Whale Cottage Portfolio Blog

The 32nd J&B Met takes place in Kenilworth today, with a        R 2,5 million purse for the winner of the largest and most trendy of South African horse races. 

The event is estimated to generate R 52 million for the economy of the Western Cape, from expenditure on accommodation, food and drink, and fashion.   The fashion expenditure is estimated at R 18 million alone!   

More than 50 000 fashionistas are expected to attend today’s event, with the theme of ‘Glitz and Glam’.

The Sweet Service Award goes to Kate from ULTRA liquor store in Green Point, who has the most dazzling smile, and offers the most exceptional service, even hugging her regular customers when she sees them in the store.   Sadly the rest of her colleagues are not as effervescent and efficient as she is, but Kate makes it a pleasure to shop at ULTRA on a Friday afternoon.

The Sour Service Award goes to FEDHASA Cape, to whom a complaint of unethical behaviour by HBR Personnel was presented on 6 November.  HBR prominently displays the FEDHASA and the APSO logos on its website, to reflect its membership of these two associations.   The fraudulent representation of a candidate would be in contravention of FEDHASA’s Code of Conduct by its members, a Code which it takes very seriously, when it suits the association.    The complaint was lodged on 6 November, and after numerous reminder e-mails over close to three months, a reply was received earlier this week, confirming receipt of the complaint, and stating that no action would be taken by FEDHASA, as the matter had been handled by APSO, and because HBR Personnel had reprimanded its staff member! 

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. 

S A Tourism is to launch a new logo for “Brand South Africa” on 1 April, reports TravelHub.

The new logo is designed to replace the 70 or so logos that have been used internationally to represent South Africa.   The logo design reflects the South African flag pointing south, with “South Africa” contained in it.

Speaking against individual municipalities that market themselves overseas, SA Tourism CEO Moeketsi Mosola said:”“It doesn’t make sense when a municipality advertises itself on a billboard at Heathrow Airport.  People don’t buy a locality. They first choose a continent, then a country and then a locality.     In order for us to compete internationally this has to be done.   Alignment is a key critical component in order for us to be competitive.   We need a single icon based on our flag, which is the third most recognised flag in the world after the USA and the UK. All provinces and localities must market (themselves) under one national icon and country brand.”
 
The new logo is the result of an 18-month South Africa Alignment project led by South African Tourism and the International Marketing Council, to align ‘Brand SA’ and ensure that national, provincial and local government co-operate to ensure that the “look and feel” of South Africa is the same overseas.   SA Tourism will not be able to force local authorities to adopt the new logo. “There will be no stick, but people who do not implement it will be left behind and their communities will suffer as a result.” 

In 2008 S A Tourism spent R 250 million marketing South Africa, and a further R 375 million on improving its star grading system for accommodation.    Mosola said that the challenge will be to maintain the momentum for South Africa after the World Cup, and that the country was bidding for the Rugby World Cup in 2015, the ICC Cricket Championship Trophy and the Presidents’ Cup for golf.

The Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs as well as the CEO of S A Tourism are sending out messages of hope to the tourism industry, given the global credit crunch.

Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk is quoted in TravelHub as follows:   “Our industry is by no means immune to the effects of the international economic crisis, but we are still confident that we will reach our target of 10 million visitors in 2010.    Our country continues to be a value-for-money destination and with international events like the Confederations Cup and World Cup lined up, there will be opportunities in abundance and tourism will retain the important role it plays in our economic growth.”

Tourist arrivals in the first eight months of 2008 showed a 5 % increase, compared to 8 % in the same period a year before.

SA Tourism CEO Moeketsi Mosola urged the tourism industry to not “panic”, even though 2009 will be a challenging year.   He projected tourism growth to reduce to 2 % this year, with hotel bookings already down by 25 - 30 %, reports TravelHub.   “This is a time of opportunity for South Africa to catch up with other destinations. When everybody in the world withdraws (from markets), we must move in,” he said, speaking at a conference in Somerset West.

The first six months of 2009 will be busy, he said, with an Australian cricket tour in February/March; the SAA Open golf championships in February; a British Lions tour in June/July; the Confederations Cup in June; and the elections in April.     Mosola is confident that the 2010 World Cup will the biggest success story ever for South Africa.

Sol Kerzner’s One&Only in the Waterfront is set to open on 4 April, the construction work to be completed in an unheard of four months ahead of schedule.

The new Gordon Ramsay restaurant Maze will also open that day, reports TravelHub.  The restaurant has 170 seats and the menu will include seafood, game and organic foods.   More than 6 000 South African wines will be available to patrons.

