Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* The 6% decline in international Tourist arrivals in the first quarter of this year is the biggest since our country became a democracy 21 years ago, writes the Financial Times. Ebola is partly to blame, but the new visa rules are the main reason, requiring personal biometric evaluation in India, China, and Russia, and unabridged birth Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* Tourist arrivals grew by 5 % in the first six months of this year relative to the same period a year ago, with close to 5 million international tourist arrivals from January – June 2013. Tourist arrivals from France, Germany, Italy, Asia, India, the USA, and Africa grew, while those from the Netherlands and the UK declined.
* The Spur Corporation has bought the Hussar Grill chain of six steak restaurants for R35 million, and will develop the brand, taking it national.
* Tour operator Francoise Armour has written a hard-hitting letter to Southern African Tourism Update, feeding back the poor experience of her clients when they go on a Robben Island tour. Given that the number of bookings for the tour will now increase, she asks whether the iconic destination is worthy of the legacy of the late Nelson Mandela. Even more shocking than her detailed list of negatives about the Robben Island tours is the comments to her letter, in which many tour operators write that they no longer build Robben Island into their clients’ Cape Town tour itinerary!
* Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille yesterday announced at a Day of Reconciliation event the renaming of the Fan Mile to Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* Thirteen venues linked to the late Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg and Pretoria are paying homage to the great leader. They include his house in Alexandra; his house in Soweto; Nelson Mandela Bridge; the Nelson Mandela statue in Nelson Mandela Square; the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory; Liliesleaf Farm; Constitution Hill; the Apartheid Museum; Freedom Park in Pretoria; the Union Buildings; the Workers’ Museum; the Palace of Justice in Church Square, and Chancellor House.
* The Sydney Morning Herald lists 20 reasons to visit Cape Town today, clearly out of date as it recommends seeing whales from land (they have left for the Antarctic already), and there is no reference to Nelson Mandela’s passing! It oddly refers to the longest wine route in the world between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth (the latter city is not associated with wines), and referring to indigenous fynbos as ‘native flowers’ is a ‘lost in translation’ reference! It does highlight Clifton and Camps Bay as top beaches. The writer received information from SA Tourism, which makes the incorrect information unforgivable.
* In the twenty years since the late Mr Mandela’s release and subsequent Presidency of the country tourist arrivals grew by 10 million!
* Announced prior to the passing of Madiba, SAA and SA Tourism shared plans to tie in with the release of the movie ‘Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom‘ in the United Kingdom, to promote our country as a tourism destination.
* An American publication recommends three South African wines out of Continue reading →