About Johannesburg Tourism Company

Johannesburg Tourism Company (JTC) was established in April 2003 by the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) with the aim of increasing the economic value of tourism, through the growing of the business tourism market, improving the visitor access to information and through the marketing of the attractions of the City to as wide a cross section of potential tourists as possible.

In this sense, JTC must play a pivotal role in stimulating and increasing the value of tourism and employment opportunities in the Johannesburg Tourism economy.

The mandate of JTC establishes it as the official Destination Marketing Organisation (DMO) of the City of Johannesburg, to promote and position Johannesburg as the destination of choice for business tourism (i.e. conferences, exhibitions, trade show investment and major international events) and to leverage leisure tourism benefits off increased business tourism activity.

The business plan for the 2009/2012 takes cognizance of the fact that tourism is acknowledged as the fastest and most cost effective creator of sustainable jobs in the economy and Johannesburg has tremendous growth potential in this area.

The Vision and Mission

Vision

The Vision is for Johannesburg to be recognized as Africa´s leading business tourism destination, globally.

Mission and Mandate

The Mission of JTC is to implement experience based destination and tourism marketing and manage demand-driven tourism development programmes in order to achieve the tourism growth objectives all of which are aimed at ensuring:

shared and sustainable economic growth and development in the city

The transformation of tourism sector within the city

A bridging of the gap and ultimately eliminating the second economy.

JTC has introduced a structure plan for the organisation in order to streamline functions and improve efficiencies. In terms of service delivery currently the company has three operational departments, viz. The Events, Convention and Marketing Bureau, the Visitor Services´ Bureau and Finance and Corporate Governance.

The Convention and Events Bureau

The Convention and Events Bureau focuses on 2 areas of activity:

• To attract through a bidding and tendering process major international conferences, conventions, exhibitions and events to be hosted in Johannesburg. The aim is to attract increasing numbers of business tourists to Johannesburg and in this way, stimulate the business tourism sector thereby contributing to the sustainable growth of Johannesburg;
• Through destination marketing and communications to manage image perception, promote and strengthen the position of Johannesburg nationally and internationally as a destination of choice. Although the focus is on business tourism these advantages are leveraged for the purposes of leisure tourism aimed at increasing the length of stay and spend in Johannesburg. It also increases, as an added benefit, the awareness of and raises the profile of Johannesburg as a leading international destination that delegates and event spectators and visitors want to visit, thus increasing our international ranking position.

The Visitors Services Bureau

The Visitor Services Bureau (VSB) is responsible for:

• The provision of updated Tourism Information, E-marketing and E-business Services to Visitors through its website and associated technology.
• The provision of tourist information services at walk-in tourist information offices.
• To facilitate development and quality assurance of the tourism products and services on offer to all visitors in order to improve skills and service standards.

Operational Objectives

In executing its mandate, the company is driven by the following operational objectives:

• Through the office of the CEO foster strong strategic alliances and optimally leverage relations with stakeholders for the purpose of obtaining budget alleviating support measures.
• Strengthen trade relations with trade partners such as international operators and wholesalers.
• To create top of mind awareness of JTC as an official DMO and recognized as a thought leader in Destination Marketing with recognition of Johannesburg as an ideal business tourism destination.
• Optimally utilizes all communication opportunities and public platforms to build and maintain a positive image of the Johannesburg brand amongst consumers and stakeholders both nationally and internationally.
• Build and maintain a positive image of the Johannesburg tourism brand amongst consumers and stakeholders.
• Use all meetings, conference and Events to actively promote and enhance the image of Johannesburg as a destination.
• Leverage Johannesburg´s leading destination position in terms of entertainment, retail shopping, business, finance etc combined with leisure and cultural experiences, to position Johannesburg as an exciting and vibrant business and leisure tourism destination.
• Entrench and grow Johannesburg´s International ICCA (International Conference and Congress Association) ranking to be amongst the top 100 convention Cities around the world.
• Grow international arrivals and length of stay.
• Defend and grow Johannesburg´s domestic and international market share.
• Create brand alignment and synergy with the city´s entities.
• Strengthen trade relations with trade partners and local private sector stakeholders including GTA and SA Tourism.
• Implement and apply optimally, all available human and financial resources to the best possible effect, considering the scarce nature of these resources to enhance our competitive edge.

Download the 2008/2009 Annual Report (4MB)