Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* The Rand dropped to its lowest level ever yesterday, at R14 to the dollar, mainly in reaction to lower than expected growth forecast for China. The exchange rate will impact on inflation locally, but the oil price was at a 61/2 year low of $40 per barrel yesterday.
* The on-going visa regulation drama can have a further dire consequence, Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* Inhouse Brand Architects has designed a unique yacht-shaped GH Mumm VIP Lounge at the Grand Café and Beach in the V&A Waterfront. Tables are cork-shaped, curtains look like sails,
and the flooring is wooden decking, reflecting the status of the international champagne brand. (received via media release from Inhouse Brand Architects)
* MasterChef SA is to produce Season 3, a Tweet from Season 2 Finalist Seline van der Wat informs, with auditions being held around the country in February and March.
* German beer brewers are using ‘flavour hops’ to add unique taste notes of oranges, grapefruit, and peaches to beer, reports The New Age.
* Johannesburg has the largest proportion (600, representing 48%) of South Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* ‘Cape Town’s most stylish hotels’ feature in the Telegraph Travel article, which focuses on more than just the Mother City’s hotels. Given Cape Town’s status of World Design Capital 2014, Woodstock, Bree Street, and Long Street are recommended for arts, sculptures, jewellery, and crafts. Hemelhuijs and The Pot Luck Club are recommended restaurants. The Mount Nelson, One&Only Cape Town, Cape View, The Clarendon, and Ellerman House are recommended as accommodation establishments.
* Six of Africa’s twelve top music festivals are hosted in South Africa, and include Oppikoppi (in Limpopo province, the largest local music festival); Up the Creek (in Swellendam); Cape Town International Jazz Festival; Splashy Fen (at Underberg); AfrikaBurn (in North Cape province); and Rocking the Daisies (in Darling).
* National soccer team Bafana Bafana arrived in Cape Townlast weekend, in preparation for the African Nations Championship, which kicks off at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
* James Romanow, writing in the New Mexico Leader Post, says that drinking a House of Mandela wine is a fitting tribute to the late Nelson Mandela.
* A manual of information published by (£30 million a year budget) Visit Britain, which was targeted at accommodation establishments and tourism players in the UK to guide them in dealing with tourists from around the world, has been criticised for ‘racial stereotyping‘! For example, the manual describes: Continue reading →
Governor of the Reserve Bank, Tito Mboweni, caught the market and most economists by surprise today, by cutting the interest rate by 50 basis points, to 7 %, a positive sign that may signal a reversal of the credit crunch.
The interest rate is an indication that the recovery of the economy has not been progressing as speedily as the government would like it, given the previous interest rate cuts since December. It could also be Mboweni bowing to the pressure from trade union federation COSATU for a cut in the interest rate. Finally, the cut may be a reflection of the slow but certain decrease in the rate of inflation.
The cut in the interest rate eases the pressure on family and buusiness incomes, and should have a positive effect on tourism.
Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com