Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
*. Wesgro is inviting investors to capitalize on the depreciation of the Rand in investing in the Western Cape, and to buy exported products from the province. Wesgro CEO Tim Harris said that the province’s skilled workforce would offer investors better value for money. Investors would benefit from the lower costs created by the weaker Rand in setting Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* The crayfish season closed at the end of the Easter weekend, kicking off an educational campaign by the City of Cape Town’s Marine and Environmental Law Enforcement Unit to promote compliance with the Marine Living Resources Act. The seaworthiness of boats and certification of skippers was also checked, as was the minimum size and quantity of rock lobster caught.
* The first ever export of Pinotage grapes from our country to the USA has arrived, sold into the market by suppliers Gino Pinto Inc. The grape shipment has sold out.
* SA Tourism and National Geographic Channel have teamed up to create a Continue reading →
For the first time the hospitality industry of Cape Town has had a taste of the power of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with about 25 000 England supporters streaming into the city on Friday, to see their team play Algeria, in what many described as a most disappointing match, with a goal-less draw. The visitors to Cape Town are loving the city and its fantastic “winter” weather, today in particular, and it will be sure to have a good tourism spin-off for future visits.
Accommodation establishments are booked out, restaurants and pubs are filled with patrons, and the V&A Waterfront was reported on Twitter to be “swarming with tourists”, with a warning issued to locals to “do not go”! The most popular pub in the Waterfront for the English fans is Ferryman’s Tavern, its special ale suiting the British taste, reports The Times. A pod of whales even came close to the Cape Town Stadium in Table Bay, in honour of the British visitors!
The accommodation bookings were extremely last minute, with the last available four of the 11 rooms at Whale Cottage Camps Bay, for example, being sold out in the last 24 hours prior to the start of the match. The average length of stay is just three days, until the England fans head off elsewhere tomorrow. Camps Bay’s beachfront was spilling over with fans packing pavement cafes and restaurants, as on a summer’s day, despite the overcast day yesterday.
The city is looking festive, with the red-and-white England flag adorning many an accommodation establishment, and restaurants and pubs. The feared soccer hooligans did not travel to Cape Town, it would appear, the cost of the ticket prices being a deterrent.
A highlight for Cape Town is the VIP presence at the match on Friday of the Princes William and Harry, looking very uncomfortable in their suits; Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London; and David Beckham, sitting at the edge of the pitch. Johnson said: “I’ve been to Cape Town for just two days and the atmosphere is mind-blowing. The nation is united in enthusiasm and the tournament is progressing nicely”, according to the Cape Argus.
It appears that the number of visitors to South Africa has increased since the earlier depressing news that the number of international visitors had reduced, with so many last minute bookings. It appears that many charter flights have entered Cape Town, with groups of 20 – 30 soccer fans on board each, all seemingly last minute bookings. The England fans have been followed by the British media, and it is heartening to note how the reporting by the British media, SkyNews in particular, has changed to reporting far more positively about our country. Last night the TV station showed an interview with its correspondent in Cape Town, filmed on Signal Hill with a beautiful backdrop of the Stadium and Table Bay. The reporter referred to England needing the Cape of Good Hope for its next match!
South African Customs have reported that 456 000 international visitors had entered South Africa between 1 – 13 June, compared to 345 000 visitors in the same period in 2009, reports The Times. Obviously not all visitors are attending the World Cup, especially as many of them flew in as late as 11 June, so they may include the regular cross-border visitors from neighbouring African countries, coming to shop in South Africa.
Next week looks more depressing, the Portugal versus North Korea, and Cameroon versus Netherlands matches not having as much appeal, if accommodation bookings are anything to go by. All fingers are crossed for strong teams making the round of 16, the quarter final and semi-final in Cape Town, as this will fill up Cape Town again.
Good performances by England, Germany, the USA, and the Netherlands in their next matches will have an important influence on last minute fans coming to South Africa, says FEDHASA, reports Fin24. This effect will not be felt if Brazil and Portugal progress to the final stages of the tournament, it is speculated. Only 10 000 German visitors came to South Africa for the World Cup, after national soccer hero and FIFA executive member Franz Beckenbauer expressed his concerns in earlier days about the World Cup having been awarded to South Africa. He bravely changed his tune when he briefly spoke at the World Cup Kick-Off Concert.
No matter who plays whom in the next 20 days of the World Cup, the accommodation bookings are far better in Host Cities than they would have been in any other June and July ever. Whale Cottage Camps Bay now has an occupancy of 65 % for the World Cup, having improved its occupancy by 5 percentage points in the first ten days of the World Cup. Given last minute bookings for the Quarter and Semi Finals, occupancy could end off at around 70 % for Whale Cottage Camps Bay. The reality, however, is that May had the worst occupancy ever, thus balancing the gain with the loss. The Whale Cottages in Hermanus, Plettenberg Bay and Franschhoek have barely gained from the World Cup.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com
The countdown to the last 100 days to the largest sports event ever to be hosted by South Africa starts today. FIFA has given South Africa 8/10 for its readiness to host the World Cup, with only 100 days left for it to become 10/10, reports the Cape Argus.
