Chapter 4 Supply Analysis | West Coast District

Source: MERO, 2019

Introduction

Stretching from Blaauwberg in the south to in the north, the West Coast District region comprises 44 small towns along the southwestern coast of the .

It lays claim to a variety of unique experiences, and the region is well known for its turquoise ocean, rugged coastline, farmlands and world-renown annual wildflowers.

The West Coast District is easily accessible from Cape Town starting just 20 minutes outside of the central business district. The R27 is its primary access route and passes many of the top visitor attractions. Most of which are within a two-hour drive of Cape Town.

1 Destination positioning

The West Coast has positioned itself from a regional and local tourism perspective as an ideal place to enjoy outdoor activities such as birding and kiteboarding. A place to experience and celebrate culture and history at attractions such as !Khwa ttu and the

West Coast Fossil Park. Or by experiencing the Mission Station route that connects

Mamre, Goeverwacht, Wittewater, , Ebenhaezer, and . The West

Coast is world-renowned for its blooming wildflowers during August and September. One can also wander along the wine routes to taste some of the most innovative and exciting wines coming out of the province.

A review of over 300 000 online conversations worldwide (Jan – Dec 2017), showed that outdoor activities and relaxation and wellness dominated conversation volume, with food and culinary coming in third in terms of the West Coast.

Jan – Dec 2018 TSI information due from Wesgro

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Source: TSI, 2019

West Coast tourism assets that received the most online conversations related to the beach, shoreline and nature photography.

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Source: TSI, 2019

Attractions and experiences

A breakdown on the tourism services and assets from the regional tourism profiles indicated that natural attractions and purpose-built attractions are currently the biggest drawcards to the area.

4 % Breakdown of Attractions and Experiences in the West Coast

16%

41%

25%

4% 15%

Natural Attractions Historial Attractions Events Purpose Built Attractions Routes

Source: Regional Tourism Profiles, 2019

Tourism Attractions Audit

A study was conducted on ten tourist attractions in the region, to gain a better understanding of the current product offering and to help identify possible opportunities to help grow the area.

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Name of Type of Annual Adult % % % % Openin Close Dwe Full Part

attraction Attraction Visitors Admission Adu Chil domest internation g times d ll time time

Fee lt d ic al days time

(hrs)

Khwa ttu Historical 19 872 No entry 70% 30% 75% 25% 9-5pm 0 3,5 32 10

attraction fee, R180

per tour

West Coast Fossil Historical 14 477 R 46% 54% 89% 11% 8-5pm 0 2 15 5

Park attraction 100,00

West Coast Natural 309 467 R 90% 10% n/a n/a 8- 6 0 4 n/a n/a

National Park attraction 83,00 pm

Bird Island Natural 13 047 R 91% 9% 99% 1% 7:30 - 0 2 n/a n/a

Lamberts Bay attraction 50,00 6pm

6 Natural 37 932 R 92% 8% 99% 1% open 0 8 n/a n/a

Wilderness Area attraction 70,00 access

Thali Thali Game Purpose 1 800 R 50% 50% 50% 50% 9-9pm 0 5 18 2

Lodge built 300,00

attraction

(animas)

Buffelsfontein Purpose 50 000 R 70% 30% 30% 70% 8-5pm 0 3 25 5

Game Park built 400,00

attraction

(animals)

Darling Brew Purpose 20 000 R 75% 25% 85% 15% 10- 0 1,5 5 25

built 55,00 5pm

attraction

(cuisine)

Darling Olives Purpose 4 255 R n/a n/a n/a n/a 9-4pm. 1 1 3 0

built 40,00

7 attraction

(cuisine)

Audit outcome

• The attractions audited draw 470 850 visitors annually. The West Coast National Park attracted 309 000 visitors, accounting for

65% of annual arrivals to the region in 2018.

• The West Coast National Park receives most of their visitors during the spring flower season.

• Most attractions draw mainly adults as visitors. West Coast Fossil Park brings a mix of adults and children.

• There are no attractions that act as huge drawcards for children.

