Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* The Department of Home Affairs has ‘rubbished‘ the claim of SATSA (SA Tourism Service Association) that it is seeing a decline in airline ticket sales to our country of 30%, saying that the association is only trying to ‘cause confusion‘. SATSA CEO David Frost has described the Department’s reaction to the decline as ‘insulting’. The Department has stated that its priority is the safety of children, and not tourism!
* Qatar Airways will be increasing the frequency of its flights to Cape Town, offering daily flights to Cape Town in summer and in winter. Cape Town Tourism CEO Enver Duminy welcomed the larger number of travelers from the United Arab Emirates, many preferring to travel in our green season. Halaal Tourism is important for Cape Town, he said, and announced the launch of the Halaltrip App, providing details of mosque and prayer times, as well as Halaal restaurants, including those in Cape Town.
* DoubleTree by Hilton Cape Town, Upper Eastside Hotel will host Charley Boorman for his ‘Long Way Down‘ journey on BMW motorcycles, which will start and end in Cape Town. A dinner has been organised for 19 August. Boorman’s ride will cover 10000 km in six countries. The trip starts in the Cape, and will include Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Lesotho. Boorman is a TV presenter and travel writer, and a close friend of actor Ewan McGregor. Three years ago he produced ‘Charley Boorman’s South African Adventure‘, which became an international success. Cost of dinner and wine R500 (received via media release from Nicky Arthur PR)
* Southern Right whales have returned to the Cape coast, six having been spotted by Dyer Island Cruises earlier this week. The whales spend six months along our coast. Hermanus offers the best land-based whale watching in the world.
* Nick Lander, husband of UK wine writer Jancis Robinson, has written a second report about his trip earlier this year ‘Eating out on (sic) the Cape‘, writing about his Cape cuisine experiences at Garden Restaurant at Delheim, The Bakery at Jordan, Foliage, Overture, and Waterkloof.