While it may sound ironic that an American Diner has opened in Heritage Square, a building dating back to the 1770s, the new Boston seems to fit right in on Buitengracht Street and in Cape Town.
I had parked nearby when I visited the bottling of the wine made from the oldest vines in the Southern Hemisphere at Dorrance Cellar inside the Heritage Square courtyard earlier today. It Continue reading →
The U2 360° concert in Cape Town on Friday evening will have contributed largely to the R 4 billion the City of Cape Town estimates is generated annually for the local economy from live performances, with 72000 spectators having attended a visually stunning and extremely well organised concert at the Cape Town Stadium.
Writing in the Sunday Argus, the City of Cape Town’s Executive Director of Economic, Social Development and Tourism, Mansoor Mohamed, states that films and events are the largest contributors to the Cape Town economy, the film industry generating R5 billion, and conferences and live events R4 billion each. Mohamed writes that it is not only income that is generated, but jobs are created too. The services and products required to host such events go into the pockets of mainly Cape Town-based businesses, which in turn will pay for rates and taxes, and thus share the burden of payment of these to generate income for the city, but they will also share the benefit of the use of these monies (an excellent example is the wonderful new Green Point Park).
Writing about the contribution of the film industry to Cape Town, Mohamed mentions the two movies currently being filmed in Cape Town – ‘Safe House’ wrapped up filming on Kloof Street over the weekend, and stars Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds, who have been seen eating at Cape Town restaurants, and hanging around in Camps Bay, another location for the movie. ‘Judge Dredd’ is another movie being filmed, and the two movies combined have a production budget of R400 million, going to two Cape Town companies (Moonlighting and Cape Town Film Studios, respectively), and their suppliers. In addition, still productions, and print advertising and TV commercial shoots contribute to the economy. Mohamed requests Cape Town residents to be tolerant of road closures and other inconveniences linked to these, in understanding that every R1 billion income allows 15000 jobs to be sustained in the city.
The Cape Town International Jazz Festival generated R685 million to the local economy, and created 2000 jobs, mentioned by President Zuma in his Station of the Nation address ten days ago. It attracts 35 000 attendees, and runs over ten days, incorporating local art, culture and heritage, and local musicians blended with international stars such as George Benson. Some of the local musicians performing at the Jazz Festival have received bookings on international stages as a result of their performances at the Festival.
The Pick ‘n Pay Cape Argus Cycle Tour contributes R650 million to the local economy. It has attracted the attention of international VIP’s such as Matt Damon and Lance Armstrong, who have participated, and this has been recorded in the world media, having a tourism benefit too. This year executives from top companies such as RIM (manufacturers of Blackberry), Sainsbury in the UK and Vodafone Europe will participate in the event. Some Cycle Tour lovers are said by Mohamed to have bought houses in Cape Town, and they pay their rates and taxes annually and in advance, he writes! “They create tomorrow’s tourists and South Africa’s future foreign investment”. He added that events such as the Cycle Tour, the Jazz Festival and the U2 concert play an important role to ‘start, facilitate or help to close deals’.
The recent Mining Indaba, which was held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, filled up all surrounding hotels, created a taxi shortage in the city, and filled up restaurants in Cape Town on a scale not often experienced in the city. Delegates attending were from Africa, Brazil, Russia, India and China, amongst others. Similarly, the Design Indaba taking place at the moment as a Conference, Expo and Film Festival, is staging top international designers, such as Alberto Alessi, Michael Wolff, billionaire Mark Shuttleworth and trend forecaster Li Edelkoort, with about 37000 delegates attending, according to Cape Town Tourism. The Design Indaba attracts them to Cape Town, the city enjoying the most glorious weather currently, and therefore making future tourists out of these delegates, one can confidently predict, and more business deals benefiting the city could flow from this event, contributing R 232 million per annum. At the Design Indaba the latest updated Cape Town Design Route map will be launched, marketing some of the city’s top design artists and their businesses.
In September the World Veterinary Congress takes place in the Cape Town International Convention Centre, and will be attended by 3000 delegates, and contributing R30 million to the economy. Other conferences to be hosted this year include the 4th Pan African Pain Congress (500 delegates), the World Congress of the World Federation for Mental Health (800 delegates), the Global Forum for Health Research Forum 2011 Meeting (1500 delegates), World Conference of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance (600 delegates), The Southern African Association for Learning and Educational Differences Conference (500 delegates), and the World Economic Forum on Africa (2000 delegates).
The 20th Cape Town Pairs, the largest sponsored open bowls event in South Africa, was held at the Glen Country Club in Clifton last week, and attracted 36 teams from around the country, as well as from the United Kingdom, Namibia and Zimbabwe. The gale force Southeaster almost forced a change in venue, blowing over 100 km/hr! We congratulate our Whale Cottage Camps Bay guests Phil Downs and Greg Bingham from Johannesburg for having won the hotly contested tournament.
The Cape leg of the Cell C Tour of SA 2011 takes place over the weekend, and covers Gordon’s Bay, Grabouw, along the Theewaterskloof Dam, Franschhoek, the Helshoogte Pass in Stellenbosch, and finishes in Paarl, 120 cyclists participating in the race, reports the Cape Argus.
