1. Queenstown PACA®: Promotion of the Local Economy in Queenstown / Lukhanji

2. What is Participatory Appraisal of Competitive Advantage (PACA®)?
Involve local stakeholders
Motivate local stakeholders to take an active role in an LED initiative
Transfer know-how to local stakeholders and businesses
Do a quick scan of the local economy
Assess and refocus ongoing local economic development activities
Identify strengths, skills, talents and opportunities
Identify business and LED opportunities

3. What have we been doing?
Interviews with businesspeople and stakeholders in Queenstown / Lukhanji
Miniworkshops with
Tourism sector
SMME support agencies
Training and education institutions
Local business men

4. Structure of this presentation
What is Local Economic Development (LED)?
What is the first diagnostic of Queenstown?
What are the first proposals to promote the local economy in Queenstown?

5. 1. What is Local Economic Development (LED)?

6. What isn’t Local Economic Development
Attraction of
new investment
= investment
promotion
Community
development
Skills
development
SMME support
+ development
Employment
creation
... in a segmented and fragmented way!

7. What is Local Economic Development
Community
development
Attraction of
new investment
Employment
creation
SMME
development
Skills
development

8. How does local economic development relate to other activities?
Local development
Local economic
development
Investment
promotion
Skills
SMME
Community development
Employment
creation
Poverty alleviation
Housing
Education
HIV / AIDS
Infrastructure
Transport
Energy
Technology
Health
Schools
Water / sewage
SMME
promotion

9. Why there is a tension between economic and community development
Principles of economic development:
Rivalry / competition
Invisible hand of the market
Survival of the fittest
Principles of community development:
Solidarity
Collaboration
Support for the weak and disadvantaged
Consequences:
It is important to separate economic development and community development in terms of organization and implementation
It is possible, and indeed essential, to seek areas of overlap, to create synergies, and to learn from each other

10. 2. What is the first diagnostic of Queenstown / Lukhanji?

11. Sectors considered in the first Queenstown / Lukhanji PACA®
Tourism Sector
Queenstown / Lukhanji as Distribution Hub
Queenstown / Lukhanji as Service Hub
General Observations

12. General observations: Strong points and opportunities
Underutilised industrial area
Availability of vacant factory premises
Existence of a number of large manufactureres
Dynamic businesspeople sincerely interested in the development of Queenstown / Lukhanji
Proactive approaching by interest groups to PACA Team
Comparatively low crime rate
Schools of outstanding quality in national terms

13. General observations: Weaknesses
No active marketing of Queenstown / Lukhanji
Culture of Non-Cooperation
Fragmentation in business community
Not enough communication and information sharing taking place
Access and integration of new-coming businessmen is difficult
Sale and dismantling of vacant factory halls
Hawkers fill up sidewalks
Not enough coordination between some local government activities

14. Tourism Sector: Strong points and opportunities
Potential source of continuous revenue
Location at N6-Road
Continuous support from Regional Tourism Office
Game reserve and its supportive industries
Bongolo dam
Opportunities for a range of outdoor activities
Considerable number of B&B accommodations available
Strong demand for:
Caravan site - 4 X 4 Trails
Hotel accommodation - Birding
Hunting & game sale - Fishing
Flying

15. Tourism Sector: Weaknesses
Lack of tourism awareness
Lack of knowledge on the needs /expectations of tourists
Insufficient Signage
Remote location of entrance gate to game reserve
Only few tourist activities available
Missing entertainment facilities (e.g. movie theater)
No hotel accommodation in Queenstown / Lukhanji
Difficult currency exchange
Lack of Transport Shuttle Services
No proper stopover of Tourist Bus-Routes
Location of Local Tourist Office

16. Queenstown / Lukhanji as a Distribution Hub: Strong points and opportunities
Central location within a large rural catchment area
Good road and rail infrastructure
Well established suppliers (hardware, furniture, motorspares, wide range of food etc.)
Should benefit from common supply chains (e.g. wood, steel)
Low rentals
Scope for a goods consolidator

17. Queenstown / Lukhanji as a Distribution Hub: Weaknesses
No active marketing as distribution hub
Limited competition: a large number of competing distributors are facing high buying power = service not always customer-friendly
Decreasing buying power due to unemployment and increase in basic prices
High cost of transport
Long distance to main centers (Jo-burg, Cape Town, PE, Durban)
Inefficient and unreliable rail transport service
Unavailability of certain products

18. Queenstown / Lukhanji as a Service Hub: Strong points and opportunities
Large catchment area for banking and other service providers (150 km)
Tradition as a service and trade locality due to its location between Transkei and Ciskei
Most service requirements are offered in Queenstown / Lukhanji
Demand for better and more sophisticated services

19. Queenstown / Lukhanji as a Service Hub: Weaknesses
People moving here perceived bureaucratic procedures required by the local administration as complicated
Not well-used courier services
SMME support agencies are often not focused on the needs of SMMEs – focused on funders
Customer service is not a priority – businesses are often very complacent
Banks do not meet the demands of business / customers
Signage and information are not inviting people off the main route
Unwelcoming attitude perceived by some people

20. 3. What are the first proposals to promote the local economy in Queenstown / Lukhanji?

