Tag Archives: wildlife

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

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Malusi Gigaba, the Minister of Public Enterprises, has instructed SAA to cancel its order for 23 wide-body long-haul aircraft, which the airline said that the fuel efficient aircraft would turn around its loss situation.

*   SAA is resuming its non-stop flights between OR Thambo and JF Kennedy airports from 9 March, ahead of schedule.  On its return flights SAA made a refueling stop at Dakar.

*  Simonsig has begun harvesting its Pinot Noir, a week later than normal due to higher summer rainfalls.  The grapes have higher levels of acidity than usual, and will go into the making of their Kaapse Vonkel MCC. (received via media release from GC Communications)

*   South African Cuisine and Culture are of greater interest than Wildlife to Indian tourists.  The role of Robben Island, and the incarceration of the late Nelson Mandela, is of great interest to them, and is being added to tour itineraries.

*   SA Tourism has hosted a pre-launch screening celebration for ‘Mandela: The Long walk to Freedom‘, in Sydney, ahead of the movie launch Continue reading →

Wine estates should embrace Chinese tourists, to benefit wine tourism!

GWCGN Vergelegen Sharon Hosking AndreYesterday was the second time that I had the privilege to attend the Best of Wine Tourism Awards, the 2014 awards presented to the winning wine estates at Vergelegen’s Stables restaurant.  The wine estate representatives were advised to not neglect the booming Chinese tourism generally, as well as wine tourism market specifically.

Cape Town/Winelands is one of ten members of the Great Wine Capitals Global Network, and within each of these geographic regions the wine estates compete for the honour to be named the best in the category.  Winners for 2014 were awarded as follows: Wine Tourism Restaurant (won by Camphors at Vergelegen), Art & Culture (Vergelegen), Accommodation (Babylonstoren), Architecture and Landscapes (Babylonstoren), Wine Tourism Services (Delaire Graff), Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices (La Motte), and Innovative Wine Tourism Experiences (Spice Route).  Vergelegen was named the overall South African winner for 2014, with two first places and four second places out of the seven awards (it did not enter the Accommodation category, not offering any).

I was lucky to sit next to Bradley Brouwer, SA Tourism Regional Manager GWCGN Vergelegen Bradley Brouwer Whale Cottage Portfoliofor Asia Pacific, who was the keynote speaker, especially as I had missed his talk, driving through from a function at Jordan Wines at that time. Bradley is very entertaining, and shared that he was first appointed to head up the Japanese SA Tourism office eight years ago. and on arriving at his hotel and offering a generous tip, the taxi driver threw the money back at him, the hotel explaining to him that is regarded as an insult to be given a tip, as the Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 23 September

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Durban is setting itself a goal to become the top beach destination in Africa by 2030, which would be at the expense of Cape Town!   The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Economic Development and Tourism, Michael Mabuyakhulu, launched his province’s Tourism Master Plan in Durban last week. ‘By 2030, KZN will be globally renowned as Africa’s top beach destination with a unique blend of wildlife, scenic and heritage experiences for all visitors‘, he said!

*   Hotels and Facebook users are the two largest sources of credit card fraud says the Airline Information Group.  Staff at hotels, especially those at the front desk, have access to guest card details and tend to use these to buy airline tickets for themselves!

*   Interesting (and surprising) is a proposed ‘Fly South African‘ policy to be implemented for travel by government officials or government-funded travel.  The officials appear to not Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 14/15 September

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Cape Town has been selected to be on the route for the Volvo Oceans Race 2014/2015, which means that all five continents will be included in the race.

*   Distell owns 99% of the cider market in South Africa with its Savanna and Hunter’s brands.

*   Chinese tourists are spending less, a more middle class Chinese tourist focusing on practical purchases rather than on luxury top-end products.

*   While it benefits Franschhoek, this Australian travel article gets the food focus of Cape Town very wrong, referring to ‘5 star restaurants’!  But it does focus Australians on our Continue reading →