Bitou leading way for future says tourism chief
While nationwide lockdown regulations have brought the hospitality industry to a standstill, Plettenberg Bay’s tourism body is not sitting idle with many projects running in the background to ensure a safe return when the time arrives.
So says Plett Tourism chief executive Marius Venter, who revealed last week that one of the initiatives it has been involved in to ensure a successful transition has been humanitarian relief.
“I have been asked why, as a tourism organisation, we are playing a role in feeding people. Apart from the humanitarian considerations, from my many years of experience working all around the world, I have seen that all disasters have a common challenge: when people go hungry they revert to crime and looting to feed their families which would cause a great deal of harm to our reputation as a peaceful low-crime tourism destination,” Venter said.
As a result, Plett Tourism has played a major role in a collective effort to feed 10 000 people every day with almost 500 000 meals distributed to date.
“Our Covid-19 response team continue to work hard to make sure we have adequate resources to have enough food to produce 10 000 meals a day for the next 90 days,” he said. “As Plett Tourism we are here to actively support and assist with the implementation of these initiatives.”
Venter revealed that over the past three weeks the organisation has also had several high-level discussions with Bitou Municipality and the Plett Business Chamber to evaluate the potential and explore ways to bring financial relief to businesses in Bitou.
“As Plett Tourism, while we are primarily concerned about the financial wellbeing and future of our hospitality industry, we recognise that in order for our hospitality industry to prosper, it is essential that all other businesses in Plett which contribute to our economy also prosper and we feel the need to embrace the bigger picture and to play a constructive role in all fields of our town.”
Read more in this week’s Knysna-Plett Herald on Thursday 5 June.
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Source: Knysna Plett Herald News