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We are in agreement that large local events are held not only to raise the profile of our city but also to attract \u2018foreign\u2019 money into our economy. This injection of \u2018foreign\u2019 money helps to grow our local economy by attracting money from outside of our municipal boundaries into Port Elizabeth. Just stirring the dwindling available money around in the Port Elizabeth pot doesn\u2019t really achieve anything.<\/p>\n
In a recent snap survey sent to 263 accommodation providers, MyPE asked these questions:<\/strong><\/p>\n The results from 31 replies are as follows:<\/strong><\/p>\n How many bed nights have you sold in the past (2011) directly attributable to the Splash Festival?<\/strong><\/p>\n If we are generous and times that by 6 (to represent the number of establishments that didn\u2019t reply then 978 bed nights were sold last year as a DIRECT result of the Splash Festival \u2013 at 3 bed nights per person and an estimated daily spend of R2 000.00 pp that represents R652 000.00 of \u2018foreign\u2019 money into Port Elizabeth.<\/p>\n If the Splash Festival was advertised sooner would your bookings have increased?<\/strong><\/p>\n What types of city wide events result in the most bed nights sold?<\/strong><\/p>\n How can the city improve it\u2019s image?<\/strong><\/p>\n The above are all the comments from all accommodation owners. The recurring thread seems to revolve around security, cleanliness, family friendly attractions and the hosting of large events that occur over more than two days with an international element.<\/p>\n What type of marketing is required to raise our city\u2019s profile?<\/strong><\/p>\n What is the main reason why people visit our city?<\/strong><\/p>\n Some respondents noted more than one reason whilst others didn\u2019t reply. I seem to discern a pattern here \u2013 large sporting events are one of our main attractions \u2013 now if we could combine those with game viewing and some business conferencing on the beachfront we could have the beginnings of a winner!<\/p>\n Which other destination is Port Elizabeth\u2019s main rival?<\/strong><\/p>\n One patriot indicated that we have NO RIVALS \u2013 well done.<\/p>\n The following Accommodation Establishments indicated that they were willing to be identified as having taken part in this survey:<\/strong><\/p>\n You would NOT GO AMISS to book your next accommodation in Port Elizabeth at one of the above \u2013 click on your choice above to BOOK direct and SAVE.<\/p>\n As a firm believer in \u2018good from bad\u2019 I sincerely hope that someone with power and vision will take note and ACTION the results of us few crying in the wilderness as we strive to make Port Elizabeth a shining example of a \u2018better life for all\u2019.<\/p>\n\n
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\n(I believe that NMBT<\/a> is doing as good a job as they can, considering the budget they are given by our darling Municipality). We need international flights landing here \u2013 a few a week. We also need to leverage more off of Nelson Mandela\u2019s name \u2013 he should be the reason why people visit. We need more marketing of cultural tours and experiences as overseas folks love that.<\/li>\n\n
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