Cape Town and Western Cape’s Tourism, Trade & Investment Promotion Agency, Wesgro is PATA’s newest government member

BANGKOK, 2016-Nov-12 — /Travel PR News/ — The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is pleased to welcome Wesgro from South Africa as its newest government member. Wesgro is the official Tourism, Trade & Investment Promotion Agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape. The announcement was made by PATA CEO Dr. Mario Hardy at the Association’s annual Aligned Advocacy Dinner in London, UK on Monday November 7, 2016 where the guests included Inge Dykman, Head of Leisure Tourism and Trade, Wesgro.

Their aim is to promote the city and its five surrounding regions: the Cape West Coast, Cape Overberg, Cape Karoo, Garden Route & Klein Karoo and the Cape Winelands to the domestic and international markets.

“As PATA continues to strengthen the tourism links between the continent of Africa and the Asia Pacific region we remain committed to helping destinations in Africa attract greater numbers of international visitors,” said Dr. Hardy. “Wesgro will surely benefit from our in-depth research and insights, human capital development programmes and our busy calendar of conferences and marts as they look to develop a responsible, sustainable and profitable destination.”

Wesgro CEO Tim Harris said, “The Asian market is extremely important and valuable for Cape Town and the Western Cape’s tourism, trade and investment strategy. PATA provides an excellent platform for us to directly engage key stakeholders in this market, learn from them and make Cape Town and the Western Cape a more attractive and accessible destination for them.”

Wesgro offers a wide variety of services to the tourism industry and media such as hosting workshops and coordinating interesting, dynamic joint marketing campaigns with domestic and international partners to promote the province and its towns.

Their marketing team assists with funding and media coverage for local events and provides marketing tool kits in a variety of languages for trade partners. Their strategic Convention Bureau unit offers a specific range of services to promote and expand the Cape’s meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions industry.

Visitors to the dynamic city of Cape Town and the province are invited to explore the five diverse regions of the Western Cape featuring the Cape Karoo’s endless skies, the wine farms in the Cape Winelands, the fishing villages on the Cape West Coast, the markets in the Cape Overberg and the vegetative splendour of the Garden Route and Klein Karoo.

The Cape offers today’s travellers a diverse range of exciting land, sea and air activities including cycling in bike-friendly Cape Town, learning about responsible tourism and sustainability on various working farms in the region, venturing through caves, exploring shipwrecks and enjoying the semi-desert and mountainous landscapes in the region.

Visitors are also invited to experience the rich culture and heritage on offer including Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated. In addition the region’s food reflects the diversity of its people and can be experienced in local townships, unique eateries and five-star restaurants throughout the province.

“There is certainly no shortage of things to do and see in Cape Town and the Western Cape,” added Dr. Hardy.

About PATA

Founded in 1951, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is a not-for profit association that is internationally acclaimed for acting as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism to, from and within the Asia Pacific region. The Association provides aligned advocacy, insightful research and innovative events to its member organisations, comprising 98 government, state and city tourism bodies, 21 international airlines, airports and cruise lines, 68 educational institutions, and hundreds of travel industry companies in Asia Pacific and beyond. Thousands of travel professionals belong to the 40 local PATA chapters worldwide. The chapters organise travel industry training and business development events. Their grassroots activism underpins PATA’s membership of the Global Travel Association Coalition (GTAC), which includes ACICLIAIATA, ICAOWEFUNWTO and the WTTC. The PATAmPOWER platform delivers unrivalled data, forecasts and insights from the PATA Strategic Intelligence Centre to members’ desktops and mobile devices anywhere in the world. PATA’s Head Office has been in Bangkok since 1998. The Association also has official offices or representatives in Beijing, Sydney and London.

Source: Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)