Tag Archives: Randon Hat Communications

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 24 August

imageTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   KWV has won the General Smuts Trophy for Champion Young Wine for its Cabernet Sauvignon and wooded Shiraz blend at the 2015 SA Young Wine Awards. The same wine also won SA Champion Red Blend. Their wooded Malbec won SA Champion Other Red Cultivar, and their wooded Chardonnay won SA Champion Chardonnay. Spier won SA Championship trophies for its Sémillon and wooded Cabernet Saivignon. More than 2100 young wine entries were received, in what Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 18 August

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*  At the SAACI Congress Wesgro has been named as South Africa’s best Convention Bureau, and the Cape Town International Convention Centre the country’s best Convention venue. (via Twitter)

*   Hanneli Slabber, SA Tourism Country Manager for India, has received the ‘Best Professional in Marketing‘ award at the Safari India National Tourism Awards. Since her appointment in India, there has been a marked growth in tourists from India to South Africa.

*   Minister of Tourism Derek Hanekom has praised the role of Business Tourism as well as of Events, in addressing the SAACI (South African Association for the Conference Industry) Congress today.  He said that this sector of Tourism, which has an above average spend when visiting Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 31 July

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   After a meeting yesterday about the controversial new Immigration Regulations, between Minister of Tourism Derek Hanekom and Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba, they have announced that some of the onerous requirements will be made less stringent for tourism purposes, in preventing them from becoming an ‘administrative nightmare, causing foreigners to go elsewhere’!   The Department of Home Affairs has agreed to allow any equivalent document to an unabridged birth certificate for children from the country of origin.  More centres to issue biometric visas to South Africa will be opened in India and China, where there are only two per country.   One wonders why the Ministers took more than a month to meet, and allowed so much damage to be caused to our country’s Tourism industry!

*   Stellenbosch 360, the town’s tourism promotion agency, is determined to make every day a ‘Mandela Day‘, and assisted ‘boutique impact investment company‘ Heart Capital in its Foodpods Project in the Kayamandi township.  The project encourages locals to grow vegetables.  Stellenbosch 360 would like Stellenbosch residents to ‘live a life of 67 minutes as opposed to making it a yearly activity’. (received via media release from Random Hat Communications) Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 30 June

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The City of Cape Town has created its own vegetable, fruit, and herb garden in the Company’s Garden, which is where Jan van Riebeek planted Cape Town’s first vegetable garden after he landed in 1652 to supply ships of the Dust East India Company passing the Cape on their routes between Holland and the East.  It has been given the mouthful of a name Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) vegetable and herb garden in the Company’s Garden!  The garden will also contain indigenous medicinal herbs and edible plants.  There are no plans to replicate the growing of vines to make wines!

*   America is to be marketed as a ‘Gastro-tourism’ destination by its marketing agency Brand USA, given the diverse cultures living in the country.  A six-language ‘Discover America: Great American Food Stories‘ culinary guide has been published for visitors to the country.

*   A cheeky advertising campaign for cheeky craft beer Garagista Beer is attracting attention not only locally but also internationally, poking fun at the hipsters drinking beer, especially those drinking it for the image rather than for the beer itself!  Its cheeky pay-off line is ‘All beer. No bullshit’!   The brewery is on Albert Road in Woodstock. Continue reading →