 Cape Town | Western Cape | Gateway to Southern Africa |
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 Last year must have been the Year of Facebook (and other social networking websites) which saw millions of people creating their own personal spaces on the Internet to share with the world. Adding and editing content and photos on the internet is now part of daily life for many. (So if you still feel intimidated by it, you shouldn't have to look far for help.) Last year also saw CapeInfo re-introducing online editing of directory content by advertisers. And now we have introduced The Guest Book (so customers can have their say too) and an Affiliate program so almost everyone can benefit from getting more businesses online. The number of businesses from other provinces and neighbouring states that joined our directory grew dramatically and CapeInfo is now indeed a gateway to southern Africa.
 2007 was not a kind year. Doing the right thing never seems to have had quite as much meaning! It was a challenging and bruising year at personal and business levels but one thing stands out – CapeInfo is set up to grow. Throughout 2007, more than one new application was either added or upgraded every month. That's a lot to learn! But the technology now supporting CapeInfo means that we can grow and deliver the kind of service we always wanted to deliver. Over the holidays, we upgraded 1350 directory pages and ±300 editorial pages. There's still some way to go but the end of this massive upgrade is in sight. Bandwidth restrictions are also a thing of the past and not cause for trepidation when we see 1Gig of bandwidth being used in a single day. Traffic means more visitors for our advertisers and a growing band of readers! Few comparable websites have as many visitors reading as many pages. The upgraded events calendar and a proximity search and new page layout with locational maps for the directory will be completed soon. MUCH of the debate in last year's newsletters was about Cape Town Routes Unlimited and its future. It has become a tiresome subject, yet it is common to destinations everywhere. As Cape Town Tourism (with elected private sector leadership) has grown from strength to strength, CTRU seems to have become even more bogged down. Of course, this is nothing new. If one looks back exactly ten years ago, exactly the same scenario played out between the old Western Cape Tourism Board and the old Cape Town Tourism. The tenure of CTRU's current board, appointed with such high hopes, has only some two months to run with seemingly little achieved over the past year. Yes, sorting out corporate governance issues did take up much of their time, but this is an indictment of past boards and management. The marketing advisory committee only met last week for the first time. The City of Cape Town decided to withdraw its 50%+ funding of CTRU from the new financial year, subject to a review of its tourism strategy. One option the City may consider is retaining aspects of CTRU's services where they are doing a good job. But any future funding will be through selective participation at a reduced financial cost to the City. This is yet to go to the relevant portfolio committee, Mayco and Council. CapeInfo's view is that CTRU is now seriously marginalised and needs to work very hard to earn its stripes. As Destination Marketing guru, Roger Carter, said: "DMO's have no God-given right to exist." CTRU now needs to prove theirs; a Provincial Tourism Act is not enough. For now, we're betting on Cape Town Tourism as the organisation of choice – their mandate needs to be recast.  Nothing counts more than what customers, guests and clients think and say about any business. Have you experienced exceptional service or been wowed by a destination? Well now you can write a review about any business in CapeInfo's directory. Business owners would do well to get satisfied guests or customers to write reviews, adding to information and insight that will be useful to readers. Reviews need to be approved by the respective business owner before they go online, and the business has the facility to reply to any review. NOTE: Businesses with existing content need to have registered on the website and "claimed" their content in order to do this. Click here to find out how.  Joining our Affiliate Program is an easy way to make some spare cash, with little effort. Ja, ja, you've heard that one before, but this time it is true! CapeInfo's new directory system has almost unlimited capacity and versatility and we must grow our content to serve visitors better. We're keen to include businesses from all provinces and neighbouring states since we already have so many upcountry accommodation establishments listed. Accommodation establishments will benefit by getting other attractions in their area to list in the directory. When visitors decide where to go, they are looking for more than just a place to lay their heads, they are also looking for destinations with great dining and activities, places of interest and unique local shopping. Since these establishments usually refer visitors to these places, it should be relatively easy for them to encourage others to help promote the destination. You don't have to be an accommodation owner to participate, anyone can. Do you know of great businesses that others will benefit from knowing about? Then get them to list. There is also huge scope for factory shops, eateries and kids activities & shops. This is the information we always get asked for.
Click here to read how simple it is, become an affiliate and get started. If you have friends who may be interested, do forward this email to them too.  The 14th World Travel Awards for 2007 – the world's most comprehensive travel awards, voted by travel agents worldwide – shows no surprises:
The southern tip of Africa is on top!  If you have content on CapeInfo, this is for you! It is essential that you register online and "claim" your page. CapeInfo has a new directory system and this is needed in order to do the following:
To start editing your directory page, you need to register at capeinfo.com (top left hand side of the page) and then "claim" your content (bottom of your directory page). There is more comprehensive information which we urge you to read in our Forum & Help section. If you have questions, please ask them there so others can share the answers. Share this article Warning: include() [function.include]: URL file-access is disabled in the server configuration in /home/capeinfo/public_html/news/capeinfo/jan08.php on line 353 Warning: include(http://capeinfo.co.za/nav/social.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found in /home/capeinfo/public_html/news/capeinfo/jan08.php on line 353 Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening 'http://capeinfo.co.za/nav/social.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/capeinfo/public_html/news/capeinfo/jan08.php on line 353 Your comments:
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