John Dory's | WhaleTales Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein

Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

* Beer brewing tours are gaining interest, reports Southern African Tourism Update, focusing on craft beers as well as traditional beers. Beer festivals have helped create awareness for the roughly 80 micro-breweries in our country. Tours use stories to get the cultural and brewing message across. American, German, and Belgian tourists are keen beer tourists.

* Air traffic across Europe could be shut down tomorrow, if the planned air traffic controller strike in 28 countries goes ahead. Lufthansa staff have withdrawn from the strike.

* Mamphela Ramphele has accepted the DA’s offer to stand in the forthcoming elections as the Democratic Alliance (DA) Presidential candidate, her Agang SA party appearing to be disbanded. (via Facebook) Continue reading →

Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

* A beautiful and informative coffee table book about chocolate has been written by Di Burger, called ‘Chocolate’s African Odyssey‘, reports WineStyle.

* Eleven finalists of The Wines of South Africa (WOSA) Sommelier Cup, from a diversity of countries including China and Russia, have been shortlisted.

* The Spur Corporation, which owns Spur Steak Ranches, Panarottis Pizza Pasta, and John Dory’s Fish & Grill, has grown sales by 16% in the past twelves months ending June, its advertising (by Haas) driving feet into their restaurants.

* Chinese tourists are ‘smitten by the charms of Africa’. Direct SAA flights between Johannesburg and Beijing as well as visa processing centres in Beijing and Shanghai have pushed China as a tourism source market for our country into fourth position! Continue reading →