Chris von Ulmenstein, CEO of Whale Cottage Portfolio
Chris von Ulmenstein has a B.Comm (Hons) from the University of Stellenbosch and an MBA from the University of the Witwatersrand Business School. She began her career at the Unit for Futures Research at the University of Stellenbosch, moving to the Bureau of Market Research at UNISA in Pretoria. Six exciting years as Market Researcher followed at advertising agencies JWT and Y & R in Johannesburg. Reaching the glass ceiling in advertising, she was appointed as a Lecturer in Marketing at the Wits Business School. In this period she established a Market Research consultancy called Relationship Marketing, and was soon appointed as a Research Consultant at the fledgling M-Net. Moving to Cape Town, Chris shifted the focus of her consultancy to Public Relations, representing food clients Bonnita (now Parmalat), Baker Street Snacks, 7 Eleven, and Aylesbury, as well as Hunt Lascaris Cape and Omnigraphics. She was Chairman of the Institute of Marketing Management, created and wrote Ad-Monitor for the Weekend Argus, and created and presented the Sweet & Sour Excellence Awards on Radio Good Hope.
Whilst running her PR consultancy, she set up her first Whale Cottage in Hermanus in 1996, in honour of the special mammals visiting Hermanus from May - December. Two years later Whale Cottage Camps Bay was established. In 2000 Whale Cottage Bakoven opened in Camps Bay, but has recently been sold. In 2004 Whale Cottage Franschhoek opened, and at the end of 2007 Whale Cottage Plettenberg Bay opened its doors. The Whale Cottage Portfolio is the first branded guest house group in South Africa, with a recognisable corporate identity, and unique marine decor style.
Whale Cottage guests receive a Whale Cottage Loyalty Card when they stay at any of the Whale Cottages, entitling them to one night free for every 10 nights they stay at a Whale Cottage. As part of her marketing of the Whale Cottage Portfolio, and to satisfy her love for writing, Chris started writing a newsletter called WhaleTales, which quickly became a must-read in the tourism industry. Past issues can be read on www.whalecottage.com
Chris has served on the Board of Cape Town Tourism as Deputy Chairman, and has been a Director of FEDHASA Cape, chairing the Small Accommodation segment. She has established Guest House Associations in Camps Bay and in Franschhoek, the foundation of which is active networking with guest house colleagues for the benefit of all.
Chris presents a Sweet & Sour Service Award on her WhaleTales blog www.whalecottage.com/blog (which has more than 30 000 unique visitors per month) every Friday, and writes a regular tourism newsletter called WhaleTales, with a distribution to 25 000 readers. She is an avid Tweeter on Twitter.
Contact details: Whale Cottage Portfolio, tel +27 (0)21 433-2100 fax +27 (0) 21 433-2101, info@whalecottage.com www.whalecottage.com, www.whalecottage.com/blog, Twitter:@WhaleCottage
Whale Cottage Camps Bay in Camps Bay, Cape Town
Whale Cottage Franschhoek in the Winelands
Whale Cottage Plettenberg Bay on the Garden Route
Whale Cottage Hermanus on the Whale Coast
