On Tuesday evening I was fortunate to enjoy a stay-over at the beautifully located five-star Tintswalo Atlantic on the Atlantic Ocean, at the foot of Chapman’s Peak in Cape Town. The invitation was to try out the newly rebuilt hotel, of which the public rooms were destroyed by a devastating fire in February this year, with accommodation suites renovated, and to provide feedback and suggestions ahead of the reopening of Tintswalo Atlantic on 1 October. A number of media representatives, travel trade representatives, as well as past guests have been invited to experience the Hotel during September. Continue reading →
Tag Archives: trade
WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 2 June
Tourism, 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 →
WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 2 June
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* The 2014 season will be remembered by local winemakers as one of the most challenging. For Sumaridge Wines in the Hemel en Aarde Valley it was the smallest harvest in ten years, and the most stressful for winemaker Gavin Patterson. For Kleine Zalze winemaker Johan Joubert it was the most challenging too, brought about by unseasonal rain in October, November, and January, which affected the Kleine Zalze Chenin Blanc bushvine in particular, the bunches doubling in volume. Spraying regimes were affected too. For Sumaridge’s investors it was a ‘year of sacrifice’. For Kleine Zalze the harvest was delayed, and more tartaric acid was added. Chardonnay, Pinotage, and Merlot benefited from the weather conditions, while Sauvignon Blanc was negatively affected, with disease and ripeness. The Hemel-en-Aarde Valley in Hermanus was more strongly influenced by the weather than was the Swartland. Patterson said about the 2014 vintage: ‘It’s really going to sort the sheep from the goats. Very sadly many winemakers are driven by accountants at the head of their companies and that will have an effect on how 2014 is judged’.
* Next year sees two major motor shows in Johannesburg: AutoMechanika will take place from 6 – 9 May, while The Johannesburg International Motor Show will be held from 14 – 25 October.
* Alan Winde, the Western Cape Minister of Economic Development, Tourism, and Agriculture, is at the Regional Leaders Summit in Atlanta in Georgia, to sign a ‘strategic agreement’ between the province/state. Continue reading →