Tag Archives: business travellers

Confusing Covid and Visa regulations damage International Tourism to South Africa!

 

Six days after South Africa’s borders reopened for tourism, confusion reigns about various aspects of the new regulations in regard to how they apply to Leisure and Business Travellers, the insurance required in particular, whether the Covid testing applies to airline crew, and whether Visas are required for visitors to our country!  A surprise has been that the Minister of Tourism has appeared to have had no participation in the regulations regarding the reopening of International Tourism, left in the hands of the Departments of Home Affairs, Transport, and International Relations and  Cooperation! Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 7/8/9 February

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   President Jacob Zuma has announced that the General Election will take place on 7 May. (via Twitter)

*   Wifi availability and its smooth operation is a ‘deal breaker’ for business as well as leisure travellers, in choosing their accommodation, being more important than any other criterion.  In an analysis of 53 million reviews written in English, 2 million mentioned wifi/wi-fi and internet, and found a correlation between non-availability and poor connectivity with lower scores for the establishment out of a total of 5.  However, a perfect wifi service is not rewarded with a 5/5 score, as it is taken for granted that it should be available and work perfectly.

*   A Safari in Africa ranks third on the 10Best Readers Choice Best Bucket List.   Top of the Bucket List is the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, followed by Alaska.  The South Pacific Islands, Italy, Greece, Ireland, New Zealand, the Pyramids, and the Swiss Alps are also on the top 10 Bucket List.

*   A restaurant collection called bunnychow has opened in London, Bath, and Chester in the Continue reading →

International Tourism scenarios for 2014!

Tourism 2014 trendsAmerican tourism consultant and speaker Dr Peter Tarlow has made some predictions for the tourism industry in 2014.   He believes that not much will change relative to 2013, but has identified some trends that could impact on the tourism industry globally, as reported by eTurboNews:

1.  The economic status of the world in the past few years has placed greater emphasis on the ‘middle class‘, representing the largest number of travellers.

2.   Middle class travellers tend to be more forgiving of tourism mistakes and less perfect service.  They are however sensitive to economic changes, and the cost of credit in particular.  Interest rate increases makes the use of credit more expensive, and can affect travel. As they live on a budget, middle class travellers will be affected by their expectation of taxes and other major cost increases.  Stock market trends influence confidence, even if the middle class does not own shares.

3.   The upper class is more demanding of service when travelling, and less reliant on and believing in marketing.

4.  Security remains an important issue, and global events, such as the Winter Olympics, the Summer Olympics, and the 2014 World Cup will create security challenges, including terrorism, for Brazil in particular.

5.   Airlines will increasingly be disliked, as their service diminishes, as their rates increase, as they merge to save costs, as they Continue reading →