All Nippon Airways | WhaleTales Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein

Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

* The Peace Table 2014 will take place on Tafelberg Road below Table Mountain on 25 May, with a 3-course lunch for 700 prepared by Chef Peter Tempelhoff of The Greenhouse at Cellars Hohenhort in conjunction with Myatt in the V&A Waterfront. There will be live music and a fashion show too. Cost R480, all proceeds go to charity. (received via e-mail from The Little Black Book)

* Schengen visa applications are likely to become more tourist-friendly from next year, reports Travel News Weekly. The European Union wants to reduce the processing time of a visa, and to introduce a one-year touring visa in the 26-country Schengen area in Europe. Regular travellers may receive multiple-entry visas for a three year period.

* 30000 Two Oceans Marathon runners are participating in the 45th race on Saturday, offered as a half and a full marathon and themed ‘Designed to Run‘ in recognition of Cape Town hosting World Design Capital 2014. Western Cape Minister of Tourism Alan Winde is estimating the event contributing R200 million to the province’s economy. The province has sponsored R350000 for the event. There appear to be mainly local runners participating this year, with few accommodation bookings received. (received via media release from Minister Winde’s office)

* All Nippon Airways (ANA) will be serving Cederberg Merlot Shiraz 2010 in Business Class. Continue reading →

Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

* South Africa has three entries on The Daily Beast‘s 12 best travel places to visit in 2014: the Bascule Bar at the Cape Grace hotel; the Kwandwe Private Game Reserve; and wine tasting at Groot Constantia. The American website has 15 million unique visitors per month!

* Another hotel is to be built in the V&A Waterfront, described by the retail development as a ‘mid-market, internationally branded hotel‘, according to the SA Tourism website, which erroneously wrote in his headline: ‘New hotel slated (sic) for V&A‘! The V&A claims to receive 24 million visitors per year (without explaining how this number is measured), and to have contributed R200 billion to the country’s GDP in the past ten years! The retail and entertainment area already has six 5 star, two 4 star, and two 3 star hotels.

* Solar storms are expected, and could influence GPS settings, power grids, and airline and military communications.

* Qantas is the safest airline in the world, out of 448 monitored. The other safest airlines are Air New Zealand, All Nippon Continue reading →