Platform set to boost winelands tourism in SA

The development of the platform comes with the support of Wesgro, the official Tourism, Trade and Investment Promotion agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape, whose mandate is to help increase tourism to the winelands.

Judy Lain from Wesgro explained: "The evolution of Sideways into a consumer-tobusiness booking platform provides a dynamic, centralised booking portal for all tour operators wanting to develop curated wine and cuisine tours for their clients with the latest data in terms of offerings from wine farms. Such a portal provides unique access to market for SMMEs in our province."

The Cape winelands play an important role in the region's economic development.

With over 20 wine routes, more than 500 wineries and over 200 registered winelands tour operators, the industry is worth in excess of R4 billion annually, according to a SAWIS study in 2009.

The platform offered by Sideways Tours addresses the challenges that tourists often experience when organising a trip to the Cape winelands - primarily the lack of a central set of planning, review and booking tools. Traditionally, most tours are booked manually (by phone, email, or even fax), which may well result in a frustrating and confusing experience.

The 'traveltech' space

"Travellers have become accustomed to the convenience and simplicity of innovative platforms like booking.com, Tripadvisor and Sleepout, which completely changed the way we book and plan accommodation. We believe that Sideways is the next big disruptor in the traveltech space," explains Sideways CEO Brittany Hawkins".

Sideways Tours also assists all players in the tourism industry - from guest houses to travel agents, concierges and tour operators - by allowing them to easily plan and book customised experiences for their customers. This allows them to tap into the growing trend of experience-driven travel and enhance their overall service offering.

"Our simple booking platform offers the tourism industry an easy way to deliver superior customer service by moving away from generic, "one-size fits all" tours of the winelands. It allows them to uncover hidden gems, and offer personalised, truly memorable experiences for their guests," Hawkins explained.

As well as "match-making" the right customers with the right experiences, the Sideways booking platform streamlines the booking process and uses a two-tier system for ensuring the highest quality tours. Firstly, all tour operators are insured and TGCSA certified. Secondly, all tours are "Sideways approved", which means they have been personally experienced and vetted by the Sideways team.

For more, go to www.ExploreSideways.com