The Eden District Municipality will be engaging the public on a proposal to change the name of the Municipality to Garden Route District Municipality.
This followed a resolution adopted by the EDM at the end of August that a “proper public participation process be initiated to solicit the view of all stakeholders and members of the public.”
In a statement on Thursday the Eden District Municipality said that there are too many names and brands which are used to refer to the Eden district municipal area.
These include, but are not limited to Southern Cape, Southern Coast, Eden, and Garden Route.
“This creates a state of brand delusion, meaning that there is a mismatch between what some believe, what council believes the municipality’s brand should represent and the experience of the people who live and visit our area,” EDM said.
To create a public perception about a brand takes a lot of time and effort.
EDM executive mayor, Memory Booysen said “there is evidence that a lot of people outside the Eden district do not understand what the word ‘Eden’ means in the context of our municipality or why the district is actually using the name.”
“From a competitive tourism marketing strategy point-of-view, it is difficult to promote a brand in the over saturated tourism market. Currently the European, Chines and Southern American and African markets are already aware of the name Garden Route, which makes it easier to continue with a brand aligned to this description,” he added.
“Our area has already been declared an international biosphere by UNESCO and is known as the Garden Route Biosphere reserve. That is a very prestigious recognition that we must leverage to ensure economic growth for our region,” said Booysen.
