Tag Archives: Tim Harris

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 4 June

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   London has been named as the most visited tourist city by the MasterCard Global Destinations Cities Index, estimated to receive 19 million tourists this year. Bangkok follows in second place, with Paris, Istanbul, and Dubai making up the top five most visited cities.

*   The Department of Tourism has been allocated a budget of R 1,8 billion for the next financial year. The target for international tourist arrivals is 12 million by 2018. Just under R1 billion will go to SA Tourism. Minister of Tourism Derek Hanekom announced Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 2 June

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The price of petrol increases by 47 cents a liter at midnight today, mainly due to the increase in the price of crude oil.

*   More than 1000 delegates attending the World Economic Forum Africa in Cape Town from tomorrow until Friday will be motivated to operate from Cape Town and the Western Cape, in a campaign driven by Wesgro, the Western Cape trade, investment, and tourism promotion agency. Wesgro Continue reading →

Does Cape Town need more new hotels? More than 700 new rooms to come in next 2 years!

Tsogo Sun logoIt was a surprise to receive a media release from Western Cape Tourism Minister Alan Winde, welcoming the development of a new R680 million mega Tsogo Sun hotel in the city centre, adding 500 bedrooms to the city’s room stock in 2017!  Another 235 rooms will open in the V&A Waterfront, when the Radisson Red opens next year! Can the hospitality industry in Cape Town afford another 735 rooms when the oversupply of accommodation for the 2010 World Cup still affects every accommodation establishment?!

The Tsogo Sun hotel will be built on the recently demolished Tulip Hotel, on the corner of Strand, Bree, and Buitengracht Streets, with construction set to commence next month.  The Tsogo Sun complex will consist of two entities on the Continue reading →

Should the City of Cape Town take up the fight against alleged Racism in Cape Town?

City of CT Racism a1 Whale CottageI had seen a news report about Mayor Patricia de Lille taking a stand against allegations of racism in Cape Town, and did not take any note of it, the R-word being a very sensitive one (increasingly so, I feel), which can potentially lead to abuse and other criticism.  I changed my mind when I saw a series of advertisements in the latest Atlantic Sun, and as I was on the receiving end of an extreme attack of racism in Green Point last week.

Mayor de Lille appears to have reacted to allegations by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa that Cape Town is ‘racist‘, obviously implying that ‘White’ residents of the city are racist towards residents of other population groups in Cape Town.  She launched the ‘Inclusive City‘ campaign and ‘Cape Town against Racism’ advertising campaign on Human Rights Day on 24 March.

The advertising campaign is visible in the Cape Town freesheets, being a series of three full- Continue reading →