®
Queenstown PACA :
Promotion of the Local Economy
in Queenstown / Lukhanji
What is Participatory Appraisal of
®
Competitive Advantage (PACA )?
Participatory
 Involve local stakeholders
 Motivate local stakeholders to take an
active role in an LED initiative
 Transfer know-how to local stakeholders
and businesses
Appraisal of
 Do a quick scan of the local economy
 Assess and refocus ongoing local
economic development activities
Competitive
Advantage
 Identify strengths, skills, talents and
opportunities
 Identify business and LED opportunities
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
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?
1. What is Local Economic
Development (LED)?
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!
What is
Local Economic Development
Attraction of
new investment
Community
development
Employment
creation
SMME
development
Skills
development
How does local economic
development relate to other
activities?
Local development
Local economic
development
Infrastructure
Community development
Employment
creation
Transport
SMME
SMME
promotion
development
Energy
Investment
promotion
Technology
Health
Poverty alleviation
Schools
Water / sewage
Skills
development
Housing
HIV / AIDS
Education
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
2.
What is the first diagnostic of
Queenstown / Lukhanji?
Sectors considered in the
®
first Queenstown / Lukhanji PACA
 Tourism Sector
 Queenstown / Lukhanji as Distribution Hub
 Queenstown / Lukhanji as Service Hub
 General Observations
General observations:
Strong points and opportunities
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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
General observations:
Weaknesses
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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
Tourism Sector:
Strong points and opportunities
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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
Tourism Sector:
Weaknesses
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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
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
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
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
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
3.
What are the first proposals to
promote the local economy in
Queenstown / Lukhanji?
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)
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
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)
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
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)
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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)
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
Thank your for your attention!
®
The PACA team in Queenstown
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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)
Contacts
 Christian Schoen ([email protected])
 Shawn Cunningham ([email protected])
 Ian van Dyk ([email protected])
PACA® is a registered trademark of mesopartner:
www.mesopartner.com