What does a destination management organisation (DMO) like Knysna & Partners do? And how does that help you?

1. Membership Prospectus
2016
Membership Prospectus
2016

2. 1
Knysna’s economy is everyone’s business
Why does Knysna & Partners exist?
To identify business opportunities and to market Knysna (the whole of Knysna – from
Sedgefield to Noetzie) to South Africa and the world.
Or, in business-speak: as the custodians of the brand ‘Naturally Knysna,’ we provide
integrated destination management and destination marketing services for the benefit
of the entire local economy.
What is a destination?
Look, let’s get beyond the old idea of Knysna as purely a tourism hotspot. While tourism
is enormously important to everyone who lives here, it’s only one aspect of our economy –
because a destination is the sum of everything that makes up a municipal area such as ours.
Like the famous ‘triple bottom line’, our destination is made up of
• Our economy (your business);
• Our community (you and I); and
• The natural world around us (Knysna’s amazing attractions).
Why should I care?
Destination management is the process of finding and unlocking opportunities that
exist in Knysna.
Destination marketing alerts people to the experiences and products that Knysna has
to offer.
Taken together, they ensure job creation and economic growth.
You care because your business grows as Knysna grows.

3. 3
What does Knysna & Partners do?
As destination managers, Knysna & Partners
• Finds and fosters connections between complementary businesses;
• Inspires the development of new products that come out of these connections; and
• Facilitates alignment with local, regional and provincial government strategies,
... All of which ensure that new products are ‘market ready’ when they open for business.
As destination marketers, we package and present local products – goods and services
as well as tourism experiences – to defined groups of people (in marketing-speak: niches
or demographics).
We do this through traditional marketing and communications tools (our web site, social
media, brochures, maps, adverts, public relations, etc.) – and through accessing specific
markets by finding and creating direct links to people and businesses in those markets.
So, for example, while it’s not our job to build trails, we identified Knysna’s potential as
a destination for mountain bikers, trail runners and others, and we’ve been instrumental
in bringing together various businesses and individuals as well as local and provincial
government to position and market Knysna as the Trails Capital of South Africa:
#TrailTownSA. This has already resulted in an increase in the number of products and
events on offer, and thus in increased arrivals and therefore increased job opportunities.
By the same token, by identifying filmmaking as a source of business for the destination,
we’re able to help the film industry to access local skills and products – like locations,
caterers, transport providers, etc.
Knysna & Partners by department
Please visit us at our offices (40 Main Road Knysna, and 30 Main Street Sedgefield) –
we’d love to show you around and introduce you to our team.
Our work is dived into the following departments:
Information management
• Answers queries from the public (walk-in visitors as well as telephone and electronic
enquiries) about Knysna in general, and about specific businesses in Knysna. As an
example: 7,231 visitors came into our Knysna office between 1 December 2014 and
10 January 2015, and 10,044 people came through the doors in the same period in
2015/16 – an increase of 28%
• Helps the public with bookings at members’ accommodation and activities
• Provides brochure display space for all member businesses
• Communicates with members to ensure that the information at hand is up-to-date
• Keeps up-to-date with information about non-commercial local attractions (beaches,
walks, etc.)
• Web site management.

4. 5
Trade promotion, development, events & festivals
• Facilitates the work of sector forums. These industry partnership programmes aim
to find common ground between competing and complementary businesses in
order to facilitate (a) the growth of existing markets, and (b) the development of new
opportunities. Our forums include:
• Events & Festivals (the Pick n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival – which will run for the
33rd time this year – as well as all other festivals and local events);
• National Brands (banks, national retailers, etc.);
• Local Businesses (professional services, small businesses, factories, etc.);
• Timber (Saw-millers, woodworkers, manufacturers, etc.);
• Charities & NGOs
• Facilitates the formation of new sector forums. For example, we’ve recently
completed research towards the development of a Community Reserves Forum that
will bring together government and private sector conservationists and conservation
organisations in order to find ways to unlock the economic potential of local skills
and community-owned environmental assets
• Human resources development. Projects include:
• The founding and mentoring of the Green Chefs (a community-based catering
company);
• The development of a Heritage Route – including Pledge Nature Reserve, the
Old Gaol, and, eventually, the old fort (Thompson’s Folly), and the development
of the skills required to make the Route market ready.
• New project development – for example, our #TrailTownSA project (mentioned
above)
• Promoting locally made product to appropriate markets
• Creating opportunities for local products at events and festivals – for example,
the #KnysnaMade exhibition at the Pick n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival
• Cataloguing of local products under the #KnysnaMade banner.
Marketing, public relations & communications
• We represent Knysna as a destination at various trade shows and exhibitions –
including World Travel Market Africa, South African Tourism’s annual Indaba, etc.
• Write and distribute media releases, blogs, etc.
• Production and promotion of official brochures and maps that form part of our
marketing strategy
• Management of print, electronic and radio advertising campaigns
• Promotion of Knysna’s festivals and events
• Maintenance and promotion of our website
• Development of our new mobile app to ensure that the public can find our members
easily
• Our weekly newsletter – which now goes to a database of 6,000 people.

