Tag Archives: SnapScan

Western Cape Tourist Guiding registration goes online, will it speed up the process?

 

Having been through a two-month process of obtaining my Tourist Guiding badge, using the Western Cape Department of Economic Affairs and Tourism manual procedure to do so by submitting numerous pages via email, it was interesting to read that the Province is now offering an online Tourist Guide registration and renewal procedure.

It appears that the issuing of tourist registration cards (mine took two months) and tourist badges (still not received after three and a half months) may delay the online registration process, in that a number of departmental processes and procedures may still hold up the registration process, and may not make the Tourist Guide registration process any faster. Trying to register within the Covid Lockdown has added to the delay in the registration process.  I had to request Western Cape Premier Alan Winde for support, with a follow up, and have been impressed with the interaction with Ilse van Schalkwyk, the Chief Director of Economic Sector Support.

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Corona Virus: Lockdown Journey Journal, Day 23 of Level 4, 23 May 2020.

 

Saturday 23 May 2020, Day 23 of Level 4, after 35 days of Level 5 😷

Corona Gratitude 🙏

#Grateful for a day that didn’t go as planned at all, but was filled with highlights; for our Building Manager Henry coming for the day, doing a fantastic job of cleaning up and doing gardening, so lovely to see him again after 8 weeks of him being at home 🙏; for a very short and sweet Exercise Time, my shortest since 1 May; for going shopping at the Oranjezicht City Farm Organic Market with Shubha Shukla; for meeting Farmer Ian at the Oranjezicht Farm and learning so much from him about the underwater springs and their ’architectural’ style of gardening there; of reaching the milestone of 4000 members in the Facebook Restaurant Food Delivery Group; for returning to my beautiful clean apartment block, after Henry’s hard work; for taking Henry back to Wynberg, giving me an opportunity to have a look at Four&Twenty Café, now purely a Deli during Lockdown; for Miss Minsky 🐱 being delivered to me just as I got home, both of us excited yet very nervous 😱; for dancing far less than usual, having to give love to both Minsky 🐱 and KitKat 🐱; for going to bed early after a busy day; and for being happy and healthy. 🙏💙 Continue reading →

Mobile payment technology threatens restaurant/coffee shop tips!

snapscanA Cape Town study conducted by &Innovation has shown that locally-developed mobile payment Apps can influence the tips paid by customers to waitrons, the speed of the payment method making customers feel less guilty when they leave a smaller or no tip.  Based on restaurant turnover of R21 billion per year, the value of tips should be R2 billion.

The study found that the tip payment behaviour when paying by means of SnapScan, FlickPay, GUST Pay, and Zapper differs from payment made by cash or credit card. Whichever payment technique is easiest and most convenient for the customer at the moment of payment is used, without consideration of the impact it may have on the restaurant or coffee shop, and its staff.  The mobile payment method means that they don’t ‘look the waiter or cashier in the eye’.  It also means that the tip jar remains untouched. Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 1/2 November

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Despite the disaster in Cape Town harbour earlier this week, our country has a lucrative future as far as cruise tourism goes.  Nine cruise ships have scheduled stops off our coast for 2015, in Cape Town, Durban, Richard’s Bay, Port Elizabeth, and East London, a 70% increase in cruise liner passengers.   A number of the cruise ships are returning to the country, after previous visits.  The Queen Mary 2 will return for a second visit next year, and the Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth will visit in 2016.  Vital to the expansion of cruise tourism is world-class terminals in ports, and Cape Town’s inefficiency as far as Customs staff goes was in the spotlight this week.  Cape Town is one of the most popular stops in the region, for American tourists in particular.

*   National Minister of Tourism Derek Hanekom will lead a local delegation representing our tourism industry to World Travel Market (WTM) in London this coming week, one of the largest (after ITB in Berlin) tourism trade exhibitions in the world.  More than 50000 tourism players are likely to attend WTM.  The Minister said: ‘The WTM is one of the premier events where South Africa engages with the global travel trade. Besides maintaining excitement about our destination, and all that we have to offer, this platform is about doing business and growing international tourist arrivals to our country.  We will be promoting the variety of experiences we offer in South Africa, and build on our reputation as a unique, diverse, friendly and accessible destination‘.  The Minister will address a summit relating to mega-events and tourism at WTM, based on our country’s FIFA 2010 World Cup experience.

*   Due to a cracked silo storing 10000 tons of coal, Eskom has announced load-shedding from today onwards, which is Continue reading →