Tag Archives: Wimpy

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 21 April

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   SAA Acting CEO Nico Bezuidenhout has announced that one of its subsidiaries may be sold, and a stake in SAA could be sold too.  Subsidiary Mango may be listed.  Losses have been reduced from R7 million per day last year to R5 million per day two months ago.

*   Spur has been named as our country’s leading restaurant brand, out of 45 evaluated (the list is not supplied, but appears to consist of franchise brands), followed by McDonalds, Ocean Basket, Mugg & Bean, and Wimpy. The study was conducted in November last year, amongst customers earning R5000 per month or more. Continue reading →

Franschhoek Cellar undergoes complete image transformation, pity about design and poor service!

Franschhoek Cellar exterior 2Yesterday I spent the afternoon in Franschhoek, and used the opportunity to visit the completely transformed Franschhoek Cellar, for which re-opening I had received an invitation, but could not attend the Monday evening function last month.  The redesign led to the closure in October and November last year, and the Franschhoek Cellar re-opening in December.  What has emerged is a monster, not suited to brand ‘Franschhoek’ at all!

For the first time I noticed yesterday that one can no longer park in front of the building, an area which was shared with that for The Stall.  There is no entrance into the wine tasting centre off the R45 entrance to Franschhoek anymore.  Instead the walkway to the centre has been turned into a garden, with a rose garden, another with protea varieties, and a fountain wall.  To the left of the building are some unusual looking ‘umbrellas‘, as if they are Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 27/28 October

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Retailers’ service sucks – we may have thought so – but now it’s official, according to the ‘Retail Shopper Survey 2014′, conducted by Why 5 amongst households with a total income of R10000 or more.  More than half of respondents said service is bad; they want shops close by; shopping is a grudge purchase; the majority research offers online;  payment by mobile phone would be supported by one-third of shoppers; loyalty programs are highly popular, 96% of shoppers using them; sales do attract shoppers; shoppers want information via catalogues, newsletters, and e-mails, but in-store radio broadcasts are a waste of time; shoppers feel that shopping malls all look the same.

*   TripAdvisor has launched a new ‘Just for You‘ service, offering ‘tailor-made’ accommodation recommendations based on past searches on their website as well as preferences.  It links with Facebook to gain a better understanding of its customers, to enable better recommendations to be made.

*   The Vineyard Hotel has been recognised by the 2014 Travel + Leisure Global Vision Awards for its promotion of Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 4 April

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The 2014 Beautiful South wine tasting event in London, a collaboration between Argentinian, Chilean, and South African wine producers, is to be reduced to 250 exhibitors, fifty less than last year, to reduce the dominance of South African wines.  Beautiful South will be held at the Olympia on 10 and 11 September.

*   The Hermanus FynArts Festival 2014 takes place from 6 – 16 June, as an ArtsFest and Winter School. The organisers describe it as ‘a 10-day celebration of South African arts with a focus on the visual arts’, with 20 art exhibitions.

*   World renowned Copenhagen restaurant Noma, the world’s number one restaurant until 2012, is moving to Kikunoi restaurant in Kyoto early next year for two months, working with Chef Yoshihiro Murata, Noma owner and Chef Rene Continue reading →