Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* More than 400 African tourism products and services have signed up as exhibitors at INDABA2015, to be held in Durban from 9 – 11 May.
* SAA is resuming daily direct non-stop flights between Johannesburg and New York from 7 March, a time reduction on the northern route of one and a half hours.
* ‘Fifty Shades of Grey‘ is on everyone’s lips the world over, with its international release today, Continue reading →
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* Western Cape Premier Helen Zille and Minister of Tourism Alan Winde will launch three wifi hotspots next week, in Atlantis, George, and Robertson, with Delft to follow two months later, connecting 50000 residents in the province to the internet. (received via media release from Minister Winde’s office)
* Minister of Public Enterprises Lynne Brown is talking about ‘collapsing’ SAA, SA Express, and Mango into one airline, which would have one Board of Directors, and create a ‘leaner and meaner‘ airline. Privatisation is not being considered.
* Western Cape Minister of Tourism Alan Winde has issued a media statement regarding the new Immigration Regulations and their effect on Tourism for the first time. Acting on feedback from hoteliers, travel agents and tour operators in the province, he Continue reading →
It was a shock to see that, after a steady improvement in Tourism Confidence in the past few quarters, it has done an about-turn and declined in the second quarter of this year, as reflected in the latest reading of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa FNB Tourism Business Index.
The Tourism Business Index measured 94.7 for the past three months, below the normal average of 100, and far below the 112,4 reading of the first quarter of this year. Whilst the forecast for the second quarter Tourism Index in the first quarter was 103, actual confidence was ten points lower than expected. The lower Tourism Index is attributed to travel agents, transport operators, and conference centres, a far more pessimistic tourism segment, in that its average Index was only 86,2, an extreme contrast to the Accommodation segment, which more optimistically measured 105,8.
The Tourism Business Council expressed its concern about the obstacles to the growth in the Tourism industry, including Continue reading →
A survey conducted amongst 20000 travel agents by Benchmark Hospitality International in the USA has culminated in the ‘Top Ten Travel Trends for 2014′. Good news is that travel bookings are on the up, and that beach holidays are on an upward trend too!
The results were as follows:
1. 80% of the travel agents were optimistic about travel growth, half of these expecting it to be ‘very strong’.
2. Most growth will come from leisure travel, and half of this from the luxury segment. However, leisure and business travel often is combined.
3. An increasing number of clients are booking directly, understandably of concern to travel agents.
4. Beach-related travel is showing the strongest growth, responsible for about half of all travel. The balance of Continue reading →