Tag Archives: Cape

Cape Festive Season disappoints, February looks promising

I am always astounded about how our local tourism authorities make comments to the media without foundation. 

Cape Town Tourism’s latest statement refers to a nonsensical “better than average” tourist season which the Cape has just experienced over the festive season, according to the tourism body.  The CEO Of Cape Town Tourism, Mariette du Toit-Helmbold, has been at her holiday home in Pringle Bay over the festive season, according to her Tweets on Twitter, and no formal survey has been conducted amongst its accommodation, restaurant and product owner members to come to such a conclusion. 

In a report in the Cape Times, the festive season was described by Mrs Helmbold as “We have had a better than average holiday season with many accommodation establishments recording ‘higher than expected’ occupancy rates”.   It is unclear exactly how good or bad this is meant to be,  the newspaper interpreting her comments in its headline as “Cape Town had good ‘first summer season’, an exaggeration.   She described the Cape’s summer season as consisting of two parts:

*   “a domestic high point during December (and the school holidays)” – Mrs Helmbold has no clue of the reality of the tourism pattern in this quote, in that the festive season period is made up of a mix of international (German and UK in the main) and domestic visitors, who only arrive in the Cape in any large numbers from 26 December onwards, and who largely left the Cape to return home this past weekend, making it a very short festive season of two weeks.   South African visitors to the Cape were more likely to be staying with friends and family than in accommodation establishments.

*   “an international season that peaks between mid-January and the end of February” – once again, Mrs Helmbold is out of touch, in that a tourism vacuum started yesterday, and lasts for two weeks before things pick up again, and then the season will run through until Easter.    February looks well-booked ahead already, mainly by British visitors, and those attending weddings.

The Times  crows today “Hospitality industry coins it”, overexaggerating as it likes to do, but refers extensively to Durban.  The article also quotes one-month holidaying CEO of Cape Town Routes Unlimited, Calvyn Gilfellan, in stating that tourism to Cape Town increased by 3 % over an unspecified period, and that occupancy increased to 65%.  No research source for Gilfellan’s statistics is mentioned.  Gilfellan expresses his satisfaction with the occupancy rate he quotes, but the industry would not be, given that this is the prime period in which it makes its money to survive the bleak winter months.

The exceptionally strong Rand, and the increase to 20 % in the VAT rate in the UK, have been prime deterrents to the UK tourists visiting the Cape, and are the region’s largest source of international tourism.   Its decline has been extremely noticeable this summer season.   However, the extremely severe winter weather experienced in the UK and in Europe has encouraged many tourists to come to the Cape in search of warmth and sun, which they would have had to the extreme last week, when Cape temperatures rose up to 42°C in Franschhoek, for example, Cape Town not being much cooler.   The extreme heat has caused the Franschhoek water supply to be severely depleted, and citizens of the village and its visitors have been encouraged to reduce their water usage by 50 %, ironic in that the village has the largest dam in the Western Cape on its outskirts.

A blow at the start of the festive season was the snow-stuck UK visitors, who could not fly out for three or four days, costing hospitality establishments lost bookings.   Seaside towns such as Plettenberg Bay and Hermanus experienced far lower visitor numbers than in previous years, Johannesburg visitors noticeably absent in the Garden Route town for the second year running.  Last year the Johannesburgers were staying home to save money to renovate their homes for the World Cup, a dream which came true for a small minority only.  Inland towns such as Franschhoek had lots of day visitors, but reduced numbers of guests staying over in accommodation.

It has been a different type of visitor coming to the Cape this festive season, and the domestic visitors in particular appeared to be more demanding, and in some instances dishonourable in cancelling bookings in the last minute, after the rooms have been held for them for many months, without adhering to the cancellation policy, more so than in previous years.   In part this was due to the endless days of a gale-force southeaster blowing over 100 km/hr in Camps Bay, for example, followed by two days of rain over New Year, which led to some guests departing early.  

POSTSCRIPT 20/1: Following our feedback to Cape Town Tourism in this blogpost, Mrs Helmbold has adjusted her definition of the second summer peak to “our international peak tourism season is from end-January until the end of March ” (Ms Helmbold had it as running from mid-January – end February in her December media release), in the newsletter which was sent to members today.  We are delighted that we could be of service to Cape Town Tourism, whose CEO seems severely out of touch with the reality of tourism in the city she is meant to handle the marketing of!

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com  Twitter: @WhaleCottage

Two Cape hotels on Telegraph Top 50 best hotel world list

Two local Cape hotels have made it onto The Telegraph “50 best hotels in the world” list, which the paper published on 31 December.  Writers of the Telegraph  Travel section selected the top 50 hotels, and divided them into three rates brackets.  The two Cape hotels both featured in the £150 – £300 per room per night price range, the mid price range.