• Many of the visitors to the attractions are domestic visitors (aside from the game parks).

• The primary visitor attractions in the region are all open daily.

• Dwell time on site is high, with most attractions occupying visitors for upwards of 2 hours. This dwell time is appropriate for a

region that currently mainly draws day visitors. Time needs to be allocated for driving to and from the destination.

• All attractions are open seven days a week.

• There are few targeted activity experiences; most activities offered are specialist experiences and are self-managed (e.g.

kitesurfing).

8 • Aside from the game farm activities, entry fees are under R100. Note; SANParks has a dual pricing system in place for West

Coast National Park.

Audit segmentation

Hi quality experience Is experience really hi Sweet-spot? quality? Capacity Mgt Marketing Expectation Mgt Research

Lo visitor Hi visitor numbers numbers

Why are we here? Invest in ? experience

Lo quality experience

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Definition of quadrants

• High quality/low visitor numbers: Attractions in this quadrant need to explore why their visitor numbers are small. Investment in

marketing and awareness of the attraction is required.

• High-quality experience/high visitor numbers: Attractions in this quadrant need to ensure they manage capacity issues. Poor

capacity management will adversely affect the visitor experience and over time, result in visitor expectations not being met.

Attractions in this quadrant are a flagship or iconic attractions and can act as drawcards for the region.

• Low-quality experience/high visitor numbers: Attractions in this quadrant need to invest in the visitor experience. The

relatively high visitor numbers despite poor experience often mask the real demand for the experience. Investment into the

experience results in increased visitor numbers thus contributing to the bottom line.

• Low-quality experience/low visitor numbers: Attractions in this quadrant need to ask themselves whether they wish to be in

the attractions industry or remain a hyper-niche experience. If the former, they need to invest in the experience in a scientific

way. If the latter, they need to ensure their experience remains a good quality niche product.

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Source: DEDAT, 2019

Opportunities and Gaps | Finding the sweet spot

To attract visitors throughout the year to the West Coast, investment and promotion of attractions that have a strong brand, can attract visitors, are unique, have shown longevity and have a strong enough value proposition that they can be recognised nationally will be necessary. This approach will help develop a tourism node that has a pull value for the West Coast. The spin-off of increased visitor numbers will filter through to the smaller attractions and experiences.

12 Source: DEDAT, 2019

Sweet Spot 1: Natural Attractions

From shoreline to mountainous areas, the region offers a mecca for adventure sports lovers. There is no specific attraction built around adventure sports, but there are many festivals and self-managed experiences that are available. and its surrounds are internationally renowned for kiteboarding.

The West Coast National Park, Cederberg Wilderness Area, Cape Columbine Nature Reserve and Bird Island in Lamberts Bay offer opportunities for visitors to hike, do birding, camp and take boat cruises.

The Gap

Seasonality.

Seasonality impacts all these nature-based activities which attract and appeal to both international and domestic visitors.

Parks are also losing their appeal to the younger generation, and natural attractions need to find ways to engage the younger traveller and great a highly compelling reason to visit.

The opportunity

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Seeburg, West Coast National Park, SA Venues-com

Become one of the most sought Instagram-able places in the world. The Seeburg Lookout Point gives superb views of Langebaan and the lagoon. The landscape is unique to the West Coast. With some investment into an observational experience, Seeburg

Lookout Point can create an opportunity for a visually arresting reason to go there any time of the year to take photographs. Further opportunities exist to help curate experiences within the park to ensure that visitors stop and stay longer, e.g. upscale the children's play area at Geelbek.

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Driving geographic spread

The opportunity now exists to encourage these visitors who have taken the time to leave the R27 and enter the park further up the coast to Bird Island in Lamberts Bay. This site has several very positive attributes including a unique viewing deck (observational experience)

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Source: https://adamastorbacchus.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-cape-gannets-of-bird-island.html

Sweet Spot 2 Heritage Attractions

The West Coast has two distinct, unique heritage sites that can gain national recognition. They are the West Coast Fossil Park and

!Khwa ttu San Heritage Centre. Both can appeal to all ages of travellers. The Artists Journey, which is part Cradle of Human Culture 16 Route (https://www.cradleofhumanculture.co.za), connects these two attractions with other attractions of cultural importance in the region.

