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Southern Spoor Marketing celebrates 20 years in business this year and in honour of this anniversary, will focus on several new initiatives.
Southern Spoor was established in 1999 with a portfolio of nine privately owned properties in South Africa. It is one of Africa’s leading hospitality marketing enterprises, and represents a collection of privately owned hospitality venues throughout South Africa, and a selection of hotels, resorts and game lodges in Kenya.
Southern Spoor Supports will be launched next year to give back to the hospitality industry by assisting a young woman to develop her career in hospitality through an annual bursary. “We are looking to support a young woman who is deeply passionate about the hospitality industry, but who does not have the means to cover the cost of tuition,” says Anita Foxcroft, Founder of Southern Spoor Marketing.
In the long-term, the company would also like the properties in its portfolio to embrace this initiative by providing an opportunity for training or employment.
Another initiative − Southern Spoor Select − is due to be launched before the end of the year. It will offer a range of ad hoc marketing services that will be available to privately owned, boutique properties that are looking for short-term assistance and guidance for their products as an alternative to entering into long-term retainer-based contracts.
The offering will include services such as hourly based consultations, short-term contracts, once-off industry-specific newsletters to a qualified database, once-off local and international sales trips, trade fair assistance, brand development, and marketing and sales plans.
“While we do recommend ongoing sales and marketing, we do appreciate that many properties have limited budgets and resources, but would still like to make use of our expertise, industry knowledge and contacts,” says Foxcroft.
The company has also welcomed two new staff members to the team: Valerie Streicher and Annemarie Lexow. Streicher will manage Southern Spoor’s database and undertake special sales research and projects. She worked for the company a few years ago handling the reservations on behalf of a property. “Valerie is extremely strong administratively, very accurate, a hard worker and a pleasure to work with, and I did not hesitate to re-employ her,” says Foxcroft.
Lexow has taken up the role of account executive and will be managing travel agent, wholesaler, PCO and corporate accounts.
“My team and I would like to extend a sincere thank-you to our properties, and the travel industry, for their ongoing support over the last 20 years. We look forward to continuing building on our partnerships and contributing to the growth and success of the East and South African tourism sectors,” concludes Foxcroft.
Source: tourismupdate.co.za
