Tag Archives: Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company

Table Mountain climbs to the top!

Table Mountain has made the top list of  the “mountains and volcanoes” list in the New7Wonders of Nature, and as one of the top 77 sites selected from over 261 participants from around the globe, reports News24.

Cape Town’s icon, Table Mountain, beat fellow category contenders Mount Everest, K2 and Mount Fiji in round two of the international competition that relied solely on votes from the public.   It needed to be ranked in the top 11 of its category – mountains and volcanoes – to carry on in the competition.   Other categories include seascapes, lakes, islands, ice formations, waterfalls and forests.

“We are thrilled at the enormous level of support and votes from the citizens of South Africa as well as from fans around the globe,” said Sabine Lehmann, CEO of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company.

A panel of experts will select 28 finalists (four per category) later this month.  A third and final phase of voting will begin. The official New7Wonders of Nature list will be announced in 2011.

Archbishop Tutu, comedian Marc Lottering, radio DJ Natalie Becker and the Proteas cricketers have supported the drive for Table Mountain.

The campaign is run by the New7Wonders Foundation, and works to document monuments and conservation efforts worldwide.

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Table Mountain only SA New7Wonders Nominee

Table Mountain is South Africa’s only nominee for the New7Wonders of Nature, after the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company stepped in by funding the entry fee for this icon of Cape Town, and even South African tourism, reports News24.

Earlier this month it was reported that S A Tourism was supporting the nomination process for the four South African finalists Kruger National Park, Cape of Good Hope, Table Mountain and the Vredefort Crater.

However, S A Tourism has now withdrawn its support and sponsorship, on the grounds of its lack of funds for the $ 199 administration fee per entry!   SA Tourism Global Communications Manager Wendy Tlou is quoted as saying:”    As you may know, we work on budgets that have been allocated according to projects that are planned for a particluar financial year.   Given the impact of the fluctuating exchange rate, and that we operate mostly internationally, where the rand is not as strong as we would like it to be, this has a very negative impact on our budgets.    As such, we’ve had to let go of projects that could have brought SA even more publicity purely because of some of these constraints.”

Entries for the campaign closed at midnight last night, and the public around the world can vote for its top seven wonders of nature between January and July, whereafter 21 finalists will be chosen, open to further voting to select the New7Wonders of Nature.

Under the Boardtalk!

Nils Heckscher, MD of the Winchester Mansions Hotel,  appears to have little to do in his day job, volunteering his services on many industry Boards.   He is currently serving as past-Chairman on the FEDHASA Cape Board, is a Director of  Street Smart, and is Chairman of the Tourism Marketing Levy of South Africa (TOMSA).    He was a Director of Cape Town Routes Unlimited, but resigned earlier this year when the politics got to him.    One could say that Heckscher is an “association-junkie”.  Perhaps it is time that he allowed some new and younger blood to serve on industry bodies.

Heckscher’s latest target is Cape Town Tourism, probably because of its new Marketing role and R 24 million budget, having been nominated for one of the two Director slots available.     He is up against tough competition, with eight other nominees, including Mbulelo Kwali, Chairman of the Black Management Forum; Sabine Lehmann, CEO of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company; Colin Nyoni, Owner of Nyoni’s Kraal; Jennifer Seif, Executive Director of Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa; and Arno Vorster, previous Chairman of Cape Town Tourism, and an Internal Auditor at the City of Cape Town, the provider of the new Marketing Budget.    The election takes place at the Cape Town Tourism AGM on 16 October.

Phillip Couvaras, GM of the Table Bay Hotel and Chairman of FEDHASA Cape, has been appointed to the Board of Cape Town Routes Unlimited, according to the latest FEDHASA Cape newsletter, but surprisingly his appointment has not been publicly announced by new Western Cape Province MEC for Finance, Economic Development & Tourism Garth Strachan, nor by Cape Town Routes Unlimited (CTRU).   In fact, the CTRU website still lists the Board which was in place until June, most of which directors, including Heckscher, no longer serve on the Board.

Table Mountain under the weather!

The Table Mountain Cableway has seen a drop in visitor numbers of about 10 %, down to 785 000 for the year ended June, reports Cape Business News.

The drop in visitors is attributed by the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company to “five months … with record bad weather patterns”. Strong winds cost the company up to 80 days of closure per year.

The company has promised to do its maintenance ahead of the usual June/July period in 2010, to be up and running for the World Cup