Tag Archives: Kgalema Motlanthe

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 31 October

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The Washington Post recommends Mullineux Chenin Blanc and AA Badenhorst Secateurs as two of five good food pairing wines.

*   SAA is discounting flights between Johannesburg and New York or Washington to $855 for the dates 10 – 30 November, in a promotion called ‘November to Remember’.

*   The SA Vodka Festival, which was scheduled to be held at The Lookout in the V&A Waterfront from 30 October – 1 November, was cancelled a few hours before the doors were to open!  No explanation has been provided to exhibitors and to the public to date.

*   South Africa’s first Mzansi Latino Festival will be held at the River Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 24 October

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   UK hotels are concerned that they may have spoilt tourists by offering discounts to counter the recession of the past few years, and that this is a standard expectation of their customers now.

*   The Minister of Finance Pravin Ghordan has announced stringent cost-cutting measures in respect of travel and entertainment, including a ban on first-class air travel (Business Class allowed for Ministers, Directors General and their deputies), B group car rental only,  withdrawal of official credit cards, restricting the size of travel delegations, and banning hotel accommodation, rental accommodation to be used; and banning the purchase of alcohol for state events.

*   Confidence in the Tourism industry is at its highest ever since the Tourism Business Council of South Africa and FNB introduced their Tourism Business Index in 2010,  reaching 116 in the third quarter of this year.  However, Continue reading →

Cape of Love: Wedding Tourism booming in the Cape!

Valentine’s Day is excellent for business in the Cape in February, and this year is no different.  Falling on Thursday, it is being celebrated this weekend, with numerous couples taking a romantic break, and weddings galore are taking place, with couples from all over the world saying ‘I do’ in the world’s most beautiful city and winelands.

Previously Franschhoek held the honours of the Wedding Capital of South Africa, and is still popular as a wedding destination.  Whilst we had seen a decline in weddings in the gourmet and wine valley in the past two years, we are surprised at the vast number of wedding guests we are accommodating at Whale Cottage Camps Bay currently, attending weddings in Cape Town and in Stellenbosch in particular.

Berlin-based Benjamin Pochhammer and his fiancée Johanna Henning chose to marry in the Cape because Benjamin had studied at UCT. Bringing Julia to Cape Town to show her the beautiful city, they decided to get married in sunny Cape Town instead of in wintry Berlin. More than 100 of their friends flew in from Germany and other countries for the wedding, for which a detailed wedding programme had been prepared for the wedding guests, all concentrated in Camps Bay.  So, for example, they played Beach Volleyball followed by drinks and snacks at Café Caprice.  The next day a special party was held at The Grand Camps Bay exclusively for the wedding party guests.  The wedding was held last Wednesday at Webbersburg in Stellenbosch, to which the guests were bussed to and from Camps Bay.  The day after the wedding they guests were invited to an afternoon braai in Camps Bay.   All wedding guests were sent a list of suggestions of Camps Bay and Cape Town restaurants and bars, and recommended tourist attractions and outings.  Roughly calculated, the wedding will have generated R1 million in income for Camps Bay in the five day wedding period, in addition to the R400000 costs of the wedding event.

Yesterday we welcomed the close family from Austria, Australia, the UK, and Johannesburg of Niki Foreman, originally from the UK, and Tom Dirnberger, originally from Johannesburg, who met in London and now live in Sydney. They have booked seven rooms at Whale Cottage Camps Bay for the next five days, before they move across to Stellenbosch, to the wedding venue at Marianne wine estate.  Their wedding party consists of about 60 guests, and their contribution to Camps Bay alone should be in the region of R 500000.

We also accommodated a guest who attended the wedding of her step brother at the Twelve Apostles hotel on Valentine’s Day.  Yesterday four American guests arrived, for a wedding of a nephew, which will be held in Paarl. All pre-wedding festivities are being held in Camps Bay.  At Whale Cottage Camps Bay we are also hosting the Wolthaus couple from Germany for eight days, celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary with us on Monday.

Yesterday the posh wedding of Nathi Mthethwa and Philiswe Buthelezi, with 500 guests, was held at Allée Bleue, the menu having been developed by Chef Reuben Riffel.   It was attended by President Jacob Zuma, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, Cyril Ramaphosa, Tokyo Sexwale, and Mangosuthu Buthelezi, reports the Sunday Times.

Cape Town and the Winelands deserve to be named the ‘Cape of Love’, and this romantic wedding tourism should be heavily promoted, as it benefits the accommodation, restaurant, tourism, wedding venue, wine, and related industries.  It is also a feel-good type of tourism, the guests being in a particularly good mood, loving every minute of their stay in Cape Town and the Winelands, and the wedding celebrations they have travelled to from far!

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage

Dalai Lama barring could damage World Cup 2010

The barring of the visit by the Dalai Lama to attend a peace conference in Johannesburg on Friday has caused an international outcry, the South African government being accused of bowing to pressure from China.  

The conference has been postponed, due to the refusal by Nobel Peace Prize winners FW de Klerk and Archbishop Desmond Tutu to attend if the Dalai Lama may not attend.  

The South African government has justified its decision on the fact that it does not want to detract attention from the country for World Cup 2010, but appears to have achieved exactly the opposite as the story has hit the world media.   President Kgalema Motlanthe’s is to have said:” It would not be in the interests of the country to invite the Dalai Lama to South Africa at this stage, because the attention of the whole world is on us as the host of 2010 Fifa World Cup.   The presence of the Dalai Lama here will divert such attention from us to other issues” reported the Cape Times.

The conference has been organised by the Premier Soccer League, as part of the celebrations leading up to the 2010 World Cup.