Tag Archives: The Drinks Business

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 20 April

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The number of visitors to World Travel Market (WTM) Africa 2015 increased by 18% relative to 2014, making it Africa’s largest Business to Business tourism trade exhibition, the organisers claim.  No actual attendance figures have been revealed. With sponsor City of Cape Town, which should have not accepted its Best Stand Award due to its sponsor status, the organisers have announced that WTM Africa 2016 will be hosted from 6 – 8 April. (received via e-mail from WTM Africa)

*   SAA has denied that it is selling any parts of the airline, as has been claimed in media reports, stated its Acting CEO Nico Bezuidenhout. Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 7/8 October

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   SAB Miller is looking to open up the image of beer from just being a sportlovers’ drink to one that is enjoyed by women, and can be served paired with foods.  They are looking to coffee marketing, which has seen a ‘one-dimensional drink‘ transformed into a multi-faceted beverage. The company owns world beer brands such as Peroni, Grolsch, Coors Light, and Miller.

*   Concern is being expressed about the viability of eleven new hotels which are planned to be built in Cape Town in the next four years, adding another 2000 rooms of 3-star quality in the main.  Seven of the hotels are planned to be built within a 10 km radius of the Cape Town International Convention Centre.  Cape Town has about 11700 hotel rooms currently.  The new hotel openings could further worsen winter seasonality in the city!

*   Chef Michael Broughton from Terroir on the Kleine Zalze wine estate is celebrating the restaurant’s 10th anniversary with the Continue reading →

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

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The Reserve Bank has increased the repo rate by 25 basis points, giving a new interest rate of 5,75%. Governor Gill Marcus blamed inflation for the rate increase.

*   Brazil welcomed more than 1 million visitors during the Soccer World Cup, almost double the estimated 600000 travelers.  Most tourists had never been to Brazil before, visiting from more than 200 countries.  The infrastructure and tourism services generally, and the hospitality and cuisine specifically, were praised by the visitors.  The soccer matches were seen by 3,4 million soccer fans in the stadia over the month-long event.  Visitors stayed in Brazil for 13 days on average.   Brazilians were good soccer fans too, more than 3 million travelling around their own country during the soccer tournament.

*   Melanie Verwoerd has compiled a book ‘Our Madiba: Stories and Reflections from those who met Nelson Mandela‘, containing short stories of numerous persons that met the late Nelson Mandela, including Pieter-Dirk Uys/Evita Bezuidenhout, Adam Small, Francois Pienaar, Amanda Strydom, Sir Richard Attenborough, and many by Mrs Verwoerd herself.

*   The Drinks Business and Intangible Business in the UK evaluated the world’s ‘most powerful Champagne and Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 22 May

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   After having focused on Cape Town earlier this week, Huffington Post has included Hermanus in an article entitled ‘5 Lesser-known African wonders you have to see’.  Whale-watching is recommended, from July – November, with twenty to thirty whales being seen in Hermanus on average per day in that period, announced by the whale crier on his kelp horn.  The other wonders are the lunar rainbow in Zambia, the South Carmine Bee-eater migration in Zambia, wildebeest calving in Tanzania, and the Fruit-bat migration in Zambia.

*   South Africa’s premium wines over £10 a bottle were praised at a blind tasting held in London on Tuesday, offering quality and value for money.  The tasting was organised by the drinks business and the Premium Independent Wineries of South Africa, a collective of 15 local wine producers, promoting premium wines costing £10 or more.  Only 4% of wines are bought at that price-point, warned Tesco’s South African wine buyer, but he praised the quality of our wines, saying that they are ‘fantastic‘.  He said that our country’s premium wines need to promote their credentials.    Local wines tasted were Ken Forrester Chenin Blanc 2000, Beaumont Hope Marguerite 2009, Journey’s End Destination Chardonnay 2012, Mulderbosch Barrel Fermented Chardonnay 2010, Radford Dale ‘Nudity’ Syrah 2013, Mullineux Syrah 2012, Mvemve Raats de Compostella 2012, Jordan Cobblers Hill, South Africa 2011, Newton Johnson Family Vineyards Pinot Noir 2012, The Drift ‘There are still mysteries’ Pinot Noir 2012, and Paul Cluver Pinot Noir 2012.

*   Italian anti-trust and competition authorities are investigating TripAdvisor for its Continue reading →