Tag Archives: espAfrika

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 25 March

March 25, 2014

Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

* The Cape Town International Jazz Festival blows its first notes from 17h00 tomorrow, with a free community concert on Greenmarket Square. Shakatak is the biggest name group, while Tasha’s World and Good Hope FM DJ Luwayne Wonder will also be seen on the stage. Burg and Longmarket Streets near Greenmarket Square will be closed all of tomorrow and part of Thursday. (received via media release from espAfrika)

* Durban’s ‘crime and grime’ deters tourism to the city, and could be the reason why the number of tourists to KwaZulu-Natal has declined for three years running, according to the province’s tour operators. The poor economic climate, the crime rate, the lack of unique tourist attractions, and the lack of cleanliness all put tourists off visiting. Durban’s head of tourism, Philip Sithole, disagrees, saying that the city’s tourism numbers are increasing, compared to the provincial decline! Passenger numbers at King Shaka International as well as road traffic arrivals have declined, but the tourist spend has increased. Tourists are said to fear walking on the Durban beachfront at night.

* The House of JC le Roux is pairing its three MCCs with home-made chocolate Easter eggs from 14 April onwards. Their Pinot Noir Rosé 2009 will be paired with a milk chocolate egg with a rose infused truffle filling; the La Vallée NV is paired with Belgian Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 12 March

March 12, 2014

Tourism, food, and Wine news headlines

* Chef Heston Blumenthal, with South African roots, is opening ‘The Perfectionists’ Café’ in Terminal 2 at Heathrow, linking to his TV series ‘In Search of Perfection’. The 130 seater restaurant menu will feature burgers and pizza with a ‘gourmet twist‘, a ‘multi-sensory bar’, and the world’s first wood-fire pizza oven in an airport.

* Stellenbosch American Express Wine Routes attended its first ITB travel expo in Berlin last week, with Stellenbosch 360 and the Wine Routes represented, positioning Stellenbosch as the ‘ideal hub from where (sic) to explore Cape Town and the Western Cape’. Wine and culinary tourists tend to stay in a destination for longer and spend more, making this segment an important target for Stellenbosch. (received via media release from Random Hat Communications)

* Transforming the N1 and N2 into Toll roads is being threatened for the Winelands again, after the City of Cape Town managed to obtain an interim High Court interdict against the implementation of the toll roads last year. Sanral is justifying the toll roads on its need to upgrade the roads, at a cost of R10 billion, which it cannot raise Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 10 March

March 10, 2014

Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

* Nedbank has rolled out its Pocket POS in Sport Taxis and City Cabs in Cape Town, and other metered taxi operators in Durban and Johannesburg, to allow customers to pay by credit and debit card in the taxi.

* Clem Sunter and Justice Malala will speak at a Breakfast session on 10 June at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on ‘State of the Nation’, looking at the next five years post the General Election. Cost R895. (received via e-mail from Front Foot Events)

* Fourpure Brewery in the UK has won a competition to brew the perfect ‘Roux Brew‘ as a house beer to be served in the top-rated Landau, La Gavroche, and Roux at Parliament Square restaurants of Chef Michel Roux Jnr in London. ‘The winning brew featured hand-zested fresh pink grapefruit zest, fresh Sicilian Navelina orange zest and coriander seed’, good for pairing with Continue reading →

Cape Town International Jazz Festival positions Cape Town as Jazz Capital of Africa!

January 29, 2014

At the media launch yesterday of the 15th Cape Town International Jazz Festival at the Cape Town International Convention Centre Mayor Patricia de Lille said that the goal of Cape Town is to become the Events Capital of Africa, and with it the Capital of Jazz in Africa, attracting 37000 Festival goers. An exciting line-up of international and local jazz artists was announced at the launch.

The launch was addressed by a number of speakers. Billy Domingo, the Chief Operating Officer of espAfrika, the events company organising the Jazz Festival, was a witty MC for the event. Rashid Lombard organises the musical side of things, and announced that since ticket sales opened last month, all two-day passes have been sold,. There are about 500 day tickets available for each of the two days. The event is a team effort, within their company (of mainly ladies he joked) and also with the City of Cape Town. They want to create a legacy through the event, which includes a training and development programme which has already seen six students study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston in the USA. Job creation is another goal. Lombard proudly shared their Social Media statistics, having more than 14000 Twitter followers, close to 9000 Likes on Facebook, and 140000 YouTube views.

Lombard also presented the eagerly awaited line up for the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, which includes top international jazz artists Level 42, Shakatak, Eryka Badu (but not mentioned in the media release), and Abdullah Ibrahim and Ekaya. Other international artists are Andreya Continue reading →