Veteran marketing guru bids farewell to Satour

"THE man is a walking encyclopedia" says South African Tourism's (Satour) former chief executive officer, Stewart Lumka of outgoing international marketing manager, Dale Pretorius, who retires from the organisation at the end of this month. Anyone who has had anything remotely to do with the South African tourism industry over the past 25 years will, without a doubt, have some time crossed paths with Pretorius, one of its most colourful, likeable and often controversial characters. Lumka mirrors the feeling of many key stakeholders that it is unlikely that Satour will, for a very long time, be able to pick the brains of anyone with such a depth of industry knowledge and wisdom as Pretorius. He has marketed SA on every continent, been a familiar face at all the world's major exhibitions for decades - this year's ITB was his 14th - and Satour's own Indaba will never seem quite the same again without him. Pretorius has had a long and illustrious career with Satour and he leaves as its longest serving senior employee. Just last year, he passed a typical sardonic, throwaway comment to an uninitiated member of the press when asked what Satour thought of the niche marketing of partner swapping packages to SA out of the UK. His reply was duly quoted verbatim as official comment. For those who know him, it was pure, vintage, unadulterated Pretorius - but the story ran like wildfire around the world and it is one that will plague his roguish reputation for many years to come. A private person and not one to talk easily about his many significant achievements, Travel Now has - nevertheless - discovered a little about what makes him tick. This is what he had to say: * Your work history in a nutshell? "I worked for Scandinavian Airlines prior to starting with Satour on 1 June 1975 and within two weeks found myself heading up the New York office, with my wife and family in tow. We lived in Scarsdale. The US connection is still strong as I have two children living and working there. My youngest son is here in SA working as an executive chef at one of the country's newest hotels - I forget the name. I was responsible for starting up Satour's conference bureau, then I was appointed international marketing manager first for the Americas, then Australia, Asia, Europe - and then the whole world!" * What was your most exciting time at Satour? "Last year, helping put together the marketing partnership strategy and funding process." * What has been your most important challenge? "To get the international marketing campaign off the ground." * Your most important achievement? "Other than surviving five restructurings? Getting the US market off the ground when I took up my first position with Satour in New York. I was there with my family from 1975-84 and until sanctions were put on in 1982, I managed to grow it to where it surpassed all others to become SA's number two primary market." * Your biggest frustration? "When Satour's marketing budgets were slashed between 1995-97, which virtually paralysed the organisation." * Where do you see Satour headed? "Satour is first and foremost a marketing organisation as opposed to the large administrative body it has become. A lot of its functions can be outsourced to leave a core lean, mean machine. It's good news that the board will be reduced to a maximum of about nine members as of next month. It will make a hell of a difference." * What are your future plans? "I'm taking up a position with Value South Africa on May 1 as its marketing man responsible for the UK and the US." (Southern African Tourism Update - April 2000)