The J&B Met and the Cape Epic have an economic impact of R 200 million each, and the Two Oceans Marathon R223 million. Mohamed has estimated that the city’s events and the film industry jointly add more than R 15 billion to the local economy.
The benefit of these events reaches the hospitality industry too. Six out of our 20 guests staying at Whale Cottage Camps Bay this past weekend flew down from Durban, to attend the U2 concert, and they made a three-day ‘weekend’ out of it. Three of the U2 band members ate at Pierneef á La Motte last week, each visit widely reported (Bono and The Edge’s visit at La Motte even made the Sunday Times), which will attract more business to this wonderful Winelands wine estate. Cargo Carriers has booked out Whale Cottage Camps Bay for the Argus Cycle Tour weekend, to accommodate its team over three days. Delegates attending the Mining Indaba stayed at Whale Cottage Camps Bay too.
And a final note on the U2 concert – it was a ‘must attend’ concert, with amazing lighting effects on The Claw and the 360° screen ensured that every attendee saw the band on the relatively small stage, no matter where they were sitting or standing. Many did not know most of the U2 music performed, but the performances of Amazing Grace, Stand by Me with Yvonne Chaka Chaka, and Without You were real crowd pleasers. I did not pick up sound distortion, but read complaints about this on Twitter. The quick and easy in and out of the stadium was commendable, and the event was run by Big Concerts without any hiccups, it was reported. Replacing the Stadium pitch for the concert cost Big Concerts R803000 alone. Taxis were in good supply before and after the concert, and the R50 per trip between Green Point and Fresnaye was the best money I have spent in a long time! The long sit, from 7.30 – 11.30 pm, was the only off-putting part, as the seats are not the most comfortable. Neil Diamond is the next big name performer at the Cape Town Stadium, his concert taking place on 11 April.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage
South Africa features strongly on the Oscar nominee list, which was announced in Hollywood last week, reports the Cape Argus, and will be good for the marketing of the country.
South African film ‘District 9’, a movie which is set in a township in Johannesburg, has been nominated for Best Picture, Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Visual Effects awards. ‘District 9’ is up against ‘Avatar’, which has won all the major movie awards to date, specifically as far as special effects are concerned, a strength of “District 9′ too.
‘Invictus’ has been enjoyed by many South Africans, living in the country and abroad, who nostalgically relived the World Cup Rugby championship, which was played in South Africa in 1995. Then-President Nelson Mandela wore the number 6 jersey when he went on the field before the final match between South Africa and New Zealand was played, to help the South African team face the power and strength of the New Zealand team. South Africa won against all odds. Matt Damon successfully plays Springbok rugby captain Francois Pienaar, at least as far as his South African accent goes, while Morgan Freeman is less successful with Nelson Mandela’s accent. See the review of Invictus here. Invictus has been nominated for Best Actor (Morgan Freeman) and Best Supporting Actor (Matt Damon).
The Oscars take place on 7 March.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com
When leaving the cinema after seeing ‘Invictus’, I could not come to a conclusion about my feelings about the movie. While it has a star cast of international actors (Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon) and a star director in Clint Eastwood, and is set in Cape Town and Johannesburg, which bodes well for the country’s awareness and visibility, there was a nagging question as to which movie-goers around the world would be interested in a movie about South Africa’s transformation into a democracy almost 20 years ago, and more particularly, the country winning the Rugby World Cup in 1995 against all odds.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and one of their adopted sons were at the premiere of the movie in Los Angeles a week ago, and one wonders what would have made them see the movie, other than respect for their fellow-actors and the producer.
The filming is mainly concentrated on the rugby field and in Madiba’s official residences and offices. Cape Town features in the scenic shots, one being a magnificent shot of a SAA aeroplane flying in front of Table Mountain; various shots of the V&A Waterfront, including a trip to Robben Island on the ferry, and a number of rugby match celebrations at Ferrymans; and a run on Beach Road in Mouille Point, the lighthouse forming a dominant backdrop.
While most would say that Morgan Freeman was the star of the movie, playing the role of the magnificent Nelson Mandela, who sees the Rugby World Cup as a way in which to unite 42 million South Africans, it is Matt Damon who is the real star. Matt Damon IS Francois Pienaar, and speaks with a most believable South African accent; Morgan Freeman is Morgan Freeman in voice, and is Nelson Mandela in looks only.
Nostalgically, the movie was interesting to see, in observing how much and yet how little has changed in South Africa in 20 years. Long-forgotten brand names, such as Volkskas, Xerox and Iscor, and old logos such as those of SAA and Coca Cola, were visible around the rugby fields.
One error was that Madiba was seen to be reading the Cape Argus for breakfast! Some characters had too pronounced an (unrealistic) South African accent, including Pienaar’s mother, and the white security men. Pienaar’s wife Nerine, played by local actress Marguerite Wheatley, was very real in acting and speaking. Both Freeman and Damon have been nominated for the Screen Actors’ Guild awards, as best actor and best supporting actor, respectively.
The name of the movie comes from the Invictus poem by William Ernest Henley, which Mandela had in his prison cell on Robben Island, and was the mantra by which he survived:
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishment the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Given the 2010 World Cup, and a similar scenario of only a particular section of the South African population enjoying soccer, ‘Invictus’ may hold clues as to how President Zuma and FIFA will get all South Africans behind the spirit of the world’s biggest soccer event.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com