While the UK remains steadfast in keeping South Africa on its Red List, Germany and the USA have announced the welcome news that they will welcome travellers from South Africa, report Businesstech and fin24.
Each of these two countries still have some entrance requirements, but these are mild compared to the rigorous regulations demanded of local travellers by the UK Government.
President Ramaphosa moved our country to Level 2 in his President’s Speech, after 47 days at Level 3. He also announced the later start of Curfew, at 23h00 from midnight tonight.
Alcohol sales regulations have been relaxed too, to allow retail sales from Mondays – Fridays.
Vaccine passports are to be introduced.
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* The Tourism Business Council of South Africa has emailed accommodation establishments that amendments made. to the Immigration Act 13 of 2002 last year requires of hotels, motels, boarding houses, lodges, guest houses, and apartment buildings to keep a register of their guests, take a copy of their ID or passport (none of them do), and take the residential address details. Failure to do so may result in a fine and/or imprisonment of up to 12 months! Interesting is that B&Bs are not included in the list, and that Airbnb is excluded, being accommodation in private homes and apartments in the main!
* Cape Wine 2015 will include a number of seminars on topics as Continue reading →
The world’s leading cyclist, Lance Armstrong, is riding his first Argus Cycle Tour today, adding prestige to the event, which is the largest cycling race in the world.
Armstrong is a wonderful marketer for Cape Town, communicating his experiences in Cape Town, via the social marketing medium Twitter, to his 2,5 million followers. His arrival was marred by the Immigration department at Cape Town International airport not allowing him to enter the country as he did not have a blank page left in his passport. Surprisingly, this problem was quickly solved, as all arriving guests with such a problem must return to their departure airport, to fix the problem. Armstrong’s Tweet about the incident was painfully truthful: “Well, made it in to SA. Not the friendliest welcome I’ve ever received but we’ve all seen immigration officers like that. #posterboymaterial“ Some of his Tweets are: “Done w/ a nice 3hr ride. I’ve heard many times before that Cape Town is stunning. That was no lie. What a place” (9/3); “Just finished a nice 4.5 hr ride. Great roads and riding here on the Cape. Gonna miss it! (13/3). This is powerful brand endorsement for Cape Town, sent out to Armstrong’s many loyal fans.
Braving a gusting southeaster, the 33rd Argus Cycle Tour will be a challenge for the 38000 participants completing the 109 km of the race, which started in the early hours of this morning in the city centre, and ends in Green Point.
Armstrong stopped cycling competitively (he has won seven Tours de France events) when he became a cancer victim, but he has won the battle against the dreaded disease, and spends a lot of time on cancer awareness projects. He expressed surprised at the large number of participants in the Race, only having experienced about 200 participants in the Tours de France.
The Cycle Tour is expected to contribute R 400 million to the economy of the Western Cape, coming from expenditure on accommodation, restaurants, fuel, and travelling. It appears that Cape Town accommodation is less booked this weekend than in the past, meaning that fewer participants from centers outside of Cape Town have registered to enter.
The Cycle Race will lead to road closures today, affecting traffic around the Cape Peninsula. From 11h30 all city centre roads will re-open, and so will roads around the route of the Race as the cyclists come through the Cape Town suburbs during the course of the day. Victoria Road in Camps Bay, Hout Bay and Bantry Bay will be closed for a large part of the day.
The Cycle Tour has been marred by a large number of accidents involving practising cyclists, not only in Cape Town, but also in Hermanus and near Oudtshoorn, resulting in a cry for dedicated cycle lanes to be developed.
Whale Cottage Camps Bay has already been booked for the 2011 Argus Cycle Tour by Cargo Carriers, who will take over the whole guest house.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com