"LOOK, what do you want from me? Listen lady, look it up in the phone book, I have a hundred things to do," was the response from a switchboard operator at the South African National Museums in Cape Town following an abortive attempt by Travel Now to discover the telephone number of what has the potential of becoming one of South Africa's leading attractions - the Castle Good Hope.
Built in the 17th century, it is one of the country's oldest buildings and will soon emerge from lengthy renovations which have taken some 30 years to complete. Travel Now was interested to follow up on how things were progressing and an initial phone call to architect, Gawie Fagan, had alerted us to the fact that the Castle's future as a major tourist attraction may be in jeopardy because of dwindling numbers of visitors.
Given our later experiences, it hardly seemed surprising.
We had initially been told by Telkom's 1023 service that its number was not listed. Then came the rude retort from National Museums. But we soldiered on and a request was made to be put through to the marketing department. This landed us with an answering service which thankfully yielded a cell phone number. Having left a message, we soon, however, received a prompt and friendly response.
But the frustrating experience begs the question, 'Is this the kind of response that South Africa's much-needed international tourists will receive, if -in fact - they have the tenacity to battle through?'
Fagan believes that Travel Now's experience is the very reason that visitors are staying away.
"It's (the Castle) definitely not listed as a separate entity in the phone book, but rather falls under the Defence Department. What international tourist is even going to think of looking there?" he asks.
Furthermore, according to him, the marketing is handled in a joint venture by the state-owned SA Museums and the Defence Department.
"These people are trying their best, but they don't know enough about marketing and advertising to sophisticated international markets."
Another visitor frustration has most certainly been the constant renovations, he added, with scaffolding, corrugated iron sheeting and builders creating an ugly sight.
All is on track for a May completion - with only the De Kat balcony and the main entrance still needing minor work.
Fagan says that the Castle's new wine shop is also a step in the right direction and more of these kinds of shops are needed.
The Castle's public relations officer, Loret Oberholzer, agrees that a lot more could be done to market the attraction, but says the bureaucracy, red tape and limited budget involved within any government project is considerably slowing things down.
"But we do advertise in a number of overseas and local publications."
Oberholzer further states that plans are under way to establish a Castle website, as well as give it its own corporate identity. A designated tourist map is also being produced highlighting its historical aspects.
"Unfortunately, everything has to be approved by the Castle Control Board which consists of a number of role-players, including the Ministry of Defence, the Western Cape and Cape Town tourism authorities and the National Museum Council. This delays things for months on end.
"Budget constraints are a major concern as we have to generate our own funds from entry fees and if we don't get visitors we don't have money to market, so it's a bit of a Catch 22 situation."
(Adele Mackenzie)
