the start of the tournament.

"It's definitely the best pitch we have during all this World Cup, if you compare with all the other stadiums," he said. "I'm sorry for the other stadiums, but it's a fact."

Jabulani, As Unique As Us

Dubbed Jabulani the ball forms part of a growing pedigree of World Cup footballs that now spans four decades.
The ball consists of an outer polyurethane coat and three inner layers, which mutually complement one another with their different ‘Adicron’ structures. These are intended to ensure the ball’s resistance, ability to retain its shape and its waterproof properties.
Responding to Engineering News questions, a FIFA spokesperson says that Adidas is the undisputed technology leader when it comes to official match balls. The sports equipment firm has introduced innovations such as the use of colour, syntactic materials, new panel shapes and seamless bonding for many past World Cups.

Eleven different colours are used in Jabulani because it is the eleventh Adidas World Cup ball. These colours also represent the 11 players in every team, the 11 official languages of South Africa and the 11 South African tribes that make the country one of the most ethnologically diverse countries on the African continent.
The final game in Jo’burg will have a unique ball for a unique event called Jo’bulani. It looks like Jabulani, but the pattern colour is gold because Johannesburg is the city of gold.

Floating Hotels Snubbed

The two luxury cruise ships, Noordam and Westerdam among the most luxurious in the world, were to have docked in Cape Town during the 2010 world cup. The idea was to use them as floating hotels and dilute the Cape's tourism income. Unfortunately for them and fortunately for us locals these plans have been cancelled due to a lack of interest and bookings.

Accommodation on the ships would have cost up to R71 000 per person sharing a five-night package.

Landlords Are A Tenacious Lot

The centrepiece of a R66-billion complex intended to redefine the Las Vegas resort experience, opened Monday 17th May 2010 with a lavish private party and fireworks.
Aria is the glass-sheathed Cesar Pelli-designed 4,004 room hotel at the heart of CityCenter, a 67 acre complex of hotels, condominiums and retail on the Las Vegas Strip.
President Barack Obama is tentatively scheduled to tour the complex on December 23 en route to his Christmas holiday in Hawaii.
Still, MGM Mirage faces other challenges with CityCenter, which adds about 6,000 new hotel rooms to a market that already has 141,000 and has seen occupancy reside in the low 80% range for most of 2009.
The Las Vegas economy has suffered its worst downturn since gambling was legalized in the 1930s. Visitation slumped to 35 million in 2009, down from a record 39,2 million in 2007 and the destination's lowest count since 1999.
Room rates now average R718 per night, 23% lower than the 2008 average, according to data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. And 2008 was 10% below 2007.

So, it is quite evident that the hospitality industry is taking strain, and South Africa is no exception. All the more reason to have a profesional marketing campaign up your sleeve.

Talking to a few local guesthouse owners and hotel managers recently, it is evident that they are a tenacious lot and are optimistic about occupancy rates for the near future.

"Bring them on, I say."

Is There Life After 2010?

Sebb’s circus has come and gone, your bottom line is not looking as rosy as what you anticipated and you’re fatigued. The medical term for this ailment is: Post FIFA Stress Syndrome or PFSS… Like a deflated party balloon. Whilst not being an ailment that is fatal, irritate me once more and it might just prove to be so.

Many South Africans will be licking their financial wounds and wondering why on earth they over-capitalized on this single major opportunity to make the quick buck. Spare a thought for those who approached their friendly bank managers with this ‘dead-cert’ or those who forfeited their annual holiday to have costly renovations done to their properties in order to cash-in on this cash-cow.

So, where to from here are you asking? Let’s lift ourselves up, dust ourselves off and press on. And it goes without saying, “Always look on the bright side of life.”

It’s going to be the end of July and it will be the perfect time for you to plan your attack while the rest of South Africa is recouping from the dreaded PFSS. Now is the time to call in the marketing specialists to give a candid report on your establishment’s marketing health and how to improve that bottom line.

And ponder: ‘The old girl did need that lick of paint now didn’t she?’

Is there life after 2010? You Betcha.

Rent A Local Friend

Live the local spirit with a local friend!
Experiencing a new town with a local friend makes us feel at home. It brings us the confidence of making the right choices, so we can relax and enjoy the local spirit.

Now, if you don’t have a local friend at your travel destination, you can always rent one!
Your local host will design and propose a personalized itinerary based on cool and charming places to visit, according to your personal interests.