A number of Hollywood stars will make Cape Town their temporary home for the next few months, to shoot movies in the city, reports the Weekend Argus.

‘The Human Factor’ is a movie about South Africa winning the Rugby World Cup in 1995, and will star Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.   It is based on the book ‘The Human Factor: Nelson Mandela and the Game that changed the world’.   Damon plays Francois Pienaar, then Springbok rugby team captain.  

‘Heaven and Earth’ will feature Pierce Brosnan, playing Lord Charles Somerset, the Cape’s first governor.   The Castle will be used as one of the locations for the shoot.

Seven international movies will commence shooting in Cape Town in the next three months.

Plans to upgrade the airport at Plettenberg Bay to receive commercial flights were rejected by the Bitou municipality this week as being too costly, reports The Herald.   The decision is a serious blow to tourism to the town.

The extension to the runway, creating a navigation apron, implementing approach lights, building a control tower and a new terminal building would cost more than R 130 million.

S A Airlink, kulula.com and SA Express have all expressed an interest in operating from the Plettenberg Bay airport.

All is not lost, however, as the Bitou Council voted to invite private operators to lease the property, and develop the airport to the Council’s specifications.

One of the largest German TV channels, ARD, broadcast a wonderfully positive one and a half hour movie called “Traumhotel - Kap der Guten Hoffnung” (Dream Hotel - Cape of Good Hope) last night.    It will be the most positive PR for the city in the German market, which no S A Tourism or Cape Town Tourism budget could afford to pay for in terms of exposure and positive communication.

Although stretching credibility a little by throwing in a side-story about a wonderful game reserve at which wild animals like elephants, giraffe, rhino’s, gnu and other buck walk around the actors as if it is the most natural thing in the world, the scenes shot in Cape Town captured the beauty of the city, and focused on all the most scenic spots, including Table Mountain, The Sentinel in Hout Bay, Seal Island off Hout Bay, Cape Point, the V & A Waterfront, Boulder’s Beach and the penguins, killer whales breaching (killer whales are rarely seen in Cape Town), dolphins (not seen that regularly), the Mouille Point lighthouse, Muizenberg Beach, Greenmarket Square, Noordhoek beach, a Constantia wine estate, and even some shots of a township.  

The main action of the story was set in the Table Bay Hotel, of which the hero of the movie is the General Manager.  He is so well connected that he can organise the move of a soccer stadium to be built from the township to an undefined new area, and can help save the theft of baby lions by poachers at the game reserve.   Not much of his time was spent managing his hotel in the movie!    An impressive cruise liner was also in Cape Town harbour when the movie was shot.

Not one negative aspect of the city was reflected in the movie - it was a glowing testimony to one of the most beautiful cities in the world!    All that was missing was some action at Camps Bay beach, although the closing shot was of the Atlantic seaboard.

The Sweet Service Award goes to Westpac Bank in Australia.    A customer received a letter stating that the bank would close the account due to inactivity on the account.  A deadline of 31 December was specified.   Due to the time difference between Cape Town and Sydney, it was hard to speak to someone in the bank.  However, a gentleman in the bank was working late, and offered to help with the closing of the account and transfer of the funds to South Africa.    Despite a posted letter being required for this request, the bank accepted a faxed letter.   The funds were transferred from the Australian bank account into the South African bank account within 24 hours!

The Sour Service Award goes to Core Catering Supplies.    Chairs were ordered.   An arrangement was made to hand over a cheque for the chairs, as well as for some trays bought previously, to the lady delivering the chairs.  A time was agreed for the delivery, to ensure the cheques could be handed over.  The Core employee did not arrive at the agreed time, and no call was received to communicate this.     The customer called Core, and told them that she was leaving the property.    The Core employee arrived while the customer was out, and left the chairs in the care of some handymen working at the property.     The customer subsequently posted the cheques.  She was shouted at by Gregor, the sales person at Core, and a rude e-mail was written about the payment not having been received COD.   The customer referred Core to the employee who was late, and caused the problem with the cheque collection.    The Core shop in Woodstock has poor service in general, and therefore delivery of goods is preferable to experiencing the slowness and disinterest of the Core staff in the shop. However, the delivery service is almost equally bad to that of the shop.

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.

The NSRI saved a baby pygmy whale in Stilbaai earlier this week, by loading it onto its rescue vehicle, and taking it out to sea when it beached, reports The Herald.  

The whale had got stuck at a sandbank, and NSRI volunteers tried to get the whale over the sandbank, and to get it to swim out to the deeper waters, but the tide washed the whale back to shore.

Pygmy whales are rarely seen in South African coastal waters, and are one of the the smallest whale species, roughly the size of dolphins.   They are shy and usually swim on their own.