Stellenbosch Wine
Routes unveils its new blog - StellenBlog
StellenBlog elevates
SA’s granddaddy of wine routes in the digital realm
Delaire with Simonsberg in the background
South Africa’s
granddaddy of wine routes, the Stellenbosch American Express® Wine Routes, has
launched a new blog –StellenBlog – as part of its dynamic marketing
campaign, Stellenbosch Experience, which was launched in
collaboration with Stellenbosch 360 to expand the region’s wine tourism
footprint locally and aboard.
The new, inter-active StellenBlog shares
and celebrates the latest success stories, communities and rich culture of this
prominent Winelands destination with daily updates on the latest
Stellenbosch attractions and achievements through various categories featured
on the catchy blog wall.
This user-friendly,
uncluttered blog which is super easy and quick to navigate also features
regular contributions by leading guest bloggers and in addition conveys the
visual beauty of the area through breath-taking photos and awe-inspiring video
posts.
“A destination is
equal to the people of that place and no visitor wants a plastic “Disney”
destination. Authenticity is essential to the successful positioning of the
region and giving the people of Stellenbosch a voice and a platform for their
colourful stories to be told is a key objective of this blog and the overall
Stellenbosch Experience campaign,” explains Annareth Bolton, CEO of
Stellenbosch American Express® Wine Routes.
The Stellenbosch
Experience aims to position the Stellenbosch Winelands as Africa’s wine tourism
capital and one of the top wine tourism regions in the world and invites wine
and tourism entities to join the campaign as preferred marketing partners to
elevate the region and their brands nationally and internationally.
“The Stellenbosch
Experience campaign will not only grow the wine tourism sector, but will
benefit the region at large. We will be able to make a much bigger impact
through this joint venture using our limited resources available for
destination marketing more effectively,” she added.
The region and
participating marketing partners will be represented at ITB, Berlin in March
for the international launch of the Stellenbosch Experience to the world's top
travel trade and media, followed by the Tourism Indaba in Durban in
May.
In addition to the
launch of the new blog, other campaign elements include an enhanced digital
presence across all social media networks and an innovative wine tourism
blogger campaign with top international and national travel, lifestyle and food
bloggers between April and September.
For more information
on the Stellenbosch Experience initiative or to become a marketing partner
visit the new bloghttp://blog.wineroute.co.za/ or
contact Mariette du Toit-Helmbold* at experience@wineroute.co.za or phone 083
225 5955.
*Mariette
Toit-Helmbold is the founder of Destinate, a specialised destination and
marketing agency which she launched in 2013 after a successful ten-year
stint as the CEO of Cape Town Tourism. Under her leadership, Cape Town Tourism
won critical acclaim as a Destination Marketing Organisation (DMO) and was
formally recognised by the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) for its ‘world
best practice tourism organisational model and innovative initiatives in
destination marketing’.
