Category Archives: Wellington

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 20 November

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The 16th Cape Town International Jazz Festival will be held on 27 and 28 March 2015 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.  A total of 40 groups and artists will perform, the first 20 having been announced to include Beatenberg, Melanie Scholtz, Sipho Hotstix Mabuse, and more.   Five stages will be erected, and 38000 jazz lovers from around the world are expected to attend.  Tickets are for sale, at R530 for a day pass, and R860 for a weekend pass.

*   ‘Kitchenaid by Maryke and Reuben’ opened alongside Reuben’s Franschhoek earlier this week, the first Kitchenaid retail outlet in Africa.  The Kitchenaid mixer is available in 30 colours. (received via media release from Manley Communications).

*   Boschendal Elgin Sauvignon Blanc 2012 won a gold medal in the unoaked £10 – 20 category, and Nederburg Winemakers Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 17 September

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   A travel study conducted on behalf of Google in the USA has found that mobile Apps are less likely to be used to plan and book a trip, multiple devices now being used to book trips.  The ‘Traveler’s Road to Decision‘ is yet to be published, but report highlights have been released.  Search engines are increasingly consulted first in planning a trip, and in searching for car rental, cruises, and accommodation, at the expense of Apps, for leisure travelers, while business travelers mostly use mobile Apps to make travel bookings.

*   Telegraph Travel recommends how to spend 36 hours in Franschhoek, including staying at La Residence, eating at Pierneef à La Motte, The Kitchen at Maison,Grande Provence, and La Residence; tasting wine at Boekenhoutskloof (sneaking in Waterford in Stellenbosch); and visiting the Huguenot Monument, Babylonstoren, the Franschhoek Motor Museum, and the Holden Manz Gallery.

*   The Hospitality Investment Conference Africa (HICA) has held in Cape Town, and became a platform for the launch of a Continue reading →

Fine Brandy Fusion: an evening of fine flavours, Bisquit takes the cake!

Fine Brandy Fusion This Is Brandy Whale Cottage PortfolioOn Thursday evening my friend Bettie Coetzee-Lambrecht and I attended Fine Brandy Fusion at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, having been invited by Manley Communications.   Fine Brandy Fusion is a fine showcase for the local brandy industry, the Bisquit cognac with South African links being our highlight.

At the registration desk we received a goody bag, and a booklet of coupons, to allow us to taste brandy cocktails and taste some of the 50 fine brandies neat.  Immediately on entering we passed a smallish restaurant, catered by the Convention Centre kitchen.  The food quality of the Convention Centre has been poor at every exhibition attended in the past, but picked up when its new Chef Warwick Thomas arrived a year ago, reaching a new low at World Travel Market Africa last month.  I was immediately sceptical, but the food options which were displayed in a refrigerated unit looked better (just from the plating) than I have ever seen there before.   We received two food couponsFine Brandy Fusion Food Whale Cottage Portfolio each, which Bettie used for linefish and I ordered tasty calamari rings, Bettie saying that it would be important to line our tummies for the brandy tasting to come.  We both ordered a cheese platter as well.  The service was excellent and professional, and the prices very reasonable at about R50 each.  We felt severely under-dressed when a fashionista wearing fur and her partner shared our table! Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 16 May

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   British Airways has launched a You Tube video ‘On Top of the World’, which probably is a TV commercial for its A380 flights to South Africa (it does not say if they are flying to Cape Town too),  and was filmed exclusively in Cape Town, including on top of Table Mountain, on Camps Bay beach, with Lion’s Head as a backdrop, at Boulders Beach, and showing a Cape Town flower seller, a rugby player, and a cyclist.

*   SATSA (Southern African Tourism Services Association) CEO David Frost says that tourists should be encouraged to see more of South Africa than the Big Five, Cape Town, the Kruger National Park, Johannesburg, and the Garden Route. Attractions in other provinces are not known to travelers.  Repeat visits to our country should be increased, and the deceased time spent should be reversed, he added.  He encouraged SA Tourism to develop trade deals that draw visitors to lesser known attractions.  Travelers are not only visiting South Africa, but are also incorporating Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique into their itineraries.

*   Wellington Wines is planning to treble its sales of bulk wine to the UK to 6 million litres by next year, and projects Continue reading →