Tag Archives: England

World Cup visitors praise “fan-tastic” Cape Town

For the first time the hospitality industry of Cape Town has had a taste of the power of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with about 25 000 England supporters streaming into the city on Friday, to see their team play Algeria, in what many described as a most disappointing match, with a goal-less draw.  The visitors to Cape Town are loving the city and its fantastic “winter” weather, today in particular, and it will be sure to have a good tourism spin-off for future visits.

Accommodation establishments are booked out, restaurants and pubs are filled with patrons, and the V&A Waterfront was reported on Twitter to be “swarming with tourists”, with a warning issued to locals to “do not go”!  The most popular pub in the Waterfront for the English fans is Ferryman’s Tavern, its special ale suiting the British taste, reports The Times.   A pod of whales even came close to the Cape Town Stadium in Table Bay, in honour of the British visitors!

The accommodation bookings were extremely last minute, with the last available four of the 11 rooms at Whale Cottage Camps Bay, for example, being sold out in the last 24 hours prior to the start of the match.  The average length of stay is just three days, until the England fans head off elsewhere tomorrow.   Camps Bay’s beachfront was spilling over with fans packing pavement cafes and restaurants, as on a summer’s day, despite the overcast day yesterday.

The city is looking festive, with the red-and-white England flag adorning many an accommodation establishment, and restaurants and pubs.   The feared soccer hooligans did not travel to Cape Town, it would appear, the cost of the ticket prices being a deterrent.

A highlight for Cape Town is the VIP presence at the match on Friday of the Princes William and Harry, looking very uncomfortable in their suits; Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London; and David Beckham, sitting at the edge of the pitch.   Johnson said: “I’ve been to Cape Town for just two days and the atmosphere is mind-blowing.  The nation is united in enthusiasm and the tournament is progressing nicely”, according to the Cape Argus.

It appears that the number of visitors to South Africa has increased since the earlier depressing news that the number of international visitors had reduced, with so many last minute bookings.  It appears that many charter flights have entered Cape Town, with groups of 20 – 30 soccer fans on board each, all seemingly last minute bookings.  The England fans have been followed by the British media, and it is heartening to note how the reporting  by the British media, SkyNews in particular, has changed to reporting far more positively about our country.  Last night the TV station showed an interview with its correspondent in Cape Town, filmed on Signal Hill with a beautiful backdrop of the Stadium and Table Bay.   The reporter referred to England needing the Cape of Good Hope for its next match!

South African Customs have reported that 456 000 international visitors had entered South Africa between 1 – 13 June, compared to 345 000 visitors in the same period in 2009, reports The Times.   Obviously not all visitors are attending the World Cup, especially as many of them flew in as late as 11 June, so they may include the regular cross-border visitors from neighbouring African countries, coming to shop in South Africa.  

Next week looks more depressing, the Portugal versus North Korea, and Cameroon versus Netherlands matches not having as much appeal, if accommodation bookings are anything to go by.  All fingers are crossed for strong teams making the round of 16, the quarter final and semi-final in Cape Town, as this will fill up Cape Town again.  

Good performances by England, Germany, the USA, and the Netherlands in their next matches will have an important influence on last minute fans coming to South Africa, says FEDHASA, reports Fin24.  This effect will not be felt if Brazil and Portugal progress to the final stages of the tournament, it is speculated.   Only 10 000 German visitors came to South Africa for the World Cup, after national soccer hero and FIFA executive member Franz Beckenbauer expressed his concerns in earlier days about the World Cup having been awarded to South Africa.   He bravely changed his tune when he briefly spoke at the World Cup Kick-Off Concert.    

No matter who plays whom in the next 20 days of the World Cup, the accommodation bookings are far better in Host Cities than they would have been in any other June and July ever.  Whale Cottage Camps Bay now has an occupancy of 65  % for the World Cup, having improved its occupancy by 5 percentage points in the first ten days of the World Cup.   Given last minute bookings for the Quarter and Semi Finals, occupancy could end off at around 70 % for Whale Cottage Camps Bay.  The reality, however, is that May had the worst occupancy ever, thus balancing the gain with the loss.  The Whale Cottages in Hermanus, Plettenberg Bay and Franschhoek have barely gained from the World Cup.

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

Pub review: Watching the World Cup at Caprice in Camps Bay

Cafe Caprice (commonly referred to as Caprice by the locals) is one of the most popular pubs in Camps Bay, heaving on Sunday evenings.  I chose it to view the Germany versus Serbia match on a gorgeous sunny Cape Town afternoon.

I immediately noticed a sea of red shirts worn by the England supporters, who were in town for their match against Algeria, and immediately felt in the minority, with the England fans supporting Serbia, enjoying Germany’s poor performance, and I was one of very few females.

Caprice is a man’s place, signalled by its weird mixture of functional furniture, couches here and there with white tables that looked like paper cutouts, and tables and chairs inside that looked like all-weather garden furniture.   There are flatscreen TV’s on almost every wall, allowing everyone to see the matches, except those visitors wanting to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful view onto the Camps Bay beach.  Colour photographs of soccer players in action have been put up on the walls.   The staff all wear red Havaianas T-shirts, to promote the footwear company that sponsored their clothing.   The staff do not know much about the brand.

