The municipality's tourism logo and branding is soon to be under the knife because it doesn't capture the essence of what Makana has to offer, according to the man in charge.
The municipality's tourism logo and branding is soon to be under the knife because it doesn't capture the essence of what Makana has to offer, according to the man in charge.
Tourism, trade and investment manager Thembinkosi Sindane said they want to give the brand a facelift so that it will appeal more to tourists. “Elements of our offering are wild life, heritage, and festivals. We want to… expand the brand to new markets that we haven’t targeted before.”
The rebranding exercise is going to align Makana Tourism’s look to the national brand which was launched last year, as well as incorporate some elements of the current Makana municipality logo.
Feelers were put out at the beginning of August for the right people to rebrand the area, although Sindane wouldn't divulge how much the tender was worth. He said they hoped to appoint someone soon.
Director of the Makana Tourism office in High Street, Susan Waugh, said the Makana region itself doesn’t feature very highly in the minds of tourists.
Grahamstown is a draw card for the region, she said, as the town is internationally recognised as the festival capital of Africa. However, since the tourism authority represents the entire Makana region (including Alicedale, Riebeeck East and Salem), the new logo and brand would represent all of them.
In addition, there was an initiative launched several years ago to position the area as “Frontier Country”, a logo which continues to be used on Makana Tourism marketing material. “There’s also huge confusion about Frontier Country branding,” Waugh said.
“This was used to promote the destination to British tourists. The question is going to be how this will be integrated into the new logo, if at all.” Waugh said her office’s job is to provide information and promote the region to potential tourists, investors and families looking to relocate to Grahamstown.
“When people hear the name Makana Tourism, they automatically believe that we are part of the municipality and rolling in money but that is not the case. Makana Tourism is a non-profit organisation that is partly funded by the municipality,” she explained.
The winner of the rebranding tender will have to provide a detailed plan of execution as well as a new tagline for the tourism authority. The scope of work also includes designs for the front window of the office in High Street, banners, letterheads, compliment slip, business cards and the look and feel for the website.
The website address for Makana Tourism is currently www.grahamstown.co.za, but if Grahamstown is renamed then this may have to change. “Makana Tourism rebranding will go ahead regardless of whether Grahamstown is renamed,” Sindane said. “The name of the website will change if and when the name of the town changes.”
