Tourism News

- Zelia Mullins -

The new Executive Committee (EXCO) of the Prince Albert Tourism Association held its first meeting on Wednesday, 29 August 2007 and is pleased to announce that the following positions have been filled:

Chairperson - Bokkie Botha
Vice Chairperson - Charles Roux
Head of Marketing - Charles Roux
Head of Development - Lisa Smith
Head of Finances - Mark Steyn

Other EXCO members are Di Steyn, Mariette van Schalkwyk and Michael Upton. There is a good mix of both "old" and new members on the new committee. Some of the "old" members have served on the EXCO before and therefore know the ropes while the new members will bring fresh ideas to the table.

The EXCO would like to thank the outgoing EXCO for all that they did and achieved during the past year especially in securing funding from the Prince Albert Local Municipality and also for the establishment of good relationships with Central Karoo District Municipality.

An important decision already taken by the EXCO will be to review the Constitution and to encourage total member support for the adoption of a new constitution. It is also their intention to do the best for all the Association’s membership and also to recruit new members. They would like to emphasise that this will be a member focused organisation and that they will not take a legalistic point of view.

Some of the objectives set by the EXCO at their first meeting will be to gain the confidence and support of all members; to develop a marketing plan; to develop sustainable tourism ventures in all sectors of the community and to ensure the financial viability of the tourism office.

The new EXCO Chairperson, Bokkie Botha, told the Friend that he felt that “We should still be aiming to attract more visitors to Prince Albert for longer periods of time.

We need to promote our wide open spaces, our remarkable town characters, and the unique events like the Matriek Afskeid, the Agricultural Show, the Fees, as examples.”

He suggested that Prince Albert’s unusual venues such as Gay’s Barn, Bergwater Cellars, and the church halls, could potentially host additional events and also believed that activities, which are becoming more popular in society generally - e.g. bird watching, rock climbing, chess, winter training activities, such as art courses and cookery courses – could provide niche tourism possibilities for our town.

Bokkie commented that he and his fellow EXCO members looked forward to the challenges ahead and were determined to work hard and also have fun!