The new Board of Cape Town Routes Unlimited (CTRU) at its inception on 20 June 2007 was faced with a notice of withdrawal by the City of Cape Town. Accoridng to CTRU, since then the Board has done everything in its power, not only to…
The new Board of Cape Town Routes Unlimited (CTRU) at its inception on 20 June 2007 was faced with a notice of withdrawal by the City of Cape Town. Accoridng to CTRU, since then the Board has done everything in its power, not only to address the concerns raised by the City, but all of the other issues that the Board felt required to be addressed in CTRU.
Alongside these efforts the Board has kept in touch with key officials of the City including Executive Mayor Helen Zille and Councilor Simon Grindrod with the view to getting them to show confidence in the Board and withdraw the notice.
Following these efforts the Board was advised that the Mayoral Committee took a decision earlier today (19th September) to “suspend” the notice it had given CTRU on 29 June 2007. According to the original notice the City was to discontinue its funding of the organisation by July 2008.
“While the Board of CTRU appreciates this gesture of the City, it is of the view that it does not materially change the current status. A mere suspension of the notice does not provide the certainty and stability that the Board requires in order to strengthen this institution. CTRU needs to be a “going concern” if it is to attract and retain the caliber of human resources needed to deliver on its mandate as well as to win the confidence of stakeholders and suppliers both locally and internationally,” stated CTRU.
As a result the Board of CTRU is left with no other option at this stage but to seek a sustainable model for Cape Town Routes Unlimited to continue without the funding of the City of Cape Town. To this end the Board will be considering all possible options urgently.
“The Board and several stakeholders maintain that the tourism interests of Cape Town and the Western Cape are and will be best served by a single, effective destination marketer, which is also the model of global best practice. Thus CTRU will continue to market Cape Town and the Western Cape as a choice destination in an extremely competitive global market. It will remain one of our main efforts to continue working at bringing the City back on board,” George Uriesi, Chairperson of the CTRU Board, said.
“Our immediate priority now is the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. With less than 1 000 days to go, the CTRU team is 100% focused on ensuring that this golden opportunity is fully exploited for the benefit of Cape Town and the Western Cape before, during and after the tournament,” Uriesi said.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
