A short-term partnerships agreement on delivery and co-funding between Cape Town Routes Unlimited (CTRU) and Cape Town Tourism (CTT) will be finalised by the end of October, says Western Cape MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Alan Winde.

“On the table for discussion and finalisation are delivery and co-funding commitments from both organisations with regard to tourism destination marketing at international marketing platforms, business tourism (the Conventions Bureau based in Cape Town Routes Unlimited), city-based events, the e-business platform and the V&A Waterfront Tourism Gateway. This will be finalised by he end of October 2009.” He says the parties are also finalising a medium- to long-term strategy and model for tourism marketing, which will include the clarification of their respective roles and institutional arrangements. He says Western Cape regions will be consulted fully on a draft strategy before it is finalized and implemented. CTRU ceo, Calvyn Gilfellan, in an interview with TNW, welcomed the  objective of the current talks to find a lasting  institutional  framework that would be protected from political interference. “For the first time we have a commitment from both the city and the province to work together and that is very important,” he said. He said the city council already was co-funding CTRU initiatives on a project-by- project basis. Current talks were focusing on the city’s medium-to long-term contribution to CTRU, while the long-term aim was a new constitutional arrangement, which in all probability, would not come about before the Fifa World Cup in 2010. The MEC in June initiated the talks between the parties to address fragmentation and duplication of tourism marketing in the province. This resulted from the city council decision last year to withdraw its 50% funding from CTRU and instead mandate CTT to do its marketing. Past friction between the two authorities was largely based on political squabbling between what was then an African National Congress-lead province and an opposition party Democratic Alliance-led city. The situation changed when the DA won the province at the last general election, when MEC Winde declared it his top priority to unify tourism marketing efforts and spend before the 2010 Fifa World Cup.