The Sweet Service Award goes to the Hermanus Tourism Bureau, for almost daily calls since the Whale Festival, for accommodation enquiries for tourists visiting the town.  This is something we have not seen for a good two years, and reflects on the greater fairness in spreading tourist bookings across the broad spectrum of accommodation establishments, and not favouring a select few, as was the case during the regime of the previous Board of the Bureau.  The enquiries are turning into bookings, and are most welcome.  The Bureau also assisted in passing on CVs it had received for a position it had advertised, leading to a successful appointment.

The Sour Service Award goes to the South African gas industry, which is in short supply, leaving half of the estimated 2500 restaurants in the country powerless to prepare food for their clients this week, says the Restaurant Association of South Africa, and reported in Mail & Guardian.  In the past few years most commercial enterprises switched to gas, to not be vulnerable to ESKOM electricity outages experienced in the past.  The SA Petroleum Industry body has not been able to indicate when production of LPG will return to normal, after ‘unplanned shutdowns in the local oil refinery industry’.

The WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards are presented every Friday on the WhaleTales blog.  Nominations for the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be sent to Chris von Ulmenstein at info@whalecottage.com. Past winners of the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be read on the Friday posts of this blog, and in the WhaleTales newsletters on the www.whalecottage.com website.