Tag Archives: Jan Hutton

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 15 September

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The introduction of low prices by domestic airlines when FlySafair takes off next month will not be permanent, its competitor Mango has stated.   Prices of all airlines may be lower for the first few weeks, but these are not sustainable in the long run, the competitor spokespersons have said.

*   ‘At the present moment, the clock has not stopped’, Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba told a media conference on Friday, meaning that the new Immigration Regulations will be implemented on 1 October.  There is no timeframe for the completion of the work of the task team, which will be appointed to evaluate how the regulations can be better implemented.  The Minister confirmed on Friday that the Regulations themselves will not change.

*   When asked about the sudden resignation of Jan Hutton, Chief Marketing Officer at SA Tourism, Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom said there ‘are many sides of a story’, and said that he did not want to interfere with the SA Tourism’s Board handling of Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 9/10 September

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Africa now has 100 million Facebook users, still only half of the number of internet users on the continent.  The majority of Facebook users access the site via mobile phone.   While the growth in Social Media usage in Africa is massive, it is still very costly.

*   The Open Book Festival will run at The Fugard Theatre for the second year running, from 17 – 21 September, with authors from 12 countries attending.  Local authors will include Wilbur Smith, Zakes Mda, and Zelda la Grange.

*   Shock news is the resignation with immediate effect of SA Tourism Chief Marketing Officer Jan Hutton. No reasons are provided, but the suddenness of the resignation is ominous.  The industry has expressed its regret about the resignation of this dynamic marketer of our country.

*  It’s a bad week for flying in Europe.  On Monday a bomb scare at London Luton airport caused the cancellation of all EasyJet Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 17 July

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries have signed an agreement to create a New Development Bank, reports The New Age. The Bank’s first loans will be made in 2016, from its pooled resources of $50 billion.  South Africa is reported to have contributed R 5 billion to the establishment of the Bank.  In addition, a $100 billion ‘contingency reserves pool‘ will be set up, to safeguard any of the five countries from being hit by ‘an exodus of foreign capital‘.   The Bank headquarters will be in Shanghai, reports Mail & Guardian, while Johannesburg will be the regional centre of the Bank for Africa.

*   SAA has been named Best Airline Africa for the 12th year running, and won the Best Airline Staff Service Africa award for the third time, presented at the Skytrax World Airline Awards in London.  The airlines were evaluated on the basis of customer surveys conducted amongst 18 million travelers.   SAA has a 4-star rating from Skytrax, the only airline in Africa to have achieved the service quality rating.

*  SA Tourism is working on improving Indaba, its Chief Marketing Officer Jan Hutton has said, adding that she is taking Continue reading →

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

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Tourists do not want to ‘face administrative hurdles‘ in their visa application process when travelling in Africa, said Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairman of the African Union Commission, at Indaba at the weekend.  Making visa applications easier, liberalising air routes, and acting against animal poaching could increase tourism to Africa, she added.  Joint visas to travel within Africa are being considered.  The African Union is working on making Africa the preferred travel destination in fifty years from now!   Another goal is to motivate Africans to travel within Africa.

*   Indaba 2014, which closed its exhibition doors today,  attracted significantly fewer buyers than in previous years, and was criticised for having become ‘stale’, and for not having re-invented itself as was promised last year by SA Tourism’s Marketing head Jan Hutton.  While larger than the recent World Travel Market Africa exhibition held in Cape Town, it disappointed attendees, many especially smaller tourism players not planning to return next year.  The speed networking sessions were a shambles on Saturday and Sunday, with many buyers not present. Costs of catering were said to be prohibitive.

*   The Great Wine Capitals Best of Wine Tourism Awards is open to entries for the 2015 Best of Wine Tourism Awards, in the Continue reading →