La Residence  in Franschhoek is a very low key property locally, with little visible advertising.  Its business comes from international advertising and word of mouth.  Its biggest claim to fame is Elton John, the famous guest who comes to stay whenever he performs in Cape Town, and he always thanks the owners, Liz and Phil Biden, during his concerts.   When La Residence moved to its new site in Franschhoek, John was consulted as to what he wanted in terms of decor for “his” room.   Surprisingly, “his” room is not any larger than the other rooms that face the dam outside.  “His” room has an Indian decor style.   Every room is unique in its decor, created by interior decorator Ralph Krall.

The article describes La Residence as follows: “An 11-suite extravagance on the slope of Franschhoek, the Cape Village that is probably South Africa’s prettiest.  No expense has been spared.   Each of the suites has its own decor theme, from Buddhist retreat to French decadent, while the public areas are a riotous collection of Louis XIV furniture.   Persian carpets, plus objets, art and fabrics from India, Indo-China, France and Italy and everywhere else.  And it works thanks to the impeccable taste of Liz Biden, the proprietor”.

Grootbos  is located outside Hermanus, just beyond Stanford, before one gets to Gansbaai, and is known for its focus on conservation, not only of fynbos, but also of whales at De Kelders close by and other sealife, such as penguins, on Dyer Island.  The article writes as follows about Grootbos: “Found on one of the finest whale-watching coastlines, this five-star retreat offers unadulterated luxury without the guilt.  Every effort has been made to assimilate these fabulous private lodges – complete with all mod cons, state-of-the-art bathrooms, four-poster beds and unsurpassable views – into the environment.  And what an environment: a 1750-hectare reserve that is home to more than 740 different species of plants and the impossibly white sands of Walker Bay”.

Some of the other hotels that made the Telegraph Top 50 list include Mama Shelter in Paris, Mykonos Grace Hotel in Mykonos, Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Place in Budapest, Villa Marie in Saint Tropez, The Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai,  Four Seasons George V in Paris, Four Seasons New York, Four Seasons Istanbul, The Dorchester in London and The Carlyle in New York.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com   Twitter: @WhaleCottage

Tourists blown away with the Cape and its weather!

One of the worst weather periods has co-incided with the Festive Season in Cape Town and the Western Cape,  leaving many visitors disappointed with the weather, and the effect it has had on their holidays, especially for those that have travelled from far. 

The South-Easter battered Cape Town in December, and the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company has reported that the largest number of Cableway closures was experienced last month by far, and that the Cableway was only able to operate for 55% of its potential operating hours in December, reports the Cape Argus.  In the festive season week, the Cableway lost 25000 visitors due to the gale force winds and resultant restricted visibility.   The wind  blew at a speed of over 100 km/hour in Camps Bay and in many parts of Cape Town, leading guests to check out of accommodation establishments early, as happened at Whale Cottage Camps Bay, and at other establishments.   No sooner had the wind died down, two days of rain followed on the first two days of 2011.

Inland areas, as well as towns such as Hermanus and those on the Garden Route, were overcast and experienced rain while the South-Easter was pumping in Cape Town. 

Not only did the wind and rain affect the holiday plans of tourists, but the weather also played havoc with swimming pools of accommodation establishments, which were filled with sand daily, and which were difficult to keep blue.   The wonderful Camps Bay beach, as well as many others, were a no-go zone on South-Easter days, ‘sandblasting’ beachgoers.  Few beaches in Cape Town are South-Easter proof, Clifton being the most protected against the wind.

Despite the wind and rain, the weather was better than tourists would have experienced in the UK, USA and in Europe, with extremely low temperatures and snow storms in the past two weeks.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com  Twitter: @WhaleCottage

European weather puts a freeze on Cape accommodation industry

The Arctic freeze that has hit the United Kingdom and Europe in the last three days is placing a further damper on the already depressed accommodation industry in the Cape.   Passengers making their way to Cape Town for their summer holiday are struggling to get onto planes at Heathrow in particular but also in Frankfurt.  This could cost Cape Town R 10,5 million per day in lost revenue, estimates the City of Cape Town’s Mansoor Mohamed, Director for Economic, Social Development and Tourism, reports the Cape Argus.

As if the delayed or non-arriving guests is not a bad enough blow, this summer is seeing one of the poorest occupancy levels.  The Times reports that such Cape Town’s top 5-star hotels as the Mount Nelson Hotel, Cape Grace and Table Bay Hotel are seeing occupancy levels decreased by 10 – 20 %, according to Cape Town Routes Unlimited CEO Calvyn Gilfellan.   He attributes the reduced occupancy to the opening of twelve new hotels in the past one and a half years.  

Gilfellan is quoted as saying that big events are needed for the city, to fill hotel beds.   He also said that the positive effect of the World Cup was overshadowing the recent tragic event in a township.   He said that bookings were more last-minute, and that tourists were trading down, into camping sites and staying with relatives.    A price shake-up could be on the cards, Gilfellan added.

Bed & Breakfasts and Guest House have not been spared the poor booking scenario, which has been impacted upon by the strong Rand and the poor UK economy.   Cape Town has not been booked out for the festive season period.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com   Twitter: @WhaleCottage