Category Archives: Cape Town Stadium

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 19 September

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines 

*   Distell has created a wine marketing subsidiary in the UK, called Distell Vineyards & Estates, which is also marketing its wines in Germany, Holland, and Finland.  UK sales are £ 32 million. CEO Carina Gouws emphasised the importance of the UK market: ‘The UK remains the most important market globally in terms of positioning premium brands.  Wines that perform well in there are noticed by the rest of the world’.   The company is planning to aggressively increase its market share four fold, focusing more on independent retailers and the on-trade in the UK.

*   A review of the MyCiTi Bus performance has shown that the service surpassed its target by over 2 million ‘passenger journeys‘, reaching 7,4 million in the past financial year. The recent introduction of the N2 Express to Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain has boosted the passenger numbers to over 1 million per month.  Changes to be made to routes include culling the Waterfront Silo extension from the Civic Centre on the Camps Bay route (which we criticised from the outset when launched a year ago).  Route 113 along Ocean View Drive from Three Anchor Bay to Fresnaye will be cancelled on 6 October, due to low demand.  One wonders why market research was not conducted to check demand for the service.

*   World Travel Market Africa will be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from 15 – 17 April next year, Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 14 July

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*  The 2014 World Cup is done and dusted.  Official airline sponsor Emirates received a last minute ‘branding’ boost when its distinctly uniformed stewardesses brought the medals to be awarded to the teams of Germany and Argentina.  They remained on the stage, standing behind German President Joachim Gauck, Chancellor Angela Merkel, and the winning German team, guaranteeing excellent coverage for the airline.  A viewership of more than 1 billion is estimated.

*   New Social Media records were set during the World Cup Final last night. The number of Tweets peaked at 618275 per minute, up from the 580166 peak in the Semi Final against Brazil.  However, the total number of 32 million Tweets during the Final failed to beat the record of close to 36 million set in the Semi Final.   German player Lukas Podolski’s selfie of him kissing Bastian Schweinsteiger was retweeted 88620 times, and was favourited 78169 times.  His selfie with German Chancellor Angela Merkel was retweeted 25000 times, and favourited almost 30000 times.  Similarly the sporting event was the most written about event on Facebook, with 280 million posts, likes, and comments during the Final last night coming mainly from the USA, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, and Indonesia.  Its previous record was 250 million for the Super Bowl last year.

 *   Cape Town is ranked number one on a list of 20 most beautiful cities in the world, ahead of Rio de Janeiro and 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 →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 14 March

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The Oscar Pistorius trial TV live broadcast has already achieved 190000 viewers (period undefined) within a period of 8 days, but few advertisers are using it as a platform to market their brands.

*   Terroir will feature in a six part series ‘Seasons of Terroir‘, produced by Justin Bonello of ‘Cooked in Africa Films’, to reflect what it takes to run a busy restaurant in a competitive industry.  It will be broadcast on National Geographic (channel 181) from 25 March at 18h15, for six consecutive weeks.  The restaurant celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.  Broughton says: ‘After watching the series, I hope viewers will have a better understanding of what cooking in a modern-day, professional kitchen is all about. For one, it is not nearly as glamorous as it is often depicted in the media. In fact, it is tough, demanding and relentless. If someone is really committed to following a career as a chef, including the long, often anti-social hours, it is an exciting and rewarding choice. It has certainly been rewarding to be part of the growing gourmet culture in Stellenbosch – I can’t think of a better place to experience great food and wine than on a wine farm like Kleine Zalze…’ (received via media release from Manley Communications)

*   Bain’s Cape Mountain single grain whisky from Wellington has been awarded a gold medal at the 2014 China Wine and Spirits competition, based on its value for money. (received via media release from De Kock Communications)

*   Cape Town is celebrating its Carnival, with the theme ‘Imagine’  linked to Cape Town hosting World Design Capital Continue reading →