“The KAA really performs on behalf of its membership base, which consists of self catering establishments, B&B’s, guest houses and boutique hotels,” said Colleen. “Because we regularly communicate with the Knysna Municipality on various issues, we have been able to negotiate many beneficial outcomes on behalf of our members such as lowering their municipal accounts by registering more accommodation establishments with the municipality, which resulted in a larger pool of accommodation providers on their database.”

“Our members’ taxes have also been positively affected by the official recognition of establishments with less than eight rooms being in a different category as those with more than eight rooms – a recognition negotiated by the KAA. We also ran an awareness campaign during the recent drought which resulted in a shorter period of punitive tariffs levied on members’ water accounts and we continuously take up issues such as safety and security and the quality of municipal water.”

“And while we’re on the subject of saving our members’ money; we have successfully negotiated discounted rates at various local shops and service providers – exclusively available to KAA members!”

“We are also raising our members’ online profiles through our own website,” Colleen continued. “All our members are added onto the official website, which welcomes more than 2 000 visitors per month with approximately 500 visitors per week, is updated on a monthly basis and has new technology introduced and incorporated as and when it becomes available.”

“Secure bookings can be made through NightsBridge on our website, which accommodates all social media applications and is also now linked to our very own blog promoting the highlights of visiting Knysna and surrounds,” said Colleen. “All KAA members are represented on the website, along with their own webpage.”

“Knysna is perfectly situated as the centre of the Garden Route, from which visitors can easily explore our neighbouring towns of Plettenberg Bay, Wilderness, George, Mossel Bay and Oudtshoorn,” said Colleen. “It only makes sense for tourists to make Knysna their home-base when enjoying all that the Garden Route has to offer and we intend on using all platforms available to us to market our town as such.”

“We are looking forward to welcoming more members to the Knysna Accommodation Association in 2013,” Colleen concluded. “We are collectively responsible for quite a chunk of money flowing into our area and if we all stand together, we will have even more clout when acting on our members’ behalf. But we are not only looking forward to making sure that they reap every benefit available to them – we are looking forward to making sure that visitors choose Knysna as their destination of choice throughout the year ahead, and for many years after that.”

The Knysna Accommodation Association was previously known as the Knysna Brenton Sedgefield Accommodation Association and has actively represented its members in terms of marketing, advertising and promoting its members and the town of Knysna for more than ten years. It has secured its identity as one of the leading, proactive tourism organisations in Knysna and aims to generally enhance and promote the travel and tourism industry of Knysna.

For more information please visit www.travelknysna.com or http://blog.travelknysna.com. Like us on Facebook.com/travelknysna and follow us on Twitter @kaaknysna, or contact us at info@travelknysna.com.

Press release by Jacques Marais, Write Touch Communications, on behalf of Knysna Accommodation Association.