Tag Archives: Overstrand

Western Cape has largest number of Blue Flag beaches!

Camps Bay beach Blue FlagThe Western Cape has 27 Blue Flag beaches, the largest percentage of the 45 Blue Flag beaches awarded in our country in total this year. More than 4000 Blue Flag beaches have been accredited world-wide.  In addition, five marinas and six whale-watching boats were accredited, and some pilot Blue Flag beaches have been announced.  All the beaches in the Hessequa Municipality (Stilbaai, Witsand, Gouritzmond, and more) have achieved Blue Flag status.

The Blue Flag status of each beach is done by the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa, based on international standards for water and beach cleanliness, water and sand quality, and environmental education and management, set by the Foundation for Environmental Education.  The number of Blue Flag beaches awarded locally is growing year on year since the beach accreditation system was introduced in our country 13 years ago.

The Blue Flag Beaches, and accredited marina and whale-watching boats, in the Western Cape are the following: Continue reading →

Bob Skinstad new Tourism Ambassador for Overstrand, first for Western Cape!

Bob Skinstad - Overstrand tourism ambassadorFor the first time in the Western Cape a Tourism Ambassador has been appointed.  Bob Skinstad, South African rugby hero and commentator, is the new Tourism Ambassador for the Overstrand, encompassing the municipal region stretching from Kleinmond-Hangklip to Gansbaai, via Hermanus and Stanford.  The area is also known as the Cape Whale Coast.

The concept of a Tourism Ambassador was the idea of Wesgro CEO Nils Flaatten, who felt that Bob’s interaction with top rugby fans locally, as well as internationally would stand the Overstrand region in good stead if it was recommended by him as a holiday destination on his travels.  Bob grew up in ‘Southern Rhodesia‘, but loved coming on holidays to Hermanus with his parents, and they now live in the seaside town (with his parents-in-law too), giving Bob’s endorsement even greater credibility.  A Memorandum of Agreement has been signed for 12 months between Bob and the Overstrand municipality, confirming which services he will render, and how many packages of products from the area he can use for marketing purposes.   He wants the region to become more Social Media savvy, and recommended ‘We Chat’ as a huge free Continue reading →

Looking back: 2011 the worst year ever?

2011: what a year it’s been for the world, South Africa, and Whale Cottage – unpredictable, up and down, and a year in which one had to rethink every way in which one has run one’s business and life.  Most would say that it’s been one of the worst years ever!  But despite the tough times, there has been a lot to be grateful for as well.  I have summarised some of the high and low lights of the year:

1.  The knock which tourism took, especially from May – August, in being one of the worst winters ever experienced, had an effect on all sectors of the economy.  Restaurants frantically offered specials to gain cashflow, guest houses went back to dropping rates as they do in winter, and few took rate increases in summer, unlike their hotel colleagues, who suffered poor occupancy too.  More hotels and restaurants closed down than ever seen before. The recession in the UK hit South African tourism and wine sales badly, previously our major source market. From 50 % of our business in the summer months in Camps Bay, the UK business will be no more than 5 % this summer.  High airfares and the crippling UK airport taxes have not helped. The tourism situation was so bad that we wrote an Open Letter to national Minister of Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk, as Cape Town Tourism and Cape Town Routes Unlimited were not aware of how bad things were in the Cape, and therefore did nothing to market the region and to help the tourism industry. Cape Town Tourism spent all its energy on Twitter, not yet the medium of communication of our average tourist, and on wasteful promotions, and therefore we did not renew our 20 year membership. The welcome increase in German tourists has not made up this shortfall, but we have been delighted to welcome many more South African guests.   The World Cup has become a swearword, the reality of its lack of a tourism benefit becoming clear. A blessing from Santa has been a much improved festive season, with no snow-bound tourists or strong south-easter wind, as happened last year.

2.  Events are hugely beneficial for business, and the Argus Cycle Tour, J&B Met, and Cape Town International Jazz Festival attracted out of town guests. The U2 and Coldplay concerts helped fill beds and delighted Cape Town audiences.  A fantastic outcome of Coldplay’s performance is that the music video for ‘Paradise’ was filmed in our city, the Boland and the Karoo – no better part of the world could have been chosen for this song!

3.  Cape Town has had an exceptional year, the darling of the world, winning the World Design Capital 2014 bid, Table Mountain being named one of New7Wonders of Nature (amid some controversy and as yet subject to verification), named top destination in TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Destination (for what it was worth!), and featuring strongly in the new James Bond book ‘Carte Blanche’.  Our city hotels, especially the Cape Grace and Steenberg Hotel, featured on international top hotel lists. Good news was the sale of the V&A Waterfront to a local company, which is investing in the upgrade of and addition to the country’s most popular tourist destination.

