Tag Archives: Chris von Ulmentein

Cape Town International Convention Centre expansion will be good for Tourism!

Cape Town International Convention Centre sod turningThe sod has been turned for the construction for the expansion to the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), which is certain to boost the Tourism industry in Cape Town specifically, and the Western Cape economy generally.  Green design elements have been planned, to make the expansion section environmentally sustainable.

Western Cape Minister of Tourism Alan Winde said about the expansion: ‘The CTICC is a major economic catalyst and the planned expansion of the venue will significantly increase its capacity for meetings and exhibitions. This will boost business travel to the province and create more employment opportunities in the tourism sector. In the previous financial year, it is estimated that the CTICC created 7 500 jobs. This is an excellent example of infrastructure-led growth paving the way for increased employment for our residents’.  The exhibition space will double by 10000 m², which means that Cape Town can bid for future Indabas, Africa’s largest tourism exhibition.

The Western Cape attracted 28000 conference delegates worth R347 million in the past year.  In the current financial year  this is Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 24 July

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   SA Tourism CEO Thulani Nzima seems to have making a rare visit to Cape Town, the jewel in the tourism crown, where he has come to attend the Mercedes-Benz  Cape Town Fashion Week at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.  He is upbeat about tourism to our country, saying it is ‘the new mining‘!  It is good to hear him compliment our city, which receives the bulk of international tourists to our country: ‘It is endowed with natural beauty. No matter how other provinces want to compete, they don’t have Table Mountain, Robben Island, the wine routes’.  Good media coverage for Cape Town, as well as its conference facilities benefit Cape Town.  When asked about the new Immigration Regulations he said that he would wait for the Ministers of Tourism and Home Affairs to discuss the impact of the Regulations on tourism.

*   Lovers of the MasterChef cooking series can now join a MasterChef Cruise around the Caribbean from 8 – 15 November, passengers being put through their paces in a  number of challenges including Pressure Tests and Mystery Boxes.   MasterChef judge Graham Elliot, and past winners of the series will be taking the passengers through the cooking programme, which includes blind taste tests, making macaroons, sushi, pasta, cocktails, all leading to a winner chosen as the MasterChef Cruise Champion.

*  The Bacardi Legacy Global Cocktail Competition 2015 has kicked off, seeking the best cocktail in the country.  The competition Continue reading →

So who really won the 2014 Soccer World Cup?

World Cup 2014We are on the eve of the closure of what many describe as the greatest World Cup, and tonight the world will see Germany and Argentina fight for the title of World Cup Champion.

An interesting survey was conducted, to establish which were the best advertisements made for the 2014 World Cup, by interviewing top advertising industry executives in the USA.   These were the brands that were rated as having the best TV commercials, most of them closely linked to the world’s best soccer stars:

1.   Brazil: as a host country it was described as a ‘proud country being the perfect host’, in its welcoming nature to the soccer fans, and its team losing with such good spirit in the semi-final against Germany earlier this week

2.   Adidas trainers:  Using the pay-off line ‘all in or nothing’, the latest commercial is called ‘The Final‘, and it predominantly focuses on the Final tonight, with Lionel Messi and Thomas Müller.  It asks who wants the World Cup more, with ‘two teams, one trophy’.  The ‘Wake Up Call’ commercial was posted on YouTube on 12 June, at the start of the World Cup, and already has in excess of 7 million views!  It focuses on Argentinian Lionel Messi preparing on his own, with less airtime give to Bastian Schweinsteiger, representing the German team.  The commercial shows excerpts of a number of the earlier matches, and some of the soccer greats in action, including Mesut Özil scoring for Germany, Manuel Neuer defending so boldly for Germany, as well as Luis Suárez of Argentina, and Dani Alves of Brazil. Continue reading →