The unifying of Stellenbosch’s wine and tourism sectors has taken a leap forward with this week’s appointment of a general manager for the new Visit Stellenbosch Destination Marketing Organisation (DMO).
With 25 years’ experience within Stellenbosch’s wine and tourism sector, Jeanneret Momberg takes the helm at Visit Stellenbosch immediately, bringing Stellenbosch stakeholders under one umbrella to market Destination Stellenbosch as a leading tourism and experience centre in the Western Cape and South Africa.
“This is the first time in the history of Stellenbosch that the destination’s wide-ranging base of stakeholders is coming together in such a powerful way. My interest is and always will be Stellenbosch. As such, I am excited to bring together all our stakeholders to leverage their respective strengths for the mutual promotion of the destination,” says Ms Momberg, who has been the general manager of Middelvlei Wines since 2005, and the deputy chair of the Stellenbosch Wine Routes.
Visit Stellenbosch is the new DMO unifying all Stellenbosch tourism stakeholders under one umbrella, with the objective to grow the tourism and experience economy in Stellenbosch for the benefit of all communities.
Says Mike Ratcliffe, chairman of Stellenbosch Wine Routes and Visit Stellenbosch co-chair: “Together, we are stronger. By uniting the efforts, expertise and resources of wine and tourism, we will unlock the incredible potential that Destination Stellenbosch has.
“With the appointment of Jeanneret as the new GM of Visit Stellenbosch, we have someone who has experience in both wine and tourism. She is ideally placed to build on the good work already done by all organisations involved in the promotion of Stellenbosch.”
Executive mayor of Stellenbosch, Gesie van Deventer, believes the strategic alignment of stakeholders under the Visit Stellenbosch umbrella brand will unlock the destination’s tourism potential. “Visit Stellenbosch will enhance our national and international image, and create opportunities for our communities to thrive,” she says.
David Frost, CEO of SATSA, the association which represents the interests of the inbound tourism private sector in South Africa, has welcomed Ms Momberg’s appointment and the establishment of a Visit Stellenbosch DMO unifying stakeholders under one brand.
“I am impressed with the new focused trajectory that this new unified DMO brings to Destination Stellenbosch and am enthused to be working with Visit Stellenbosch and the wine and tourism stakeholders in the destination to position Stellenbosch as a destination of choice,” says Mr Frost.
Centralising the operational functions and resources of Stellenbosch stakeholders in wine, tourism, food and business, among other sectors, Visit Stellenbosch’s long-term tourism plan is aimed at improving service excellence, driving tourism innovation and enhancing experience for guests.
A further core focus, says Mr Ratcliffe, is a determined social economic development drive for job creation and skills development.
“Stellenbosch is globally known as a place where people come to discover, learn, create, start up, launch and bring into being. With Visit Stellenbosch, we will make Stellenbosch a living tourism laboratory where we can pilot, test and implement innovative and scalable high-impact solutions to tackle pressing social and economic issues,” says Mr Ratcliffe, who jointly chairs the Visit Stellenbosch steering committee with Jan Scannell, chairman of former tourism body Stellenbosch 360.
“Visit Stellenbosch is the ideal launchpad to bolster and expand the work that has been done to build an extensive international tourism network for Stellenbosch that is centred around community development,” says Mr Scannell.
“It is our firm belief that by concentrating our efforts on driving awareness and demand for Stellenbosch together, as wine and tourism, we can attract more visitors, increase tourism spend and positively impact the lives of our communities through job creation,” says Ms Momberg.
“Tourism will be a force for good.”