Whale Cottage Portfolio Blog

More than 25 000 readers of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph have voted Cape Town as their favourite top travel destination in the Telegraph Travel Awards 2008, ahead of Sydney, San Francisco and Vancouver.  The article has only one photograph, that of Table Mountain taken from Blouberg. 

Favourite travel countries outside of Europe were voted as New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Canada.    The survey ascribes the choice of favourite cities to favourable exchange rates.

The poll also showed that more than half the readers spent about R 15 000 on their last holiday, and with the credit crunch they are even more in need of a break, but seek value for money like never before.    This makes travelers return to destinations they have been to before, being “English-speaking former colonies - and companies they feel they can entrust with their hard-earned pounds”. 

About three quarters of the readers say they book their holidays themselves, and not via a tour operator, due to the better value for money they receive.   About 90 % use the internet to plan their holidays. 

More than 90 % of the readers said that they would not change their choice of travel destination nor would they downgrade their accommodation as a result of the credit crunch.    This is excellent news for Cape Town and the Western Cape, given that the UK is the largest source of international tourism to the region.

Father Christmas cannot bring the tourism industry better news than that of the petrol price decrease of R 1,60 per litre as of Wednesday 3 December.   This brings the price of petrol down to R 7,11 at the coast.   The price of diesel will drop by about 80 cents per litre.

Tourism to the Garden Route and to country areas will receive a positive boost from the petrol price decrease, having taken a bad knock when the petrol price was more than R 10 a litre during winter.

A drop in the interest rate may also occur in December, which will be a further boost for tourism.

The Sweet Service Award goes to Robert Roofing Renovations, who came out on a stormy night an hour after being called out by Camps Bay guest house Villa Surprise, to replace and stabilise the tiles on the roof, which were being blown off on the night of the violent rain and wind storm on 11 November.   The staff worked until midnight, to ensure that the guest house guests stayed safe and dry.

The Sour Service Award goes to Dogon Group Properties, for threatening to stop the transfer of a property by means of an interdict due to a commission dispute.  The estate agent’s mandate from the seller had expired at the time the purchaser bought the property through another agent.    False information was provided in an affidavit by the estate agent Lillian Cross, to justify the commission claim.

The WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards are presented every Friday on the WhaleTales blog.  Nominations for the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be sent to Chris von Ulmenstein at info@whalecottage.com.

MATCH and S A Tourism met last week, in a meeting moderated by Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, to patch up the relationship between the two bodies, reports TravelHub.

Earlier this month S A Tourism resigned its MATCH Board position, saying that it did not support the “bullying” by MATCH of the accommodation industry in respect of its pricing and contract terms.

Both parties reached a “common understanding”, S A Tourism CEO Mosola said. “ S A Tourism will continue to work with MATCH based on fair pricing and terms in an effort to make the 2010 Soccer World Cup a success.”    In the meeting fair accommodation pricing and terms, a transparent tour operator programme, and the implementation of a tourism advisory forum were discussed.  

Van Schalkwyk said: “The tourism industry has a very good working relationship with FIFA and MATCH.   We remain committed as partners to assist MATCH in achieving their target and we will continue to encourage players in the industry to sign up their facilities.   Our working relationship is one of mutual respect and partnership and I would like to encourage all role players to ensure that nothing detracts from this.”    

No details have been released to the industry as to the specifics of the discussions between MATCH and S A Tourism.

More than 800 000 soccer fans will travel to South Africa in 2010 to support their team at the World Cup event.  Of these soccer fans, 57 % will buy tickets for matches, while the remaining 43 % will see the matches at fan parks.   This is the estimate by Gillian Saunders of Grant Thornton Strategic Solutions, reports Business Report.

Saunders is quoted as saying:” It’s a big thing.  People are not saying they are not going to travel, but what is likely to happen is that they will look for cheaper accommodation and there will probably be fewer tours.   The expectation is that by 2010 it will be the beginning of the upturn.  Others say (that) for South Africa things will start to change in the second half of 2009.   The outlook should be more postive and travel proved to be more resilient even when the markets are down.”

The Grant Thornton study found that R 33 billion will be spent on World Cup 2010 infrastructure and stadia, the study shows.

Last week Danny Jordan, head of the Local Organising Committee, warned that the attendance of World Cup 2010 may not meet expectations due to the global financial crisis, as fewer fans may be able to afford to come to South Africa.

The Cape Town Station is soon to get its long promised upgrade, for which the first plans were designed more than ten years ago.   The R 480 million upgrade is planned to be completed for the 2010 World Cup, as trains will be an important source of transport for soccer fans.

Station site owner Intersite is promising to develop “a creative Cape Town station”, reports the Cape Times.   Based on market research conducted amongst commuters, the plans include more focus on better quality family restaurants and retail outlets,  tourism activities, and recreational facilities.   Informal traders will be restricted to the station deck.  

Cape Town Tourism is set to open an office in the new station building.

Shortly after being announced as Wine of the Year and Wine Estate of the Year by the 2009 Platter Wine Guide, Kanonkop has received a further accolade.   Abrie Beeslaar, Kanonkop winemaker, has been named Best International Winemaker 2008 at the International Wine and Spirits Competition, reports the Cape Times.  Fifty wine-producing countries were represented at the competition.