4.   Despite the doom and gloom, there were more restaurant openings, and chef and restaurant staff changes this year than in many years: The Pot Luck Club, Hemelhuijs, Dash, Casparus, Dear Me Foodworld, The Franschhoek Kitchen, Il Cappero, Café Benedict, The Kitchen at Maison, Sotano by Caveau, Knife, De Oude Bank Bakkerij, Ryan’s Kitchen, Caffe Milano, Mozzarella Bar, Cassis Salon de Thé, Power & the Glory, Haas Coffee, Johan’s @ Longridge, Skinny Legs & All, KOS Coffee & Cuisine, Café Dijon @ Zorgvliet, Le Coq, Act and Play Bar at the Baxter, Sunbird Bistro, Societi Brasserie, Jason’s, Bird Café with new owners, Maria’s after a long renovation closure, Toro Wine & Aperitif Bar, Valora, Café Le Chocolatier, Haute Cabriere Cellar Restaurant after a renovation and chef change, Art’s Café, Spice Route, Mitico, Knead on Kloof, Chez Chez, La Bella, 5 Rooms, Terbodore Coffee Bar, Wale Rose Lifestyle, The Black Pearl, Bistro on Rose, Slainte, Babel Tea House, Rhapsody’s, Café Extrablatt, Harvest, McDonalds in the V&A,  The Mussel Bar, The Franschhoek Food Emporium, Makaron, F.east, Bean There Fair Trade, Sabrina’s, Harbour House in the V&A, MCC Franschhoek, Clarke Bar & Dining Room, Roberto’s, French Toast, Saboroso, Mezepoli, Rocca in the Cape Quarter, and Roca in Franschhoek opening their doors, and new suppliers Frankie Fenner Meat Merchants and The Creamery opening too.

5.  Sadly, the recession was noticeable as it hit restaurants, and it was some of the newer restaurants that were badly hit, including What’s On Eatery, The Olive Shack, Bella Lucia, Blonde, Jardine, Caveau at the Mill, Nando’s in Camps Bay, The Sandbar, The Bistro, Restaurant Christophe, Doppio Zero in Green Point and Clarement, shu, Oiishi Delicious Caffe, Hermanos, The Kitchen Bar, Wildwoods, The Green Dolphin, De Huguenot restaurant, Wildflour, Depasco, Kuzina, and 221 Waterfront.

6.  The eating highlight of the year was the tribute dinner to the closing of El Bulli, one of the world’s best restaurants, by Tokara, Chef Richard Carstens excelling in serving a 13-course meal to a packed restaurant on 30 July, earning him and his team a standing ovation.  This meal alone should have made Chef Richard South Africa’s top chef in the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards, but sole judge Abigail Donnelly proved that she was incapable of handling this new role and responsibility, not only in excluding Chef Richard from her Top 10 list, but also in awarding the new Boschendal Style Award to her client Makaron.

7.   Franschhoek evolved as THE wine region, Boekenhoutskloof being recognised as South Africa’s top winery by the Platter Guide, and La Motte the top wine estate in South Africa by the Great Wine Capitals Global Network.  In the latter competition, Tokara was selected as top wine estate restaurant in the country. The sale of the Franschhoek Graham Beck farm was announced, and the operation closes mid-year in 2012. The winemaking will take place at Steenberg and at Graham Beck in Robertson, while a Graham Beck tasting bar Gorgeous will open at Steenberg in February.

8.   Hermanus was in the tourism marketing spotlight, when miraculously both the committee of the Hermanus Tourism Bureau resigned, and the Cape Whale Coast Destination Marketing Organisation was disbanded by the Overstrand Mayor.  We had written about the self-interest which had been served by the previous leaders of these two bodies in ‘Lermanus’!  A welcome product for Hermanus is the recently created Hermanus Wine Route, marketing of which will be in the capable hands of Carolyn Martin of Creation.

9.   The Consumer Protection Act was introduced in April, and has shown benefits in product deficiencies and returns.  Little effect has been seen for the tourism industry.  The Tourism Grading Council of South Africa tried to change its accommodation assessment standards, which caused a huge outcry.  Despite changing back to what they had before, many accommodation establishments lost faith in the organisation, and have not renewed their accreditation.

10.  The wedding of Prince Albert II and Princess Charlène in July put South Africa in the world spotlight, not only due to the televised broadcast of the wedding, but also as they celebrated their wedding with a second reception, at The Oyster Box in Umhlanga, now the country’s best known hotel.

11.  This year proved that the ‘social’ in Social Media is a misnomer in many respects, but it is the marketing platform which cannot be excluded.  We celebrated the 10th anniversary of our WhaleTales newsletter, the 3rd year of blogging, and our 1000 th blogpost this year.  We are grateful to our Facebook friends and likers, Twitter followers, and blog and newsletter readers for their support.

It is hard to predict 2012, and we will go with the flow.  2011 has made us tougher and even more thick-skinned, we have learnt to change with changed tourism times.  We look forward to a stable world economy, politics, as well as weather in 2012!

POSTSCRIPT 2/1: The most read posts on our blog in 2011 were the restaurant winter specials, the Festive Season packages, the marriage of Prince Albert and Princess Charléne, the review of Casparus, the restaurant summer specials, the review of Gaaitjie in Paternoster, the death in Cape Town of the President of Ferrero Rocher,  the listing of restaurant openings and closures, the Consumer Protection Act, and Table Mountain making the New7Wonders of Nature.

