Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting was held at Coronation Park on 20th September. A great turnout. Thanks for being there. A review of the past year’s activities was presented together with all the company formalities, the financial report and a quick glace at the way forward.  The new logo was introduced by Board Member Dr Tilly Van Niekerk and was well received.  It was created by artist Herman Kruger of Concept Café.  It combines images and ideas about Barberton having some of the planet’s oldest rocks with the art of Nukain Mabusa and the Barberton Daisy.  If you would like to publicize Barberton and get some snappy new threads at the same time come and buy good quality golf shirts and caps with the new logo. We have them in pillar-box red, navy blue and designer khaki in all sizes.  Available from the Information Centre: caps R60.00, golf shirts R200.00. Special thanks to all who made the AGM such a positive and cheerful event: Staff and all the willing helpers.  Also, thanks to Andre Kinnear for the venue, Bronkie Bronkhorst for the delicious food, African Pioneer Mining for the two spit braais and Ron Ahlers for cleaning them afterwards. Last but not least, to Andrea Botha, Herman Kruger and Jakes Stapleburg for assisting with the event. Anybody who wishes to receive a copy of the BCT Annual Report can collect one at the office or drop us an e-mail and we will send it on. 

Barberton Mines Half Marathon

 On 30th September BCT manned a water point for this event which unfortunately did not attract a huge number of entries.  If you have contacts with running clubs please encourage them for next year. Thanks and well done Essie Esterhuizen and team and good luck to you for keeping this event alive.   If any of you want to join in the fun by manning water points in future events let us know.  We really need support for this event, in cash or in kind, so if anyone wishes to take advantage of this marketing opportunity please call Essie of Gijimas (082 491 2958) for details.

The Selati Afri Cycle Tour - 2nd October 

 This tour is the first of its kind in this country and Mpumalanga Province was chosen to host it. The 3rd stage of this 7 day race was hosted by our town. Bookings for accommodation were made in various establishments over town and also at the high school.  There was huge community involvement, Pieter Ferreira the head of the High school organized his students to give the riders a rousing welcome as they arrived in Barberton. He himself manned the bar at the town hall for the welcome party, Lawrence Reyneke warmed up the proceedings with his one man band which was a huge success. We were the only town to present them with live music and they enjoyed it immensely. Flicka Goslett’s Umjindi Jewellery Project was chosen by the tour organizers to make all the trophies for the event.  Well done Flicka and her great team.  High school students who are studying tourism waited at the tables. The mayor Richard Lukhele welcomed the riders and started the race on it’s 3rd stage the next day.  This was a highly successful event for Barberton. It was enjoyed by the riders and it shows how Barbertonians can pull together to make our town accessible and welcoming to visitors. Sadly no one from Barberton rode in the race, lets see if we can change that next year! 

Publicity for Barberton :

Setting an example

The Co Co Pan was noted as a model of good hospitality by a lecturer in tourism at Tshwane University of Technology, says Astrid Christianson, who is currently completing a course in Responsible Tourism. This positive endorsement from a tourism pro is encouraging and something our product owners should all aspire to.  It all helps put Barberton on the map. If you’re curious to know what the Co Co Pan is doing right, get down there and see what a friendly smile can accomplish.

International Exposure

Our Municipal Manager and Board Member Ms Sibongile Mnisi jetted off to the U. K. as part of the Solace-ilgm learning exchange. Ms Mnisi is one of four municipal managers in South Africa who was selected to participate in the exchange programme.  Fantastic hey!

TV – Pasella

Barberton’s feature on Pasella was broadcast earlier in October than expected, so I hope you saw it.  If anyone who missed it would like to order a copy they can contact Sias at the SABC: 011 714 6959.

General  

Three Barberton gold panners, Dannie Brink (2nd in the veterans), Anne Morgan (2nd in Traditional) and Ivan and Anne (3rd in the 3-man-team), received medals in the South African Gold Panning Association’s Gold Panning Championships held at Pilgrim’s Rest in October.  Competitive gold panning is a world-wide tourism-promoting activity and with our strong links to the old gold-rush days these achievements certainly help to promote Barberton to a wide audience of special-interest visitors.  Well done guys.

The next World Gold Panning Championships will be held in Alaska in October 2007. Hopefully one of our champion panners will be able to compete – Danny Brink’s second in the veterans category earns him a place representing not only Barberton but South Africa. 

We need your news

 This is your newsletter and we at BCT would like it to reflect your interests and concerns. Please give us a call with any news or ideas you would like to share with our tourism and business community. Please also tell us when you know of occasions when Barberton is getting or should be getting into the news. Publicity brings us all customers. 

Workshops: Watch this space

 BCT is planning various tourism workshops designed to help the industry grow through better marketing and understanding the business. Scola is still away but will be presenting a workshop on Grading on her return; also we will be doing talks on the Hospitality Industry in general to prepare for 2010.  Will advise of the dates. 

Get Graded

  All product owners are encouraged to get graded. It is actually essential for any hospitality business, however small, which is serious about success. We know that the price is a deterrent but we are looking at ways of obtaining assistance in this area, so keep in touch. Astrid Christianson and Scola Wankya, our Vice Chairperson who is also a Grading Consultant, can answer your queries.  

New Brochure

 Our previous brochure is now officially out of print. Keep a look out for the new brochure which will be available at the office soon - this time it will be 30 000 copies.  Its production has been complicated by the special deals we were able to obtain, but it looks great and is fantastic value for money. 

Tourism Visitor’s Book

 Take the time to pop in and read the positive comments in our Visitor’s book.  Quotes: “ Super, excellent, helpful, friendly, good information.”     “What a lovely town, thank you for preserving our history.”  “Interesting beautiful place, we’ll be back.” 

Welcome!

 Perhaps the comments above are what has drawn some of the new product owners here.  Welcome to Sue Hicks and Kevin Hollis, the new owners of Fountain Baths, and to Gavin Seady of Digger’s Retreat, and to Danie Smith and Rita Van Kraaienburg at the Cockney Liz.  Also good luck to Monica Mathebula with her new venture of Temaswati Lodge. To all of you, congratulations on your choice of business venue, we are here to help you succeed, please contact us. We can achieve miracles if we pull together.