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September is Tourism Month and Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism (NMBT) is also preparing to usher in a new era of leadership by bidding farewell to their current CEO, Mandlakazi Skefile, to welcome Glenton de Kock.
De Kock emerged as the preferred candidate in an interview process which engaged the city’s leadership in a nine-member panel that included NMB Business Chamber CEO Nomkhita Mona, NAFCOC president Nceba Faku, BMF chairperson Glenda Perumal, MBDA CEO Ashraf Adams and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality COO Mzwakhe Clay.
“It’s an honour to accept this post of CEO with humility and appreciation. I look forward to using the transformative power of travel and tourism to help catapult a significant economic driver for Nelson Mandela Bay, its residents and its businesses forward,” De Kock said.
“As incumbent, I plan to focus my first 100 days on setting the roadmap with the Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism team as to how we will deliver our agreed strategic objectives and tactical plans, while driving a stakeholder centric dialogue approach, and simultaneously enhancing the metro collaboration for the tourism sector from the onset.
“My predecessor, Mandlakazi Skefile, has been a source of inspiration and expertise and I wish her well in her future endeavours.”
De Kock refined his public and private sector strategic management skills during his tenure as managing director of Tourism Buffalo City, where he led and delivered the city’s USAID funded tourism master plan and initiated the city’s sports tourism strategy.
As the chief executive officer of the Eastern Cape Tourism Board, which is now The Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency (ECPTA), De Kock drove the implementation of the provincial strategy with a dedicated focus on building a stronger working relationship with the province’s private sector at various industries and consumer marketing levels.
As an associate director at KPMG, he led the hospitality, leisure and tourism unit for Africa and South Africa, where he led the team who redeveloped the country’s accommodation grading systems which are still being used by the South African Grading Council, before moving onto Grant Thornton in a similar position.
His most recent position as project manager at the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber ensured that business embraced its civil society role by driving a holistic approach which enabled business within the Metro to work towards long-term sustainability, through projects such as the Nooitgedaght Low Level Water Scheme and the reactivation for the much needed Addo Road refurbishment.
In his spare time, he is the president of the Nelson Mandela University Football Club, served briefly on the board of the Community Chest and is a budding golfer.
Normal destination marketing work will also be carrying on as usual, as NMBT will be participating in a roadshow to North America as well as the Johannesburg Getaway show.
In order for a smooth transition to take place as well as ensure that the demanding month of September produces gold they have ensured that there is a handover period in which there can be shared pressure among the team in order to facilitate a smooth transition into October and beyond under new leadership.
