Tag Archives: Africa Travel Week

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

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and wine news headlines

*   Wesgro, the Tourism, Trade, and Investment promotion agency for the Western Cape, has announced that it is sponsoring the inaugural African Responsible Tourism Awards in conjunction with World Travel Market Africa and the International Centre for Responsible Tourism. The Award winners will be announced during Africa Travel Week on 16 April. (received via media release from Wesgro).

*   Cape Town has the most WORLD CLASS bars in South Africa, a total of 19 out of 46. Johannesburg has 15, and Durban 12. Achieving this status reflects their expertly made cocktails and their ‘charismatic mixology stars‘.  Their bartenders automatically enter the WORLD CLASS Global Final, to be held in Cape Town later this year.   The Cape Town bars include Orphanage, Umi, Asoka, Buena Vista, Bascule, Café Caprice, HQ, One & Only Vista Bar, Tjing Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 24 February!

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The V&A Waterfront appears to be getting the go-ahead from the City of Cape Town for its new development in Granger Bay, which will include parking, residential accommodation, and a coastal walkway connecting it to Sea Point, reports People’s Post.

*   Africa Travel Week, a triple travel and tourism exhibition, will be held in Cape Town from 28 April to 3 May, the first time a tourism exhibition will be held on such a large scale in Cape Town.   International travel brand names such as TripAdvisor, Hilton Worldwide, Starwood, and Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group (with brands Radisson Blu, Park Inn by Radisson, and Hotel Missoni)  will be present at the inaugural World Travel Market (WTM) Africa.   Africa is regarded as the ‘next key region for international travel brands’, making the continent attractive to global airlines, hotel groups, and technology companies, WTM Africa Event Manager Polly Magraw said.

*   Cape Town International is experiencing a shortage of jet fuel, Chevron has announced, saying it is working with Shell and other ‘colleagues’ to solve the problem, proudly stating that no flights were affected today.  On Kfm news however a Cape Town International spokesperson said that two flights were delayed by an hour each today as a result of the fuel problem.

*   A week ago the MyCiTi Bus introduced new routes (108 and 109) from Hout Bay, through Continue reading →

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

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Johannesburg teenager Filipa da Silva has won a competition launched by American Idols presenter Ryan Seacrest, for the best rendition of One Direction’s ‘Story of my Life’, beating former Eurovision Irish twin contestants Jedward.

*   The Tourism Indaba, held in May for the past 24 years, could be threatened by three trade and travel shows held in Cape Town under the Africa Travel Week umbrella the week prior to what is the country’s largest tourism and travel show, organised by SA Tourism and held in Durban.

*   Johannesburg was the most popular tourism destination in Africa in 2012, according to the MasterCard Third Annual Global Destination Cities Index, and should be the continent’s most visited city too, with an estimated 2,5 million visitors spending R35 billion.

*   The inaugural AfrAsia Bank Cape Wine Auction 2014 will be held over lunch at Delaire Graff on 15 March.  It will be preceded by a Barrel Tasting and Auction Preview at Waterford Estate the evening before, and the funds will go to funding education in the Winelands, benefitting Pebbles Project, the MAD Charity, and the Click Foundation.  The Cape Wine Auction Trust has been created, and its founding Trustees are Michael Jordaan, Ken Kinsey-Quick, Wendy Appelbaum, and Mike Continue reading →

Cape Town overwhelmed by one of busiest Festive Seasons ever!

Cape Town Festive Season Cape Town PartnershipCape Town experienced one of its busiest Festive Seasons ever, so much so that the city can be said to have been out of control as far as access to its attractions, beaches, shopping malls, and roads was concerned.  Perfect weather and a weak Rand attracted locals to the Mother City.  Once again the Atlantic Seaboard was the most attractive location for tourists in terms of restaurants, beaches, and accommodation, with resultant chaos in this area in particular at all levels.

The Festive Season period was a very short ten day period, from 27 December – 5 January this year, and almost every accommodation establishment, especially those on the Atlantic Seaboard, was fully booked.  Guests were predominantly from Johannesburg, or living overseas with South African family connections, meeting up in the city.  At Whale Cottage Camps Bay our international visitors were Norwegian, British, and Dutch during this period.

While it felt fantastic that Cape Town was so popular, one felt that the city was doing itself a disservice in that tourists had to experience: Continue reading →