A whirlwind visit by the FIFA and Local Organising Committee top executives and 120 local and international journalists of all ten the World Cup host cities has focused attention on the status of the preparations for the event.
1. The Cape Town Stadium is completed, and two test events which have taken place in the stadium went off reasonably smoothly. FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke heaped praise on Cape Town for its stadium yesterday, and he said that the city stadium pitch should be the benchmark for all stadiums. Valcke also said that “Cape Town will be the perfect place to be during the World Cup.” He lauded the Cape Town Stadium, and said that it would attract many thousands of soccer fans, even after the completion of the World Cup.
The pitch at Mombela Stadium in Nelspruit is currently a sandpit, but will be ready for the June start.
2. The roads in most host cities and highways leading to them, have been significantly improved, and should be completed by April. The roads in Cape Town in particular will be transformed, with the N1 and the N2 both having more lanes, and previous traffic blockages such as Hospital Bend on the N2 will be something of the past soon. Even in the city centre, the roads and pavements have been radically improved in Green Point, close to the Cape Town Stadium, making it a pleasure to drive past the Stadium to get to the Waterfront, and to walk in the area.
The roads around the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg and the Mombela Stadium in Nelspruit are still in a poor condition.
3. Bookings seem to have slowed down to a trickle as far as accommodation is concerned, and this is FIFA’s current largest challenge, in that international media are reporting negatively about the “rip-off” pricing in South Africa and the level of crime. These two factors appear to be the major deterrents to soccer fans attending the matches. Accommodation in a leading suburb like Camps Bay in Cape Town, a 10 minute drive from Cape Town Stadium, is about 50 % booked for the World Cup. MATCH, FIFA’s accommodation agency, has been severely criticised for creating the image of “rip-off pricing”, by adding 30 % commission to all its package components, including accommodation, tickets, flight tickets, and transport.
4. FIFA’s is expanding the number of low cost tickets it is making available to South Africa, and denies lowering the price of its category 3 and 4 ticket prices offered to South Africans. But tickets are not selling as they should, meaning that the estimate of 450000 international soccer fans attending the World Cup will not be achieved, meaning more locals will make up the viewership, but will not be using the hospitality facilities which have been pitched at international soccer fans. More tickets could be made available at lower prices closer to the start of the World Cup.
5. Excitement in South Africa about the World Cup remains low, and in fact appears to have reduced in interest since the Final Draw of 4 December. This follows the news that the international soccer fans will not be attending as expected, and that top international trainers are expressing their resistamce and restentment to FIFA for choosing South Africa and maybe even Africa as the host country for the first time ever.
6. What was meant to be an African World Cup, stressed to be such by FIFA President Sepp Blatter over and over again, appears to be a South African World Cup. Due to a reduced demand of accommodation, MATCH is not using accommodation in neighbouring countries or in Mauritius, as previously threatened. Worst of all is that ticket sales to soccer fans in African countries are extremely low (about 2 %), due to the difficulty in making bookings via the internet in African countries, and the low ownership of credit cards on this continent.
7. What is missing is a campaign of support, to enthuse South Africans to be positive about the World Cup, and to be friendly and generous to soccer fans. In Germany an advertising campaign was launched in the last few months prior to the start of the World Cup 2006, with the slogan :”Die Welt zu Gast bei Freunden” (The world at home with friends), to encourage the generally stiff Germans to reach out and welcome soccer fans from around the world. The campaign was particularly successful in uniting East and West Germans at the time. Plans to teach locals foreign languages such as Spanish and French, and to guide them in regard to cultural differences, have not been followed through. Volunteers have been interviewed but not appointed. Some of them will be appointed for their foreign language skills, and for their knowledge of their city. But time is running thin, to train them as to how to deal with the calibre of such an event.
8. What will give the marketing of the World Cup a much-needed boost will be the attendance of the World Cup by VIP’s : those that appear likely to attend include President Obama; Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder; top businessperson Lakshmi Mittal; Businessperson and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich; Charlize Theron, who assisted with the Final Draw in December; Victoria Beckham, who is said to have rented an apartment in Camps Bay rather than join the England team in Rustenburg; rapper Akon and possibly Lady Gaga; Franz Beckenbauer, previous German star soccer player and trainer, will spend the first five days of the World Cup on the MS Noordam outside Durban, reports The Times.
Cape Town celebrates the 100-day countdown with a demonstration of the Diski Dance at Cape Town Stadium, organised by Cape Town Tourism.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com