5. 76
Membership advantages
• Your own page on our mobile app;
• Your own page on our web site;
• Your own page on our booking system;
• Brochure display space in our info offices;
• Enjoy the direct and indirect benefits of our professional services:
• Destination marketing
• Knysna is represented at exhibitions and showcases;
• Benefit from niche marketing – to various, defined and targeted groups;
• Build and maintain a competitive edge through access to markets and
industry resources;
• Increased visibility creates unparalleled business relationships that enhance
your bottom line;
• Destination management
• Networking (meet-and-greet events, sector forums, one-on-one meetings,
etc.) connects you with decision-makers and business leaders;
• We create opportunities for exposure and face-to-face interaction with
targeted groups and individuals; – Squirt Lube, Yacht Co.
• Collaboration creates positive change that benefits the entire economy;
• Gain trust and credibility with buyers and consumers. (As a member, you’ll be asked
to wear your membership with pride, and to display your membership status in your
premises, on your web site, and on all your marketing and communications material.)
Membership
• Maintenance of our new mobile app (including providing the developers with
members’ information, and ensuring that this information remains current);
• Maintaining member’s information on our website;
• Caring for the interests of our members;
• Communication with members.
Finance & administration
• Accounting, etc.
What is a destination management company?
“A destination management company (DMC) is a professional services
company possessing extensive local knowledge, expertise and resources,
specialising in the design and implementation of events, activities, tours,
transportation and program logistics.” – Wikipedia.
Knysna & Partners: Membership values
“A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that,
taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or
service over another” – Seth Godin, author of Purple Cow (named one of the
12 best business books of all time by USA Today).
Members aspire to uphold Knysna’s brand values, which align to principles in nature:
Each species is unique, occupies its own niche, and brings its own, globally important
value to the whole system. But each species also adapts to optimise its position within
the system.
To market Knysna successfully to the world, we need all business to send out the
same messages about Knysna. This requires an understanding of the brand, and an
understanding of the responsibilities of Knysna & Partners as the custodian of the brand.
Knysna & Partners is available to guide you in the use of our logo on your marketing material.
Every business operating within the local economy benefits from the work of a successful
destination marketing organisation – just as the organisation has a responsibility to
perform to international standards of best practice.
The result? The rising tide floats all boats. (It’s a cliché we know, but it’s true for the whole
of Knysna – where our estuaries literally set us apart as the Natural Destination!)

6. Membership rates
Tourism business
Benefits: Presence on the app & the web site¤; brochure display; voting rights; DMO services* & access to value-added purchases**
Accommodation Criteria Annual payment Monthly debit order Annual Savings
Small 1 – 4 rooms (2 guests per room) R600.00 R62.50 R150.00
Medium 5 – 10 rooms (2 guests per room) R900.00 R93.75 R225.00
Large >11 rooms (2 guests per room) R1,350.00 R140.63 R337.50
Restaurants Annual payment Monthly debit order Annual Savings
Small <80 seats R600.00 R62.50 R150.00
Medium 80 – 140 seats R900.00 R93.75 R225.00
Large >140 seats R1,350.00 R140.63 R337.50
Attractions Annual payment Monthly debit order Annual Savings
Small <12,000 guests p.a. R600.00 R62.50 R150.00
Medium 12,0001 – 24,000 guests p.a. R900.00 R93.75 R225.00
Large >24,000 guests p.a. R1,350.00 R140.63 R337.50
Non-tourism businesses
BENEFITS: Presence on the app & the web site; brochure display; voting rights; DMO services* & access to value-added purchases**
General business, professional services Criteria Annual payment Monthly debit order Annual Savings
Small <10 employees R600.00 R62.50 R150.00
Medium 10 – 20 employees R900.00 R93.75 R225.00
Large >20 employees R1,350.00 R140.63 R337.50
Corporate membership
BENEFITS: Presence on the app & the web site; brochure display; voting rights; DMO services* & access to value-added purchases**
Retail malls & shopping precincts (annual payment) R6,000.00
Corporate sponsorship (National brands) By arrangement
Country membership
BENEFITS: Brochure display
Country members (annual payment) R360.00
BENEFITS: Brochure display, product & packaging campaigns
Strategic packaging partnerships: Country members By arrangment
Emerging businesses
BENEFITS: Presence on the app & the web site; brochure display; voting rights; DMO services* & access to value-added purchases**
Development members (annual payment) R120.00
Individuals & non-profits
Private individuals (Individual = a resident of Knysna not in business for oneself. Annual payment) R120.00
Non-profits; government schools No charge
¤ Accommodation properties are also loaded to our bookings system.
* DMO Services
While you might not be aware of the work that goes on behind the scenes, all members in
the Knysna municipal area benefit in general from the services that we provide as a DMO:
• Information sharing sessions
• Meet and greet networking
• Workshops – LED, updates on legal requirements,
• Sector forums
• Media visits
• Tour operator educationals
• Destination representation at shows: Indaba, WTM Africa, etc.
• Product development planning
• Event development and event coordination
• Travel trade newsletters
• Member newsletters
• Consumer newsletters
• Media releases and public relations
• Assistance with grading applications
• Assistance with applications for road signage
• Lobbying where necessary
** Value-added purchases
Value-added purchases are charged individually, and include:
• Featured status on the web site
• Featured status on the booking portal
• In store activations at our info offices
• Product & packaging campaigns, etc.
8

7. Knysna Tourism
40 Main Road, Knysna
044 382 5510
30 Main Street, Sedgefield,
044 343 2007
info@visitknysna.co.za
www.visitknysna.co.za
www.facebook.com/visitknysna
www.twitter.com/knysnatourism
Knysna Tourism
40 Main Road, Knysna
044 382 5510
30 Main Street, Sedgefield,
044 343 2007
info@visitknysna.co.za
www.visitknysna.co.za
www.facebook.com/visitknysna
www.twitter.com/knysnatourism