Tag Archives: Netherlands

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 25/26 January

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Queen Elizabeth will honour the late Nelson Mandela with an invitation-only memorial service at Westminster Abbey on 11 February, the day on which Madiba was released from the then Victor Verster prison in 1990.  It will be the first service for a non-British citizen, reports The New Age.

*  David Williams from The Observer has selected three South African wines as his ‘wines of the week‘:   Reyneke Organic Syrah 2011, Ken Forrester Workhorse Chenin Blanc 2012, and De Grendel Sauvignon Blanc 2013.

*   A trade and tourism delegation from the Miami-Dade county and Enterprise Florida Inc will visit Cape Town, as well as Johannesburg and Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 17 December

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Tourist arrivals grew by 5 % in the first six months of this year relative to the same period a year ago, with close to 5 million international tourist arrivals from January – June 2013.  Tourist arrivals from France, Germany, Italy, Asia, India, the USA, and Africa grew, while those from the Netherlands and the UK declined.

*   The Spur Corporation has bought the Hussar Grill chain of six steak restaurants for R35 million, and will develop the brand, taking it national.

*   Tour operator Francoise Armour has written a hard-hitting letter to Southern African Tourism Update, feeding back the poor experience of her clients when they go on a Robben Island tour.  Given that the number of bookings for the tour will now increase, she asks whether the iconic destination is worthy of the legacy of the late Nelson Mandela. Even more shocking than her detailed list of negatives about the Robben Island tours is the comments to her letter, in which many tour operators write that they no longer build Robben Island into their clients’ Cape Town tour itinerary!

*   Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille yesterday announced at a Day of Reconciliation event the renaming of the Fan Mile to Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 16 September

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Scandinavians are the happiest in the world, the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network World Happiness Report 2013 has found.  Denmark is in first place with the happiest citizens in the world, followed by Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

*   The future of tour operators is uncertain, following the e-Travel Africa Summit, which was held in Cape Town last week, the E-Tourism Frontiers organiser Damian Cook saying that their days are numbered, while SA Tourism’s Chief Marketing Officer Jan Hutton disagrees.

*   The South African National Parks’ free entrance to all bar three of its national parks last week has met with criticism from COSATU (the Confederation of South African Trade Unions) in being discriminatory, benefiting those Continue reading →

Cycle tourists to come rolling into the Cape!

Cycle tourismWhile Cape Town benefits from the annual Argus Cycle Tour held in March, it will soon see even more international cyclists on our roads, the Western Cape aiming to attract 100000 cycle tourists by 2023.  This is the bold plan of  Alan Winde, provincial Minister of Tourism, Economic Development, and Finance, reports the Cape Argus.

Minister Winde recently visited the Netherlands, and its Dutch Cycling Embassy, a network of cycling experts.  The country has a very low cyclist fatality rate, and the cycling embassy is willing to come to the party, the Minister announced.  ‘To assist, the Dutch Embassy has offered to host a workshop here. Talking points will include the social and economic impact of cycling. It will also help with an economic impact study on the benefits of cycling for the Western Cape‘.

Dave Bellairs, Director of the Argus Cycle Tour, supports the Minister’s Continue reading →