Tag Archives: Honduras

South Africa reduces list of Red countries for Leisure Tourism to 22, adds Germany!

 

The Department of Home Affairs has just announced its revised list of Red countries, being the countries whose citizens and residents may not travel into our country as Leisure Tourists. The initial List of 60 countries was announced on 30 September, with a promise of it being updated every 14 days, but the announcement today is late by five days!

Very sadly Germany has been added to the Red List, making all the Big Five source markets for our country Red!  Spain has been added to the List too, it having been a surprise that the country was not on the initial Red List.

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International Travel regulations: its green for Germany and red for UK and the USA for Tourists to SA, from 1 October 2020!

 

A long list of 60 countries has been red-listed for non-Business Leisure Tourism to South Africa as of tomorrow, a list that the Government will update fortnightly, it was announced by International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor this afternoon.  Sadly for our Tourism industry, Tourists from our larger source markets, namely the UK, USA, France, Holland, India, Portugal, and Switzerland will not be allowed to enter our country currently. Good news for me personally is that Tourists from Germany will be allowed to visit South Africa. All visitors from African countries are welcome to visit South Africa, as are those from Asia, and from Australia and New Zealand.

A number of errors were made in the Government’s list initially, admitted to and apologised for by the Department of Home Affairs!

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Cuban cigar-rolling comes to Cape Town, paired with Bisquit Cognac, at Luvey ‘n Rose!

Luvey n Rose Roque Perez Rodriguez Havanas cigar roller Whale CottageWhat a lovely evening it was yesterday, to take me away from what had been a challenging pre-Full Moon day, and forget about the world out there, at the Habanos cigar-rolling demonstration held at Luvey ‘n Rose.  It made me realise how fortunate we are to have so much to experience in our beautiful city.

Luvey ‘n Rose was opened by Ignatius Claassen on Rose Street last year as an Art and Antique Lounge, and one of its attractions, in addition to its collection of art work and antique furniture offered for sale, is its good cappuccino, friendly barista, and nostalgic Buena Vista Social Club, which music is perfectly paired with the cigars they offer for sale.  My fatherLuvey n Rose Paintings 1 Whale Cottage was a passionate cigar smoker, and it was worth going to Luvey ‘n Rose’s new home on Loop Street just to enjoy nostalgic sniffs of the cigar smoke-filled venue.  Interestingly the attendees were predominantly men, but the women that were attended were passionate cigar smokers. I spoke to one lady, who confirmed that she smokes cigars regularly, but would never touch a cigarette.

Roque Perez Rodriguez has worked for Habanos S.A. in Cuba for the past 30 years, the company being a state-owned cigar monopoly in that country, controlling the promotion, distribution, and international Continue reading →

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