Condor | WhaleTales Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein

Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

* Good news for long-haul travellers from the UK is the announcement by its government that from April 2015 the Air Passenger Duty will decrease, with the tax falling away on all flights with a destination less than 2000 miles from London, and the tax to be levied on destinations 2000+ miles from London will be at a lower rate. The UK has the highest departure tax ‘in the Western world‘, which has increased by 470% since 2007! It also is the country with the second worst rated air tax and airport charges in the world!

* Metrorail is to receive R233 million from the Transport Ministry to address its commuters complaints: too few trains, not frequent enough, not punctual, dirty, broken carriage windows, infrastructure problems at Cape Town station, lack of security, and no communication about delays, reports the Cape Times. Upgrades to track infrastructure will also be addressed.

* Lufthansa, Condor, TUIFly, and Air Berlin are cancelling flights and expecting delays due to public sector ground Continue reading →

Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

* Condor is adding a third flight per week between Cape Town and Frankfurt from 6 November, due to increased demand from German tourists in particular. The airline said that there had been no increase in demand between the two destinations on the Johannesburg route, but that demand had grown between Cape Town and Frankfurt by 7% in the past year.

* The global Hotel Price Index has shown a 3% increase in the past year, the fourth year running that it has increased after declines during the worst of the economic crisis. The current Index at 110 is still 7 points lower than the peak in 2007.

* At the Cape Town Art Fair last week, child visitors were asked to vote for their favourite work of art, by placing a sticker next to it, the most popular children’s choice being bought by The Sovereign Group, which sponsored the Cape Town Art Fair. A colourful Continue reading →