Tag Archives: Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 11 September

imageTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*.  Despite the Rand exchange rate being at its best ever for international visitors, no surge in tourism bookings is being seen. The after-effect of last year’s Ebola crisis, and the new visa regulations, have affected tourism numbers from China, India, and Brazil in particular. Hotelier Arthur Gillis said that the golden opportunity of the exchange rate was negated by the visa regulations, and said that we ‘shoot ourselves in the foot’.

*   Cape Town was featured in ‘Leute Heute’ on ZDF German TV this afternoon, with actor Kai Schumann Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 11/12 December

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Responsibility for SAA will be taken over by Nhlanhla Nene, Minister of Finance and National Treasury, from Minister of Public Enterprises Lynne Brown, once it has been documented as a proclamation in the Government Gazette!

*   British wine writer Tim Atkin writes that our country’s white blends are the best, the release of the Chenin Blanc-dominant Cartology Alheit 2011 being the motivation for his praise, being a new benchmark for South African whites.  Our country has ‘some of the most exciting and best value wines in the New World‘, he wrote.

*    A new free App Sideways (likely to have been named after the famous movie set in Napa Valley) has been launched, designed by iKineo, as a guide to the Winelands. ‘Each wine farm’s profile page in Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 23 July

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company is closing for its annual maintenance from 28 July to 10 August, to meet the standards of the Swiss Governing Body for Cableways.   The Cableway originates from Switzerland.

*   Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Cape Town will be held from tomorrow until Saturday, organised by African Fashion International with sponsorship support from the City of Cape Town.  The fashion industry has an important impact on the economy of the Cape.  During the event, 27 designers will present their collections over 15 shows.

*   Reuben Robertsons Pop-Up and Pop-In Riffel is travelling through Africa with the Land Rover Africa magazine and TV crew, driving 6500 km from Cape Town to Dar es Salaam.   The purpose of the feature is to promote overland tourism to Sub- Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 10/11 May

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*  Writing in The Guardian, Fiona Beckett warns against generalising the wine styles of a New World country like South Africa, and not acknowledging that different styles do well in particular regions of our country.  So she highlights that Constantia, Darling, and Elgin are synonomous with Sauvignon Blanc; the Hemel-en-Aarde valley with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay; Stellenbosch with Bordeaux-style red wines; and the Swartland with Chenin Blanc and Syrah.  She further highlights Elgin in particular, and its wines Elgin Ridge 282, Paul Cluver Ferricrete Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling, and Kershaw Elgin Chardonnay 2012.

*   A South African Attractions Management Conference will be held in Cape Town at the Old Mutual Conference and Exhibition Centre at Kirstenbosch on 4 and 5 June, The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company CEO Sabine Lehmann being the driving force for the Conference.  Topics include staffing, Seasonality, online ticket sales, Social Media, crisis management, market research, family-friendliness, and customer requirements.   The Conference is aimed at the management of Cape Town and the Winelands’ tourist attractions.

*   More than 10000 tourism and travel executives are expected to be attending Indaba, Africa’s major tourism expo,  which runs in Durban until tomorrow, according to The New Age.  The expo is expected to generate R150 million for Durban, Continue reading →

Freedom Day 2014: reflecting on 20 years of democracy!

SA FlagIt was the interview with a Cape Argus reporter on Friday that made me reflect on how far not only our country, but also I personally and my business have come in the 20 years since we voted on 27 April 1994.  The Argus interview was focused on the progress over the past 20 years I have seen personally, business-wise, and politically.

My very first feedback to reporter Dylan was that 1994 was the first and only time that I was allowed to vote, having a German passport.  I do not recall how it was possible for all foreigners (by passport) to be allowed to vote, when it has never been allowed before nor since then.  I loved standing in a queue somewhere in Sea Point, being part of the exciting day that would change our country forever, and how much goodwill there was amongst South Africans whilst waiting patiently in the queues. Little did we know that the rest of the world waited anxiously for the outcome of the election, fully expecting a revolution to take place, unbeknown to us residents, with thanks to the SABC in ‘protecting’ us from this world scenario.

I moved to Cape Town in 1990, and transferred my marketing research consultancy Relationship Marketing from Johannesburg, changing its emphasis to Public Relations for food clients such as Baker Street Snacks, Bonnita (now Parmalat), Aylesbury, and more.  The late John Harrison was a favourite client when he was GM of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway.  Even Mark Shuttleworth was a client, before he became famous for selling his Continue reading →

Can Cape Town cope with the full Festive Season?

Camps Bay beach 2The past two days have seen the start of a 10 day period in which Cape Town accommodation is booked out, with resultant chaos on the roads, and is impacting on tourism services, to the frustration of the many visitors, largely South Africans, in Cape Town, as well as its residents!

The positive aspect for the holidaymakers is the magnificent weather we have been blessed with, the South-Easter having stayed away so far, although it may make a vigorous comeback tomorrow.  This has attracted locals as well as tourists to the beautiful beaches of Cape Town, Camps Bay and Clifton being the two most perfect and beautiful Blue Flag beaches in our city.  I have not seen such parking demand as yesterday, when the parking spaces opposite and in front of the Camps Bay High School were full by midday.