The waitress handed me the menu and I asked if it had been printed especially for the World Cup.  She said it is the standard menu, which is commendable, given that many pubs have increased their prices.  On Twitter I had read that the Caprice Burger is one of the best in town, and decided to order that – it costs R 50, comes with a large portion of chips, served on a seed roll with lettuce and a slice of tomato, and is a very thick patty, so thick that you cannot get a bite into your mouth with the patty and one half of the roll – great for the guys, but not for the ladies – but excellent tasting, especially compared to my forced daily diet of McDonalds as a World Cup volunteer!  There are nine other burger options, starting at R 45 for a vegetarian burger with lentils and chickpeas, to R 65 for a mozarella, creamy mushroom and pepper sauce burger, or a Gourmet burger with cranberry jelly and blue cheese.   One can also order sandwiches, starting at what feels like an expensive R 50  for chunky chicken, sundried tomato or cajun chicken wrap, paying up to R 80 for a Mediterranean steak roll.  Eight salad options are offered, the Beach salad, a mixed salad, costing what feels to be an expensive R 55, up to R 80 for a Sweet chilli prawn sald, and an Ostrich salad.   Pasta arrabiata costs R 50, and seafood pasta costs R 100.  A 300 gram sirloin steak, and a 300 gram sirloin skewer at R80, sound like good value.   A plate of fries costs R 18.

As if the menu does not contain enough options, Caprice also serves eleven tapas options, ranging from hummus and pita, and tzatziki and pita (R32 each) to R 75 for chicken nachos.   Cajun calamari, spicy chicken skewers, crumbed mushrooms, cheese nachos, buffalo wings, chicken and peppadew springrolls, chicken livers and marinated sirloin are further tapas options.

Caprice serves Breakfast until 12h30, which is commendably late compared to many other venues, and they offer 12 options, the most basic being eggs on toast at a reasonable R 30, and the most special being the Health Royale at R 65, consisting of gypsy ham, 2 poached eggs, and hollandaise sauce. Other options are anchovy toast, flapjacks, eggs benedict, omelettes, etc.

The volume of beer supplied is not indicated on the menu, costing R13 for a Castle to R16 for a Heineken, R25 for Corona and R40 for andUnion, the latter being for 500 ml, and the other brands sold as 330ml.

As a World Cup venue, I found it terribly loud, as few of the patrons were really watching the match, and they were talking.  Service was slow in getting a menu, as there does not seem to be a dedicated waitress per section of the restaurant, meaning that I had to ask the manager to get me one.   It has a fantatsic view, the best so far, a bonus in the daytime.   Children dancing and drumming in little Xhosa skirts were an irritation, and it felt wrong to see them exploited for financial gain.   Caprice offers wireless internet for free, and they take reservations, which are pluses.   It is an excellent venue for men who want a beer or three, and want to soak it up with a good, reasonably priced, plate of food.   It is the home of king blogger Seth Rotherham/Will Mellor of 2Oceansvibe, a fantastic endorsement for the restaurant, given the stature of his blog and the following it enjoys.

Cafe Caprice, 37 Beach Road, Camps Bay.  tel (021) 438-8315  www.caprice.co.za (functional site, not very user-friendly, music plays when opened, slow to download, not very informative).  Open Mondays – Sundays.

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

Princes add royalty to World Cup

Prince William and Prince Harry are planning to spend 10 days in South Africa in June, and will attend the World Cup, in support of their England team, according to the Cape Argus.  This will add a welcome royal touch to the world’s top sport event, which is good for marketing South Africa and the event.

The princes will be combining their visit to South Africa with participation in the Enduro, a charity motorcycle ride.  They will also host a reception to support Britain’s bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup.  Prince William is President of the England Football Association.   Prince Harry is expected to see Chelsy Davy, his South African girlfriend.  

During their visit to Africa, the princes will also visit Botswana and Lesotho, for the Tusk Trust charity of which Prince William is the royal patron, and the Sentabale charity for AIDS orphans established by Prince Harry, respectively, reports The Times. 

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

World Cup teams give Cape Town a red card

The tourism industry in Cape Town will be disappointed that none of the 32 World Cup teams have chosen a base camp in or near Cape Town.   The base camp location has an important attraction for fans, who want to stay in the same towns and cities as their home team. 

Despite a deadline of the end of last month, FIFA has given the teams one more week to finalise their choice.  Six teams have not yet announced their final base camp choice.

The Western Cape has 2 teams (France and Denmark) staying in Knysna at Pezula and Simola, respectively, and Japan will be based in George at the Fancourt Hotel. 

Gauteng has the most teams to date, who chose the province for the altitude for their practice sessions, the top quality sport facilities and top quality accommodation : The Netherlands, South Africa, Portugal, Serbia, New Zealand, Slovenia, Brazil, Australia, Honduras, Switzerland, North Korea, and Mexico. 

Pretoria has attracted USA, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, and Argentina.   KwaZulu-Natal has secured Algeria, Ivory Coast, Greece, and Paraguay.   Uruguay is staying in Kimberley.   Ghana  is staying in White River. England and South Korea are staying in Rustenberg.  Chile is staying in Mapumalanga.   Spain has not chosen between Rustenburg and Potchefstroom yet.

Many municipalities spent big money trying to encourage teams to set up base camps in their towns.  Mossel Bay was sure that it had bagged Paraguay, and both Val du Vie and Pearl Valley outside Franschhoek were rumoured to have signed up a team.  The Sunday Times reports that the Mossel Bay municipality spent R 200 million on its bid, and had launched an extensive Spanish language campaign for tourism players in the town.   Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth and East London also did not attract any base camps.

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