Tag Archives: biofuels

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 16/17 August

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine new headlines

*  In 2013 3 billion passengers and 48 million tonnes of cargo were transported on 100000 flights per day, a World Air Transport Statistics survey by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has revealed.  One-third of the flights are in the Asia-Pacific region, and one quarter each in the USA and Europe.  Only 2% of flights are in Africa.

*   SAA and Boeing are teaming up to develop jet fuel made from tobacco, to improve the airline’s carbon footprint.  The Solaris tobacco plant will be the source of the jet fuel, made by SkyNRG.  The biofuels are expected to be developed in the next few years.  Similar test projects for British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways are underway.

*   To promote film-making in our country, Rob Davies, the Minister of Trade and Industry, has announced the drastic lowering of the domestic film expenditure threshold Continue reading →

Aviation is the ‘midwife’ for Tourism, says Tourism Minister Van Schalkwyk!

SAA Table MountainMarthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Tourism, is not known for flowery language, but is reported to have used some interesting expressions in his address to the General Assembly on Tourism and Aviation of the  Airline Association of Southern Africa earlier this week, reports eTurboNews.

Minister van Schalkwyk said that the aviation and tourism industries were dealing with the same customers, but called them different names. ‘What you call passengers, we call tourists, and that includes both business and leisure travelers. Aviation is the midwife for more than 50% of international tourist arrivals and 70% of all tourism receipts worldwide. But the inverse is of course also true: Tourism is also a “midwife” for air transport growth‘, he said.

Trends which affect the Tourism industry,  identified by the Minister, were the following:

*  Tourism has grown rapidly in the past 60 years. ‘Globally, we expect 350 million new international tourist arrivals by 2020 and, by 2030, we expect arrivals to top 1.8 billion. What makes our sector so unique is its multiplying effect in contributing to GDP (gross domestic product) and job creation’.  The G20 declaration adopted last year reflects the positive social and economic effect of tourism.

*   Economic and political power is moving to the South and to the East. ‘Over the next Continue reading →