Ethos Celebrates 20 years
Ethos Marketing (UK) Ltd is celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2014 - as well as MD, Alison Whitfield's recent South African Tourism Khanya Special Achievement Award.
Not only is South Africa celebrating 20 years of democracy this year …Ethos is also toasting two decades of success! For it was this very change in South Africa’s history that inspired Founder and Managing Director Alison Whitfield to start up Ethos Marketing as one of the first representation (Sales, Marketing and Public Relations) companies in the UK focussing solely on promoting Africa.
At World Travel Market in November 2013, 20 years of hard work, dedication and passion for the country paid off when Alison received the first ever “Khanya Special Recognition Award” from South African Tourism at their sixth Annual Ubuntu Awards. Khanya means “to shine” and Alison was honoured for her “efforts at promoting South Africa for more than 20 years, for proactively developing trade links and for really helping people to understand South Africa”.
Alison is well known in the industry, having started her career in tourism in South Africa, before joining South African Tourism in 1984. Three years later she was transferred to SA Tourism’s London office, where she developed her skills and relationships with the UK outbound tourism market. In 1994, as South Africa was emerging as a democracy, Alison launched her own Representation Company, initially called African Ethos. Alison developed strong relationships with the travel trade and the UK press which have continued to grow and benefit the Ethos Marketing® client base. Her devotion to Africa is highlighted by the fact that she was voted Chairman of SATOA (Southern African Travel organisers’ Association) no less than 8 times in its 30+ year history, and has represented properties in virtually all the countries in Southern and East Africa over the years.
Ethos is jointly managed by Alison and co-owner Amanda England, Sales & Marketing Director who joined African Ethos in 2002 from Limited Edition by Virgin, and the company became Ethos Marketing as we extended our services into Europe and the Caribbean for a number of years, gaining invaluable global perspective and experience.
Since then, Ethos has gone back to its solely African roots as this is where our backgrounds, passion and specialities lie. The team includes Sue Rothwell, our Business Development Manager (joined 2003) who is consistently out on the road, along with Alison and Amanda, calling on operators and agents; Claire Roadley (joined 2001) who deals with PR, social Media and Marketing and Kevin Keating (joined 2007) who is our Sales and Marketing Executive/office support.
Ethos offers sales representation, marketing and public relations for a wide range of properties to suit all budgets – from hotels groups down to small boutique properties off the beaten track - so long as they offer a unique and authentic African experience that will appeal to the UK market and share in our Ethos.
Ethos offers the rare combination of long-established relationships with all the key African tour operator and travel agent specialists, as well as the relevant tourist boards and airlines - as well as media contacts. Not many PR companies have the travel industry contacts we have – and not many sales/representation companies have the journalist contacts we do. Add to this a client list that opens doors and we feel Ethos is pretty unique in its field.
Another aspect we pride ourselves on is our dedication and loyalty to our clients – and theirs in return. In an industry where properties tends to change allegiance fairly regularly, longstanding clients such as The Blue Train and Garonga Safari Camp have worked with us since 1998 and Serena Hotels and Isandlwana Lodge have been Ethos clients for over a decade.
Current clients include:
- The Blue Train - Africa’s Leading Luxury Train 2013 and Condé Nast Traveller UK Readers “Favourite Train” 2010 and 2012 runner up.
- Garonga Safari Camp - voted “#1 Top All Inclusive Resort in the World” (TripAdvisor 2011)
- Fancourt - South Africa’s Premier Golf Resort with The Links ranked top golf course in SA (Golf Digest US) and “World’s 10 best golf resorts” in CNNGo
- Steenberg - “#1 Luxury Hotel in Africa” (TripAdvisor 2012) & “ Top Foreign Golf Resort” and 2013 Gold List (Condé Nast Traveler US)
- Mont Rochelle - Boutique Vineyard Hotel with the best views in Franschhoek – gourmet capital of South Africa
- Newmark Hotels - Prime Cape Town Waterfront properties, Bush Bliss at Motswari Private Game Reserve and Barefoot luxury at Mozambique’s Coral Lodge.
- Majeka House - Stellenbosch boasts one of the Cape Winelands’ most stylish boltholes with trendy restaurant
- Fordoun Hotel and Spa – Award winning spa with an African twist in KwaZulu-Natal)
- Ghost Mountain Inn – hidden gem in the heart of Zululand
- Isandlwana Lodge - Battlefields experience meets Zulu culture.
- Thula Thula Game Reserve – safari in style at the home of the Elephant Whisperer
- The Zulu Route - www.zuluroute.com an online training tool for the trade and a social media and PR branding alliance including 10 (and growing!) individual properties combining on suggested routes in KwaZulu-Natal
- Serena Hotels - East Africa’s Most Respected Company
Due to the rapidly growing worldwide tourism market, and the increase in the number of facilities available, it has become more important for companies wishing to take advantage of this to market themselves effectively and cost efficiently on an international basis.
Ethos offers the full service from regular sales calls (we get in to see key tour operators and Product Managers that many would struggle to get appointments with!) , trade workshops and attending consumer shows to market research, marketing, public relations and media monitoring. Flexibility is key … every agreement is tailor-made to suit the particular needs of a company, in line with their strategies and budgets.
But don’t take our world for it…. Ask our colleagues! http://www.ethosmarketing.co.uk/about-testimonials/
Or read about some of our recent achievements http://www.ethosmarketing.co.uk/press-media-showcase
If you feel your property would fit well with our portfolio and would like more information on representation please email Alison@ethosmarketing.co.uk.
For more information on our services, our clients, the latest press releases, high res images and our blog please visit www.ethosmarketing.co.uk. Please follow us on twitter on @ethos_marketing
Claire Roadley
Marketing & PR Manager
Ethos Marketing®
Unit 5, Field Place Estate, Byfleets Lane, Broadbridge Heath, Horsham, RH12 3PB
Tel: 44 (0)1403 243619
claire@ethosmarketing.co.uk
http://www.ethosmarketing.co.uk
Twitter: @ethos_marketing / @claireroadley
http://www.facebook.com/EthosMarketing
Ethos Marketing is the UK Sales, marketing and PR office for:
The Blue Train - South Africa
Garonga Safari Camp - Limpopo Province, South Africa
Motswari & Geigers Camp - Greater Kruger National Park,South Africa
Fancourt - Garden Route, South Africa
Mont Rochelle - Franschhoek Winelands, Western Cape, South Africa
Majeka House - Stellenbosch, South Africa
Newmark Hotels - Cape Town, Motswari in Kruger and Coral Lodge in Mozambique
Steenberg - Cape Town, South Africa
ZuluRoute.com - KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Isandlwana Lodge - KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Fordoun Hotel & Spa - KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Ghost Mountain Inn - KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Thula Thula Private Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Serena Hotels - Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Uganda & Rwanda
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