21. General Observations Proposal #1:
Purpose: Restore of municipal park and provision of skills training
Proposal
Restore municipal park to create a more tourist-friendly appearance and to increase the leisure value
Use unemployed and unskilled workers to restore and subsequently maintain the park
As a secondary result those workers obtain skills of gardening and thus future job opportunities (garden workers, Garden services)

22. Tourism Sector Proposal #1:
Purpose: Strengthening of Local and Regional Tourism Organisations
Proposal
Closer co-operation between private and public sector – make sure the LTO works
Local government to support the LTO and the marketing of Queenstown
Local government need to recognise tourism as an important growth sector
Leverage GTZ and DBSA technical assistance to structure and facilitate tourism activities
Only LTO registered members to benefit from joint marketing activities

23. Tourism Sector Proposal #2:
Purpose: Marketing and information of Queenstown (Lukhanji)
Proposal
Create a brochure on Queenstown (Lukhanji)
Accommodation
Activities in the region
Review the current website initiative and contribute where possible
Engage with tour groups and passing busses
Collect information on how similar cities market themselves (benchmarking)

24. Tourism Sector Proposal #3:
Purpose: Sharing and distribution of tourism related information
Proposal
Use the media to spread news and information regarding Queenstown tourism activities
Spread tourism statistics, tourist demands and suggestions to tourism establishments
LTO to become the hub of tourism information
LTO to be tasked with active marketing and spreading of information

25. Tourism Sector Proposal #4:
Purpose: Signage to important tourism destinations to be improved further
Proposal
Signs and route signs to be erected that leads to important tourism destinations (e.g Game reserve, rock paintings etc)

26. Queenstown / Lukhanji as a Distribution Hub
Challenges:
Have to attract more business that will use Queenstown as a distribution base
Service of rail transport need to improve
Need to attract cargo consolidators

27. Queenstown / Lukhanji as a Distribution Hub Proposal #1:
Purpose: Market Queenstown as a distribution hub
Proposal
Embark on a marketing campaign that will promote Queenstown as a distribution hub
Maybe consider an incentive to attract businesses
Involve existing distributors to address common issues
Identify empty factories that can be used as warehouses and market them

28. Queenstown / Lukhanji as a Distribution Hub Proposal #2:
Purpose: Improve the inefficient and unreliable rail service
Proposal
Enter into negotiations with Spoornet & Department of Transport regarding service
Keep all businesses that can benefit from this service informed of progress
Make sure the service is not downscaled
Look at how other cities on similar routes assisted or used incentives for rail transport
Promote opportunities in rail consolidation and cargo handling

29. Queenstown / Lukhanji as a Distribution Hub Proposal #3:
Purpose: Arrange for Department of Labour to present Skills Development Fund workshops
Proposal
Workshop must target business that can benefit from upgrading the skills of their workforce
Educate businesses about the procedures of SDF

30. Queenstown / Lukhanji as a Distribution Hub Proposal #4:
Purpose: Motivate distributors to develop common/improved supply chains
Proposal
Educate distributors about the benefits of common & improved supply chains
Identify common suppliers and raw materials
Facilitate discussions between local business and suppliers of raw materials
If transport services or cargo handling is insufficient then identify the gaps

31. Queenstown / Lukhanji as a Distribution Hub Proposal #5:
Purpose: “Buy Local” campaign
Proposal
Promote local suppliers of the region to business and community (chickens, vegetables, etc)
Identify gaps and opportunities in the service offerings and stimulate the closure (GTZ to assist)
Discuss “supply problems” with large retailers
Consider a monthly “market in the park” for art, craft and local producers

32. Queenstown / Lukhanji as a Service Hub Proposal #1:
Purpose: Enter into discussions with banks to improve their service
Proposal
Arrange a meeting with banks and express concerns of business and community
Request services like Foreign exchange service, faster queues
Reward positive response with support from local government and media coverage

33. Queenstown / Lukhanji as a Service Hub Proposal #2:
Purpose: Reward good service & “Customer friendly campaign”
Proposal
Increase the scope of current service award to include categories like “best tourism establishment”, “best attraction” etc
Increase the involvement of media, associations and community in the process (do it BIG)
Use this process to educate people about customer service and customer focus
Create awareness of good service
Arrange for “Customer Service Training” in area
access Skills Development Fund (SDF)

34. Queenstown / Lukhanji as a Service Hub Proposal #3:
Purpose: Promote Queenstown / Lukhanji as a service hub to the region
Proposal
Town already known as a service hub to agriculture, expand this to other sectors
Market Queenstown as a service hub
Create a directory of services
GTZ to assist with the stimulation of demand between service providers and small business needs in the next few months

35. Thank your for your attention!

36. The PACA® team in Queenstown
Christian Schoen (PACA® consultant)
Shawn Cunningham (GTZ Project Manager)
Shakes Mandaba (LED-Councilor Lukhanji)
Ian van Dyk (LED-Officer Lukhanji)
With support from P.J. Cloete (Councilor Lukhanji), Donovan van Wyk (Admin Director of Lukhanji), Charles Lubbe (Admin Staff of Lukhanji)

37. PACA® is a registered trademark of mesopartner: www.mesopartner.com
Contacts
Christian Schoen
Shawn Cunningham
Ian van Dyk
PACA® is a registered trademark of mesopartner: