Name:
Sheryl Ozinsky
Profession: former Head of Cape Town Tourism
Best valued comment: (in
annual report 2003 about true tourism in Cape Town): “…it
seems to me that to succeed, we must stop being so goddamn
normal…”
Reason interview: her up-lifting and straightforward
approach with character in the tourism strategy for Cape
Town has made her a well-known and well appreciated person
in this city.
Slightly
insider:
A Cape Town event I wouldn’t
want to miss for the world is …
“Personally I never want to miss
the Mother City Queer Project (MCQP)
party. This year I am going with a group
as cutlery since the theme is ‘Kitsch
Kitchen’.
The one thing
Cape Town will be famous for:
The one event that has the most potential
to grow significantly is the New Year’s
Coon Carnival (Kaapse Klopse).” |
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Sheryl Ozinsky is thé person to interview about
the future of Cape Town tourism, and not only since she
has been in charge for the past six years. Her straight
love for Capetonians and the environment has helped shape
her perspective of what tourism in the city should be all
about: moving towards a sustainable destination for visitors
and tourists.
“We also need to narrow the gap between perceptions
of Cape Town”
“What has changed the past five years is that there
is an understanding amongst communities and businesses what
the benefits of tourism are on employment and investments,”
says Ozinsky. She hopes Cape Town will become a sustainable
destination so that tourism will still be around for the
future generation. “We also need to narrow the gap
between perceptions of Cape Town that are negative and the
developing and positive reality on the ground”, she
says.
What
visitors do not seem to understand about
Cape Town is …
The enormous ground we’ve covered
since ’94. “We are not doing
enough to show visitors the transformation
that has actually taken place here,
the magic that has happened here after
Apartheid. In order to allow visitors
not only to feel the pain, but to feel
and experience the triumph of black,
coloured and white living together.”
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“Cape Town (tourism) is redefining itself
and finding its roots”
The combination and fusion of influences from Europe, Asia
and Africa is according to Ozinsky the unique selling point
of Cape Town. “We made some mistakes in the past especially
in the architecture of the city (pointing to the typical
Apartheid era buildings) so in design perspective we can
certainly improve, but in general Cape Town (tourism) is
redefining itself and finding its roots. Neither the specific
character of Cape Town, nor poverty or sustainability is
represented in golf courses and beaches alone. Cape Town
Tourism is going unlock those specific characteristics through
networking and organising forums involving the creative
city and culture, and the most important part of the character
of Cape Town: its people.”
Keeping them connected to Cape Town and South Africa
Ozinsky sincerely believes that Cape Town Tourism markets
the city in the most honest way they can. They do show the
achievements of the V&A Waterfront, but there are no
attempts to hide the bad and the ugly. “We want to
show the likes of women building their own houses, but we
are not showcasing poverty to tell tourist we need their
money. No, we want them to have the greatest experience
of their lives which they can take home, keeping them connected
to Cape Town and South Africa.”
Sheryl’s
insider: My personal hidden treasure
in Cape Town is …
“Church Haven is a bit out of
Cape Town (Langebaan) but it is one
of my favourite spots. It’s really
being at one with nature. It’s
the kind of nature that grows on you.
It’s authentic, rough and dry
vegetation. I call it ‘Church
Heaven’ and actually... I do not
want to tell many people about it!”.
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“What will Cape Town be famous for in five
years”
Ozynsky gives an answer showing her personal motivation:
“I think it is the culture that we will be famous
for in the future. The decade of the nice scenery is over,
that is only a part of the reason to go somewhere. This
is the decade of the people. It’s the heart, the guts,
the soul of the people which will be worth the visit. You
can visit Table Mountain, but what will connect you to Cape
Town and South Africa is meeting with a vibrant Mr Tshabalala
in a little house in Gugulethu.”
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