GEORGE NEWS - The Eden District Municipality and local tourism bureaus are going to promote the Garden Route and Klein Karoo at a series of intensive tourism workshops in Japan.
The workshops are coordinated by the South African Tourism office in Asia and will be held in Osaka and Tokyo at the end of July. Provincial and regional tourism organisations will engage with tourism trade in the two cities over a period of three days.

Strike while the iron is hot
Eden spokesperson Kelvin Vollenhoven says this is a valuable networking opportunity. "The workshops will enable us to showcase our product offering and ca-pitalise on the media exposure generated by the Soccer World Cup. We aim to boost the newly gained confidence in our district as a premier tourist destination."

Vollenhoven says between the work sessions, delegates will have the opportunity to set up their own meetings with trade organisations. "Our region will be re-presented by the district tourism office and supported by local tourism bureaus who are in the process of finalising their participation in these trade workshops."

He stresses that while Japan may be a small country, it is home to 127 million people and has a gross domestic product 17 times that of South Africa. "The Japanese tourist market is highly sought after as an emerging tourism market. We are confident that with the recent media focus on the Southern Cape created by the successful hosting of the Japanese national team, now is the time to focus on the immense marketing profile created by the World Cup."

Japanese princess
Meanwhile, former Eden mayor Leon Dorfling recently had the privilege to meet Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado from Japan in person.
Princess Takamado visited South Africa as the honorary patron of the Japanese Football Association and also made time to advance one of her passions in life - conservation.

As honorary president of BirdLife International, a dedicated bird-watcher and a very experienced wildlife photographer, she visited the Marievale Bird Sanctuary and Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve in Gau-teng on 27 June. After a day spent in the bush, Princess Takamado was guest of honour at a gala dinner in Johannesburg hosted by Nedbank and BirdLife SA.
Dorfling was among the 60 distinguished guests and the only representative from the Western Cape.
During dinner the princess expressed her gratitude for the warm welcome that the Japanese team received in George and said that she followed Japanese television inserts on the Southern Cape with great interest.

Dorfling says he made use of the opportunity to invite her to visit the district to experience the beauty of Eden for herself. "I am confident that the Japanese team’s stay at Fancourt will promote sound economic and social ties between Japan and the district as a whole."