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

Stormy Cape Whale Coast tourism politics come to an end!

The tourism industry in Hermanus is delighted that the stormy reign of tourism on the Cape Whale Coast has finally come to an end, with the Mayor of the Overstrand Municipality, Mrs Nicolette Botha-Guthrie, cancelling the Service Level Agreement between her municipality and the Cape Whale Coast Destination Marketing Organisation (DMO) two days ago.

The demise of the DMO brings to an end the controversial attempts by the Lerm family to control tourism in Hermanus and the Overstrand area, and to benefit from it for their own businesses.  Clinton Lerm was the Chairman of the DMO and of the Hermanus Tourism Bureau, and stepped down to become Vice Chairman of the Hermanus Tourism Bureau when allegations of conflict of interest were first raised.  His mother Maxie Lerm also served on the executive of both tourism bodies, and many tourism-related meetings were held at the Lerm’s Misty Waves Hotel, felt by many to be inappropriate.  Many fingers were pointed at Clinton Lerm’s management, or lack of, of the DMO, and the politicking that took place.  In the end it was the DMO’s attempt to make a Tourism Bureau of the DMO, in competition with the Hermanus Tourism Bureau, that was the beginning of the end of the DMO.  Lerm promised to call a Special General Meeting, at which he would consolidate the membership of the DMO and the Hermanus Tourism Bureau, but after a year he had not managed to call such a meeting.

The Lerm family have had a nightmare week, both mother and son having been members of the Hermanus Tourism Bureau committee that resigned, to prevent being voted out in a ‘No Confidence’ motion at the Special General Meeting called by its members last Monday.  Now both Lerms have lost their powerful DMO positions, especially given that Maxie Lerm was handling PR and publicity for the DMO, allowing the family the advantage of media contacts for their own business interests, it is alleged!  Maxie Lerm is now a DA member of the Overstrand Municipality, and fortunately has not been given the Tourism portfolio, given that the family has overplayed its hand in dominating all tourism bodies in the region.

Ironically, Clinton Lerm a month ago called an Annual General Meeting of the DMO for next week, at which he wished to table two constitutional changes:

   *   a change in the definition of a ‘member’, it being proposed that it become ‘any citizen registered in the voting districts of the Overstrand and/or a tax contributor not in arrears on any municipal services’ – this would have meant that every resident of Hermanus, including occasional users of their holiday homes in the region, would become a voting member of the region’s most powerful tourism body, without necessarily having an interest in tourism!  It was never the intention that the DMO have members – Cape Town Routes Unlimited is also a DMO, but does not have any members!

   *   a confusing ‘additional constitutional point’ concerned voting procedures and rules, the DMO wanting the current constitutional requirement of only allowing members of 60 days or longer standing to vote at the meeting to be overturned, but no resolution was defined for this for the meeting.

The Chairman also announced that the AGM would not include an election, normally an agenda item of an AGM, stating that an election date would be set a month after the AGM, in consultation with the Overstrand municipality. Now the AGM will no longer be held, and instead the DMO ‘as a seperate legal entity (still) has to be wound up’.

In a media release issued by the Overstrand Municipality yesterday, it uses the Municipal Finance Management Act as the reason for disbanding the DMO, in writing that ‘a greater degree of direct control by the Municipality over the distribution and use of the funds allocated, is required’.  Interesting is the sentence which politely points a finger at the upheaval caused by Clinton Lerm and his Board in running the DMO: ‘The envisaged new system will facilitate such control whilst at the same time ensuring that there is a greater degree of cohesion and synergy within the whole Municipality as a tourist destination.’ 

The Municipality also announced that a ‘dedicated tourism officer’ is needed, reporting to its Directorate of Economic Development, and co-ordinating the ‘activities of the various Tourism Bureaux and to establish a single tourism marketing strategy for the whole of the Overstrand.‘  When the DMO was established, its Constitution stated that a Marketing Manager be appointed, but this never happened in the four year existence of the DMO!  The Municipality intends to form an ‘advisory committee from the community to advise the Municipality on all tourism related matters’.  The committee would consist of Cape Whale Coast tourism bureaux representatives, and tourism players, to allow the ‘voice of all role players and stakeholders will be best heard and effect given to the advice received’.  The Municipality intends to implement its new tourism dispensation from 1 September, the start of the summer season in the area, and leading up to the Whale Festival at the end of September.

While it is fantastic news that the Cape Whale Coast DMO is no more, and that a brand new Hermanus Tourism Bureau committee was elected last week, it will take time to appoint the municipal Marketing Manager, at a time when the region desperately needs to attract tourists after a terrible winter and a poor summer lying ahead.  One hopes that the municipal Marketing Manager will not be bogged down by municipal red tape, and will be strong enough to focus on doing what is best for the Cape Whale Coast, and not for personal interests – it will make a refreshing change.  With the stormy politics now at an end, the Cape Whale Coast can now focus on marketing its wonderful assets!  

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