Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* Good news for long-haul travellers from the UK is the announcement by its government that from April 2015 the Air Passenger Duty will decrease, with the tax falling away on all flights with a destination less than 2000 miles from London, and the tax to be levied on destinations 2000+ miles from London will be at a lower rate. The UK has the highest departure tax ‘in the Western world‘, which has increased by 470% since 2007! It also is the country with the second worst rated air tax and airport charges in the world!
* Metrorail is to receive R233 million from the Transport Ministry to address its commuters complaints: too few trains, not frequent enough, not punctual, dirty, broken carriage windows, infrastructure problems at Cape Town station, lack of security, and no communication about delays, reports the Cape Times. Upgrades to track infrastructure will also be addressed.
* Lufthansa, Condor, TUIFly, and Air Berlin are cancelling flights and expecting delays due to public sector ground staff being on a country-wide strike, at major airports around the country. Lufthansa cancelled 600 flights today, being mainly domestic flights and representing one third of its total schedule!
* South African wines are still marred with an image of tasting of burnt rubber, writes David Falchek, wine writer for Times-Tribune in the USA, but are worth ‘checking out‘. Pinotage and Chenin Blanc are the grapes and wine at which our country excels, but are not well known in his country, he writes. He highlights Tierkloof 2011 Chenin Blanc, Grinder 2011 Pinotage, and Eventide Cellars 2008 Shiraz.
* Famous Brands has bought a 70% share in the 33 outlets of Wakaberry, a self-service frozen yoghurt brand, described as ‘yoghurt chain taps global craze‘ in Business Report. Other restaurants in the Famous Brands portfolio are Wimpy, Tasha’s, Steers, Mugg & Bean, and Debonair’s.
* Former The New Age journalist Yazeed Kamaldien has prepared a documentary about the 2014 soccer World Cup. Entitled ‘Imagina na Copa’ (Imagine the Cup), it documents the benefits and costs of hosting the event, finding that it has little benefit for Brazilians. It reflects the Brazilian’s anger and protests about the soccer event, which is not just about ‘soccer, samba and supermodels‘! The documentary will be screened in Cape Town, across the country, and overseas, reports The New Age.
POSTSCRIPT 1/4: The screening details in Cape Town of ‘Imagina na Copa’ have been announced: Labia on 9 April at 18h15; at Theatre Arts Admin Collective in Observatory on 11 April at 20h00; Homecoming Centre in Buitenkant Street on 22 April at 19h00.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage
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Excellent, you have been very conservative with the exclamation marks this week!
Thank you Mark.
Are you counting?