Toursim offices along the East London beachfront and possibly in Gonubie are on the cards for Buffalo City Metro (BCM).
According to a report tabled before council last week, the metro is already in the process of procuring beachfront space to set up an office.
No further details were available about the “Gonubie/ Kwelera” node, which BCM identified as a “strategic point” for the location of a tourism information office similar to the office already set up in Dimbaza.
BCM spokesman Keith Ngesi said it was unclear when the beachfront office would start operating as the people involved in setting it up were currently “out of the country”.
The report was presented by BCM’s recently established internal tourism entity, which was formed some time after the abrupt closure of Tourism Buffalo City in 2011.
The metro has limped along without a unified tourism organisation or public presence since then.
The internal tourism entity was established at the beginning of last year in a bid to resuscitate BCM tourism. The purpose of the report was to inform council on marketing programmes implemented to position and market BCM as a tourist destination.
Ngesi said the metro planned to lease office space to serve as the main tourism office in addition to the tourism help desk at the East London Airport and tourism information centre in Dimbaza, both of which were set up last year.
In the report, the department also mentions plans to establish another office in Gonubie.
“The office will allow those in the tourism sector to market their products without paying a fee.
“We chose the East London beachfront because it is central, accessible and tourists easily identify with the area,” said Ngesi.
The move was welcomed by the business sector. Border-Kei Chamber of Business executive director Les Holbrook said: “Most tourists automatically presume that the beachfront esplanade is the flagship attraction of the region. It is common sense to have a well-resourced information centre at the beachfront.”
Holbrook also raised concerns about crime along the beachfront and issues of cleanliness.
“Attention must be given to lawlessness. We must also clean the city up and ensure sufficient refuse collection and disposal sites.”
BCM recently erected closed-circuit television cameras along the esplanade to deter crime. — arethal@dispatch.co.za