Tag Archives: wildlife

‘Südafrika: der Kinofilm’ German documentary excellent marketing for South Africa!

SA Kinofilm1South Africa can expect a Tourist boom from Germany this year, with another film about our country to be launched in Germany on 25 February. The documentary about our country is called ‘Südafrika: der Kinofilm‘ (South Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 30 May

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The price of petrol is to drop by 22 cents a liter from Wednesday 4 June, in part due to a stronger Rand, good news for Tourism. (via Kfm news)

*   Just when SA Tourism is looking to position South Africa’s tourism product more broadly than just as wildlife and safaris, the Lonely Planet has named our country as the world’s best Wildlife Destination for the third year running!

*   The construction work on the expansion of the Cape Town International Convention Centre is going ahead, despite threatening legal action should it do so, the process of the allocation of the tender to the architect consortium being the issue at stake.

*   Kamers with the Cape Craft & Design Initiative are joining forces to reflect the designs of Continue reading →

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

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*  The influential Huffington Post has published a fantastic article about Cape Town, entitled ‘15 Reasons Cape Town should be No. 1 on your travel agenda’, and has already achieved 749 Facebook likes, 211 Facebook shares,  and 473 Tweets in the past 24 hours. The list of reasons includes its location; ‘some of the most picturesque beach communities you’ll ever see’, featuring a photograph of Clifton;  beachfront bars, showing a photograph of the view onto Camps Bay beach from the now closed-down St Yves; 3000 penguins at Boulders Beach; the Sea Point swimming pool;  the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden; the V&A Waterfront ‘tourist trap‘ but meaning it in a positive way;   ‘the weather is almost too perfect’, with a photograph of the Twelve Apostles with a heavy South-Easter cloud!; Long Street not being as over-crowded or over-priced as Bourbon Street;  the Royale Eatery, well-known for its burgers and thick milkshakes;  colourful Bo-Kaap; the Neighbourgoods Market; ‘breathtaking universities‘;  and braai’s, at Mzoli’s in Gugulethu in particular.  The Stellenbosch Winelands and shark cage diving in Gansbaai are also recommended.

*   TripAdvisor has found that user searches for South Africa are increasingly terms such as ‘museums‘,  ‘luxury’, and ‘wifi’, while ‘safety’, wildlife, and ‘animals’ are less often searched than before.

*   The 2014 World Cup, due to kick-off in Brazil on 12 June, could be headed for chaos if the threatened strike by staff of the LATAM airline group servicing most of South America is not dealt with before then.  It is estimated that 300 international and 750 regional flights could be affected if the strike takes place.

*   Century City is to complete a new Conference Centre by the end of next year.  The CCCC will have 20 venues which Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 7 March

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Minister of Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk is attending the International Toerismusboerse (ITB) Travel Expo in Berlin.  The Minister said that German tourist arrivals have increased by 153% since 1994, measured at 26600 in 2012.  ‘Germany is our third largest source of overseas tourists. It’s been an incredible journey in which South Africa has emerged from a wildlife destination, serving primarily a domestic market, to one of the most visible, exciting, culturally diverse and varied global tourist destinations in the world today‘, the Minister said.

*   A number of bush camps as well as roads, have been closed in the Kruger National Park due to flooding caused by heavy rains, especially in the southern parts of the park.

*   IATA (International Air Transport Association) figures for January 2014 show a healthy 8% increase in airline passenger demand relative to the same month in 2013.

*   TripAdvisor has launched a South African domain, www.tripadvisor.co.za, and will add more local content to its site.

*   The most expensive champagnes are as follows: Goût de Diamants (Taste of Diamonds, £1,2 million), Moët & Chandon Continue reading →