The downside is that Cape Town is unlikely to cope with the volume of cars and visitors in the next week:

*   for the first time City of Cape Town traffic services regulated traffic coming down from Signal Hill or up Kloof Road past The Roundhouse this past weekend, a crossing of many near-accidents.   This means that traffic coming up Camps Bay Drive from Camps Bay is badly backed up.

*   even worse was the situation at Table Mountain yesterday.  I had offered to drop two Norwegian guests at Platteklip Gorge, where they wanted to hike up the mountain.  Another set of traffic police helped me get onto Tafelberg Road, only to have a near collision with a bakkie belonging to the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company, stopping suddenly in our lane in front of the car, having travelled all the way down the mountain against oncoming traffic.  He shouted at us that we were not allowed up the mountain, as no traffic was moving up or down, yet the Cablecar sign at the circle showed that the Cableway was open.  We had seen cars parked Continue reading →

Cape Town loses numerous events due to lack of bidding budget!

 

 Cape Town StadiumThe City of Cape Town has lost 12 bids for new Events for Cape Town in the past six months, and has lost two existing events to other cities, said Anton Groenewald, Executive Director of the City of Cape Town Tourism, Events, and Marketing Directorate, at the Annual General Meeting of Cape Town Tourism two weeks ago.

According to Southern African Tourism Update, Groenewald blamed the ‘City’s limited bidding budget‘ and the stronger international currencies of other bidding countries for the poor track record. The weaker Rand this year affected the costs of bidding for international events, he said:  ‘Exchange rate fluctuation impacts on our ability to bid because almost all competitive bids are in euros, pounds or dollars. This means that at the time of bidding earlier this year, the exchange rate was such that events and concerts at that time became financially unviable because the dollar or euro equivalent was more than we could absorb. Secondly, events and global brands are asking higher and larger fees because other city destinations are paying larger upfront fees to secure their participation. So a fee last year of R3,5m for an event has now increased to US$1,5m (R9,9m), because that is what another destination paid this global brand. We simply cannot compete at these rates.  While Cape Town seems to enjoy international recognition and awareness as a destination, what we do not have is an increase in enquiries and how to convert this into purchases’.

Groenewald’s Directorate has a massive budget at R560 million, out of the Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 6 August

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The Brass Bell in Kalk Bay has to remove all its deck extensions, the City of Cape Town has dictated.

*   Vida e Caffe is said to be opening at Shell forecourts, rolling out with 40 outlets initially, and a total of 300 is planned!

*   Russia is now South Africa’s third largest export market, especially in bulk wines.

*   The Hermanus Wine & Food Festival will be held at the outskirts of the town this weekend, on Friday and Saturday.

*   Bistro Sixteen82 is focusing on South Africa in its Tapas themed dinners in August,Bistro Sixteen82 Bunny Chow !cid_image002_jpg@01CE91D0 with its ‘Bringing Tapas Home’ theme being traditional South African dishes with a contemporary twist. The ten local dishes include Bobotie, Bunny Chow, Malva Pudding, and Koeksisters.  So far the Tapas themes have been Italy and Turkey, and Mexico and the Orient will follow. (via media release from Communication Services Africa)

*   The Robertson Wine on the River festival takes place for the eighth consecutive year, over the weekend of Continue reading →

Cape Town Tourism ‘destinated’ to start afresh in marketing Cape Town!

mariettedth_1369339943_39Last week two senior members of staff left the services of Cape Town Tourism, being its CEO Mariette du Toit-Helmbold, and its PR and Communications Manager Skye Grove.  A new era lies ahead for the tourism body, which can hopefully get on with the focused marketing of Cape Town and its tourism industry again.

Given how badly Cape Town has been marketed as a tourism destination in the past few years, it is a fantastic opportunity for new CEO Enver Duminy to show what he can do to deal with the city’s terrible problem of Seasonality with barely any business in the winter months, which is unique to Cape Town, compared to South Africa’s other major cities.  Every year Mrs Helmbold has paid lip service to the problem, and promised to tackle the problem, but she never did, and business has become progressively worse every winter.

Shocking was the blatant exploitation in the past ten days by Mrs Helmbold to actively market the services of her new destination marketing consultancy whilst still in the employ of Cape Town Tourism.  She announced that she would establish a consultancy in April after her resignation from Cape Town Tourism became public in February.  As if Tweets on her own Twitter account were not enough to market the new consultancy whilst still working for Cape Town Tourism,  Cape Town Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 23 July

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*     South Africa has two of CNN Travel Top 10 golf courses in Africa:  The Gary Player Country Club at Sun City, and the Fancourt Links course.

*   All Gold is South African’s best loved brand, and the top 10 brand list includes nine FMCG household brands and the Clicks Club Card.   No beverages other than Coca Cola feature on the Top 10 list, and no wine nor beer brands feature on the Top 30 list, in a study conducted about 8000 brands amongst 15000 South Africans.

*    Durbanville Hills is offering a tasting on 22 August of Sauvignon Blancs and Merlots, from Durbanville Hills, Chile, France, New Zealand and Australia,  led by cellar master Martin Moore.  The tasting will be followed by a Thai green curry dinner. (via De Kock Communications)

*   Madame Zingara’s ‘The Miracle Tour’ is extending its run in the V&A Waterfront to include the rest of winter, the company has announced by e-mail today. Continue reading →