The gap

Low visitor numbers.

The opportunity

Both attractions offer curated authentic visitor experiences that allows for good dwell time. The opportunity is to market these experiences as a major drawcard for the region, something that no other place can offer. Position them as bucket list experiences.

A further opportunity then exists for geographic spread, as visitors look at going further into the region to follow the Artists Journey.

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Source: Wesgro, 2018

18 Sweet spot 3: Purpose built gastronomical attractions

The region offers unique gastronomical products such as , fresh fish, citrus fruit, and roosterkoek as well as

traditional South African Padstals that can offer gastronomical experiences unique to the region and accessible to all budgets,

ages and time frames.

The gap

The West Coast has an abundance of unique gastronomical products but these are difficult to access and are not show cased

in a consistent and meaningful way.

The opportunity

Purpose-built attractions such as the farmers' markets, the internationally acclaimed Wolfgat Restaurant and the Paternoster

Fish Market already provide hyperlocal experiences which appeal to both the domestic and international visitors.

Other opportunities include:

• Focus on the unique culinary experience of Rooibos Tea and elevate it into a hyperlocal food experience. The tea is already

exported and has awareness globally and is associated with wellness. Rooibos farming, tastings, food and beverages need to

be elevated to become core, unique, year-round purpose-built experiences.

19 • Wolfgat Restaurant, which received international recognition in February 2019, when it was voted Best Restaurant in the World,

offers a one-of-a-kind experience. Named after the nearby Wolfgat Cave, an archaeological wonder containing remnants

of ancient culture, it links seamlessly with the heritage attraction opportunity for the region.

• The success of private investments such as Darling Brew, which draws 20 000 visitors a year highlights the opportunity to expand

from a brewery into an attraction that offers tasting, dining and a children's play area. There are several suitable sites in Darling

that can be purpose-built to attract the domestic visitor for longer than a day. Investing and packaging some of the small

food producers (e.g. cheese, olives, sweets and wine) can form a culinary highlight for the region.

• The Strandveld culinary experience is unique to the region and should be a bucket list experience. Surprisingly there are very

few culinary experiences in that showcase the traditional use of an open fire (braai).

20 The legendary Argentinian chef, Francis Mallmann brought Patagonia style cooking on open fires to the world's attention, creating desirability and interest to travel to Argentina to experience this style of food.

Tourism Nuclei

Primary: West Coast Flower Season, Kiteboarding, Wolfgat, Cederberg ( for a niche market)

Secondary: West Coast National Park

Tertiary: Darling Brew, !Khwa ttu, West Coast Fossil Park, Bird Island Lamberts Bay, Darling Olives, Thali Thali, Buffelsfontein

Conclusion

• The sound arterial road system, the R27 and N7 draws visitors to most of the region's attractions.

• Rather than a single dominant tourist site in the region, the opportunity exists to create and highlight a range of experiences

that form a narrative about the uniqueness of the West Coast District.

• The international interest in Wolfgat Restaurant can be used to showcase the food from the West Coast. There is an

opportunity to leverage off the uniqueness of West Coast hyperlocal food experiences such as Rooibos Tea, roosterkoek and

seafood. The trend is toward local unique food experiences.

• Many small attractions clutter the offering, and too few are of a high enough standard to act as unique drawcards.

21 • Amplify hyperlocal cultural heritage experiences. Khwa ttu is a unique, high quality, family-friendly experience centred

around San Heritage.

• Opportunities exist to invest in an 'observational experience" - that attracts visitors of all ages and is open all year round. This

could be ideal as a vantage point during flower season. West Coast National Park and Bird Island would be two sites suitable

for this.

• Darling provides a range of high-quality gastronomic experiences and could become a node for gastro-tourism.

• There is an opportunity to provide attractions that offer activities and safe play areas geared towards children.

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