Mariette du Toit-Helmbold

Mariette du Toit-Helmbold is an international destination marketing and tourism thought leader, strategist and public speaker on tourism, destination marketing, brand innovation and digital marketing. She established Destinate, a boutique international destination and tourism marketing agency, in 2013 after an enviable tenure of 10 years as the CEO of Cape Town Tourism. Under her leadership, Cape Town Tourism won critical acclaim as a Destination Marketing Organisation (DMO) working at the coalface of one of the world’s fastest growing industries. The agency has gained recognition globally for digital marketing campaigns like #Stellenblog for Stellenbosch, #72hrsSoweto for the Soweto Wine Festival and a number of digital pop-up campaigns. Du Toit-Helmbold is in demand internationally as a speaker on tourism, trends in marketing, wine tourism and the role of digital and social in destination and tourism marketing. She has been a member of the UNWTO Destination Council; the UNWTO Business Council, the UNWTO Protection of Children through Tourism Council and was a board member of Wesgro, the Western Cape’s Investment and Destination Marketing Organisation, from 2010 – 2014. She is a member of two global Place Marketing Agencies namely, UP There, Everywhere and The Phønix Panel. She understands the importance of having a global and futuristic perspective, but her ability to develop and implement globally relevant vision and strategy within a distinctively local context with tangible results is what has truly positioned her as a thought leader in tourism, marketing, and strategy development.