Tag Archives: MXit

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 25 February

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Design news headlines

*   A total of 10,6 million South Africans use WhatsApp,  a free messaging service which was bought by Facebook last week.  This represents close to half of all adults living in cities and towns.   Facebook usage on mobile phones is at 9 million (45%), Mxit is at 25%, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) (21%), and Twitter 20%, according to a survey conducted last week.

*   The Stellenbosch American Express Wine Routes will be participating at the tourism and travel show ITB in Berlin next month for the first time.  (received via media release from Random Hat Communications)

*   The ATKV-Oesfees will be held at Solms-Delta outside Franschhoek on 22 March, with headline acts including Karen Zoid, Theuns Jordaan, Robbie Wessels, and Loukmaan Adams.  It is the 7th Oesfees on the wine estate, and 100 performers will participate, to celebrate the harvest in the Franschhoek valley with local music and dance.  Last year more than 5000 music fans attended the Oesfees.   Solms-Delta is dedicated to preserving and developing the musical heritage of the Cape, through its Music van de Caab project run by Adriaan Brand.  Entrance costs R130 per adult. (received via media release from Paula Wilson Media Consulting)

*   Food Routes has launched a new Culinary Sensibility Identities (CSI) tool, allowing restaurant goers to match their culinary personality with that of a compatible restaurant on the Food Routes Continue reading →

Social Media Trends 2014: Facebook leads in South Africa!

Facebook logoFacebook has the largest number of Social Media users in South Africa, and grew by 40% to reach 9,4 million active users in 2013, a survey entitled ‘South African Social Media Landscape 2014’,  and conducted by World Wide Worx and Fuseware, has found.  It has overtaken Mxit, which has 6 million users, for the first time.

Twitter experienced the fastest growth in the number of users, at 129% in the past year, reaching 5,5 million users.   Mxit’s growth has been curtailed by the popularity of instant messaging apps WhatsApp and 2Go, and the growing use of social networking sites on smartphones. Google+ too has been slow to grow, with less than half a million users, but Instagram has grown six-fold in the past year, and is expected to grow even more.

The majority of South African Social Media users is accessing the sites via their smartphones, 87% for Facebook and 85% for Twitter.

The Social Media usage trends of individuals reflect those of companies:  93% of major Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 16/17 November

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*  Nando’s, Prince Harry’s and Beyonce’s favourite chicken take-out in London, will be opening its first store at Gatwick airport.

*   Heathrow needs a third runway to deal with the estimated doubling of traffic by 2030.  One plan is to build a floating runway on an estuary of the Thames, instead of demolishing houses in a village close to Heathrow.

*   Wide-spread flooding hit Somerset West, Franschhoek, Hermanus/Stanford, Strand, and Cape Town on Friday evening.  The Franschhoek Pass, Chapman’s Peak, Betty’s Bay/Gordon’s Bay road, and Victoria Road* between Camps Bay and Hout Bay are still closed.

*   Eben Sadie of The Sadie Family Wines is the winemaker featured in the weekly Terroirist blog interview!

*   Not only is Stellenbosch famous for its many wine estates producing excellent Continue reading →