Poll position: comment

BRAND Australia is apparently making great progress in raising awareness of Australia and attracting tourists to its shores, making us wonder if the new South Africa brand can make similar waves in our key source markets. We asked you whether you thought that the South Africa brand can convince long-haul travellers to visit the end of Africa, rather than Oz. According to the respondents, 78% said that the South Africa brand is not as well developed as Brand Australia and that our destination will take a few more years of development before it can truly compete with more developed long-haul destinations such as Australia. The other 22% said that the two destinations’ brands are each trying to attract different types of travellers, albeit from the same key source markets, so each one will be successful in its target markets. TNN has received a number of comments from readers about the new appointments of eight new gms at the Destination Marketing Organisation (DMO), particularly following the resignation of Mike Fabricius, DMO coo. Do you think the Western Cape is turning into a case of ‘too many chiefs and not enough Indians’? (Lucy Siebert)