1 min. with a Superhero: James Thorburn from Cape Realty
by Fred on 05/01/10 at 12:03 pm
1 comment
With Cape Town choc-full of tourists at the moment, we thought it would be interesting to chat to James Thorburn, the MD of Cape Realty International, a property maintenance and luxury holiday villas agency based in the Atlantic Seaboard, Cape Town.
James, how’s business, what with the recession and all?
Well, interestingly, Cape Realty has not had much of a slow down as far as holiday rentals are concerned. We have, however, seen a distinct change in mood within the industry. Owners are needing returns and are under severe pressure to cover costs, while holiday makers are driving a hard bargain and haggling for discounts. We have also had a lot more stock coming on board with local residents enquiring about peak season letting for extra cash.
Many of Ideate readers are in the accommodation business, or wanting to get into the accommodation business. Do you see boom times ahead for the SA tourism industry, looking at 2010 and beyond?
Yes we are already experiencing an increase within the tourism industry and I expect this to extend well past the Fifa World Cup. Although the event is only 30 days the tourism growth will go far beyond that. I believe the exposure it brings to South Africa will plant the seed for future holidaymakers as well as returning sports supporters. As far as the property market itself I do no see the World Cup bringing a once off spike, but more a gradual increase over the next few years. This is still due to instability of the international markets and investors not yet being confident enough to part with their money, but seeing the great investment opportunities that South Africa has to offer.
We’ve heard rumours of two mysterious characters that tend to drop by at some of your properties when no one’s looking. Can you tell us a little about these guys?
Indeed! Cape Realty has been busy training up Property Ninjas to keep an eye on our ever growing portfolio, currently sitting at 150 Luxury Villas and Apartments. In fact the Ninjas have performed so well that they have caught the eye of the Protea Hotel Group, who seemed to have started to train up Ninjas of their own.
Yes! We noticed that Protea has ‘adopted’ the ninja theme. It seems that the idea is catching on. You must be flattered with such blatant imitation.
Well, we thought of sending the real ninjas to show theirs a thing or two, but that would be an unfair fight. Our guys know some pretty hectic moves, including ninja death blows, and to be honest, it would be a shame to mess up those nice hospital-like rooms they have at Protea.
So, no lawsuits for now?
Nope, we may send the Ninjas to their MD’s suite while he’s staying in Cape Town to scare him, but for now, we’ll just embarrass the hell out of them by letting the world know about their little plagiarism secret.
Just last week, my wife stayed at one of your luxury villas, Aquarius, in Camps Bay for her first real break in seven years (we have 3 young kids). Since she came back, she¹s been walking around like she’s floating on air… and it’s highly annoying. Do you hand out bags of dope to clients, or is it just the sea air?
Well, unfortunately CRI doesn’t supply contraband to clients but at Aquarius they do get to relax in the Jacuzzi with a cocktail and enjoy beautiful sea views. That should just be enough to make you feel like you are floating on air. We also make it our business to ensure that guests have every comfort they could wish for, and we always endeavor to create a home from home experience.
What is your BHAG for Cape Realty?
To turn the entire industry on its head with one word: Integrity. And then, once expanded to all corners of the world, retain the market with unequalled service.
Sounds like a noble cause! James, thanks for your time, and we hope to see you and your Ninja friends a lot more in the Cape tourism circles! All the best for 2010.
Fred Roed is the marketing guy in the Ideate crew. He runs a web marketing company called World Wide Creative and loves writing about people out there doing marketing right. View more articles by Fred.
Tags: camps bay, entrepreneur, interview, superhero
www.ei.co.za – Cape Realty – Super Hero
Jan 6th, 2010
[...] clients of the Entrepreneur Incubator James Thorburn from Cape Realty gets his Super Hero status on Ideate this week. James joined the Incubator a few years ago to help decide what to do with his huge amount [...]