Kanonkop also won the Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande trophy for best blended red wine for its Paul Sauer 2003, and the David Hughes Trophy for Best South African Producer.

Proud Kanonkop co-owner Johan Krige said that the award was a “reward for hard work, focus and dedication.   This is fantastic because it shows South Africa is at the forefront in wine technology.”  He also attributed the award to the wine estates’ focus on and specialisation in red wine.

Sometimes controversial City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee member for Economic Development and Tourism, Simon Grindrod,  has resigned as Deputy Leader and member of the Independent Democrats, to join the newly formed Congress of the People (COPE), reports the Cape Times.   Grindrod loses his Mayoral Committee position, and his tourism role.

Grindrod first attracted the industry’s attention when he listened to industry feedback about its dissatisfaction with the inefficiency of Cape Town Routes Unlimited (CTRU) in marketing Cape Town and the Western Cape, and appointed consultants to investigate the organisation’s ability to meet its funding mandate.  The City of Cape Town was a 50 % funder of CTRU at that time, with the (ANC-run) province of the Western Cape.    Grindrod did not like the consultants’ report about CTRU, and last year received the Mayoral Committee support to give CTRU the required 12 months’ notice that the City would be withdrawing its R 24 million funding from CTRU, and giving it to Cape Town Tourism from 1 July this year instead.    The industry was shocked by the boldness of Grindrod’s actions, yet has warmly embraced Cape Town Tourism’s ability to market Cape Town in a more focussed and efficient manner. 

Similarly, Grindrod has threatend to pull the plug on its shared funding of the investment trade and development agency Wesgro, and the funding of the new film studio.    It is uncertain if these threats will be implemented, given Grindrod’s departure.

Sol Kerzner’s One&Only Cape Town is scheduled to open in the V & A Waterfront in May next year, reports Luxury Travel.  

The hotel will have 131 rooms, of which 40 will be located on a specially created island in the Waterfront.   The other special island will host the eleven-room Spa and pool, and will be linked to the hotel by means of bridges.    Other facilities will include the One&Only Fitness Centre; Nobu, Island Terrace and Plate restaurants; the Wine Loft with more than a hundred wines by the glass; and a KidsOnly Club.

Sol Kerzner, who became a renowned hotelier and casino operator when he established Sun City and The Palace of the Lost City outside Johannesburg more than 25 years ago, says of his newest project: “One&Only Cape Town will become a significant landmark in Africa with its bold, contemporary design promising to make it one of the world’s leading luxury resort destinations.  I am looking forward to once again contributing to South Africa’s tourism industry, which has seen an incredible growth in recent years.   I am very pleased to open a spectacular resort with a fresh and exciting new concept in my home country in what I’ve always believed to be one of the greatest sites in Cape Town.   Opening in plenty of time for the 2010 World Cup, the resort will appeal to the international traveller and play a key role in the local community”.

Kerzner’s One&Only hotels are located in Maldives, Mauritius, Mexico, Bahamas and Dubai.    He opened his latest Atlantis Palm Jumeirah One&Only in Dubai two days ago, with a $20 million opening extravaganza, including the world’s largest fireworks display and a performance by Kylie Minogue.   VIP guests at the opening included Robert de Niro, Charlize Theron, Wesley Snipes, Janet Jackson, Mischa Barton, Yasmin le Bon, Denzil Washington and Shirley Bassey, signalling the scale at which the One&Only Cape Town could be opening next year.

The Sweet Service Award goes to Aneesah Botterill from On The Dot, a mail order company in the Media 24 group.   In a most amazing service recovery, Aneesah prevented her company from receiving this week’s Sour Award.   Attempts to order wine writer Neil Pendock’s new book ‘Sour Grapes’, which was advertised in the Sunday Times last week, were met with tremendous inefficiency initially.   The ad had an immediate call to action, encouraging readers to buy “NOW” - however, the company’s order line is not open on Sundays, when the Sunday Times is published!   The following day it became impossible to get around the company’s bureaucracy, e.g. receiving a Tax Invoice to pay for the book, when it can only be issued once it has been paid!   An attempt to reach the MD of the company led to a customer call being made by On The Dot Supply Chain Manager Trade Aneesah Botterill, who listened to the customer, apologised profusely for the administrative red tape experienced, and offered to send the book for free by speed post within two days, a promise she fulfilled perfectly.

The Sour Service Award goes to Five Flies restaurant in the Cape Town city centre.   An e-mail request to the restaurant, to allow guest houses in Camps Bay to jointly share a meal at the restaurant, utilising the vouchers the restaurant had issued to the guest houses, received no response.  When the telephonic follow-up was done, the owner Alex van Nes said “No” to the request immediately, saying that he wanted to do this “his way”.   He was disparaging to the caller, swore, and then put down the phone.  A follow-up e-mail to Five Flies and a call to its PRO have not received a reaction yet.

The WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards are presented every Friday on the WhaleTales blog.  Nominations for the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be sent to Chris von Ulmenstein at info@whalecottage.com.