Coffeebeans Routes’ “story-based” experiences add creative dimension to tourism

Last edited: December 12, 2011

Posted by Business and Arts South Africa

New Business and Arts South Africa member, Coffeebeans Routes, is flying the flag for creative tourism with its slate of “story-based” experiences in Cape Town.

Among the day tours offered by this groundbreaking company is an “art route” which takes tourists on tours to a number of visual artists including Cinga Sampson, John Bauer, and Gashiya Norman

Evening routes include a Jazz Safari, a Hip-Hop Route, and a Reggae Route.

Coffeebeans Routes also undertakes special “routes” like the recent Handspring Puppetry Route, which took place during the Out the Box Festival in the city.
Owner Iain Harris says all the routes offer “contemporary, urban, African experiences that provide deep insights, and plenty of fun”.

“The key to what we do at Coffeebeans is stories. It's all about stories. We create experiences around the stories of Cape Town. These are experiences aimed primarily, in the medium term, at foreign visitors to Cape Town.”

For Harris, joining BASA is key to positioning Coffeebeans Routes as a significant business – not just an arts player.

“Coffeebeans is interested in the relationship between business and art and we believe that there are more possible models than simply business providing grants to Art,” Harris says. “Art is identity, and strong identity and sense of self are the backbones of a strong economy. So the link is clear and important.”

With plans to launch in Johannesburg in 2014 , Coffeebeans Routes is proving that creative tourism can be a real business and that arts and culture has a real role in the South African economy.

“Telling our stories is key to growing our economy,” says Harris simply. “Breaking our economies of silence and developing the confidence that our experiences and stories and ideas have value, that people want to hear them, is an economic necessity.” For Harris, creative tourism is the future of tourism – through the creation of the next generation of tourism, which can act as a business model for people in many different locations.

One of the company’s upcoming initiatives is the Coffeebeans Routes Summer Series which starts on December 12th.

A four week mini-festival of cultural and creative Cape Town experiences, exploring fashion, art, music and beer hubs in the city, the series also debuts Coffeebeans Routes Cape Town Beer Route, an afternoon journey through beer culture in the city, from mainstream mega-beer production, to emerging microbreweries and traditional African brewing.

For more info go to: www.coffeebeansroutes.com

About Business and Arts South Africa NPC:

Business and Arts South Africa NPC is an internationally recognised South African development agency which incorporates the arts into, and contributes to, corporates' commercial success. With a suite of integrated programmes, Business and Arts South Africa NPC encourages mutually beneficial partnerships between business and the arts. Business and Arts South Africa NPC was founded in 1997 as a joint initiative of government and the business sector, to secure the future development of the arts industry in South Africa, through increased corporate sector involvement. Established as a Non Profit Company, Business and Arts South Africa NPC is accountable to both government and its business members.

Hazel Allies (journalist, photographer & storyteller). She is an anchor, dinner host on the Storytelling Route, welcoming people into her family home in Bonteheuwel. Pic by Donna Lewis