Whale Cottage Portfolio Blog

Despite a commitment made more than six months ago that Cape Town Tourism and Cape Town Routes Unlimited would work together to market Cape Town and the Western Cape, and would work to avoid duplication in their marketing activities, little synergy between the two bodies is evident.

Now Western Cape Finance, Economic Development and Tourism Minister Alan Winde has confirmed that the two bodies will not amalgamate, and that nothing will change in the relationship between the two bodies until the end of the World Cup in July, reports Travel News Weekly.  

Winde also stated that a new focus would be the closer co-opration between role-players at national, provincial and local government levels in the Western Cape.   When the DA took both the province and the city in the last election, Winde stated that he would ensure that he would work to the unification of tourism at provincial and City level,  and would prevent it from being vulnerable to political party changes over time. 

The return of Cape Town Tourism CEO Mariette du Toit-Helmbold from maternity leave on 1 April should result in new vitality for the city tourism body.  Du Toit-Helmbold is a dynamic and enthusiastic marketer.  In her absence, Belinda van Niekerk has run Cape Town Tourism, but as she comes from an admin and financial background, she lacks Du Toit-Helmbold’s flair, energy and communication skills.   The new Marketing Manager of Cape Town Tourism, Leanne Burton,  has used Du Toit-Helmbold’s absence to build her own brand name, rather than that of her organisation or (more correctly) of the acting-CEO, in her PR activities for Cape Town Tourism, and has created some hostility with the media.

With the World Cup about 60 days away on her return, Du Toit-Helmbold will have a huge challenge to help fill her members’ beds, given the disappointing bookings over the World Cup to date, and to excite Capetonians about the benefit of Cape Town being one of the host cities for the world’s largest sport event. 

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

FIFA’s MATCH accommodation agency has cancelled 65 000 bed nights in the Western Cape, and 441 695 bed nights nationally, reports the Cape Times.

The release of rooms without cancellation penalty to MATCH is a further sign that the World Cup may not be as successful in terms of international bookings as may have been hoped internationally.  The article’s opening paragraph states: “FIFA has relinquished 65 022 rooms nights in the Western Cape because of lack of demand….”

Vivienne Bervoets, Senior Accommodation Manager of MATCH,  stated in the article that the reasons for the room cancellations include that the rooms booked by MATCH were not on match days, that the establishments were further than 70 km from a host city, and that the accommodation type (e.g. timeshare) proved to be unpopular with international visitors.   The bulk of the room nights cancelled in the Western Cape appear to be in Cape Town.   The dates already cancelled appear to be bookings MATCH made with establishments for dates before 11 June and after 11 July, signalling that pre- and post-World Cup tours are unlikely to happen.   The article intimates that further accommodation cancellations may be possible, depending on the demand for tickets.

Business Day also reported on the accommodation cancellations, stating that 31 % of the bed nights booked initially, and representing 7 843 rooms, had been cancelled by MATCH.  The timeshare cancellations amounted to close to 31 000 timeshare weeks.  Bervoets is quoted as saying “Match has substantially curtailed its procurement drive to concentrate on sales and operations”.  She stated that MATCH is still looking for “good quality hotel rooms, specifically in Gauteng, and also for contract properties if customers specifically requested this”.  

It is surprising that so much of the room stock has been cancelled, given the outcry about the poor support of MATCH, and that it had to bring in cruise liners and contract properties in neighbouring countries, including Mauritius, to build up sufficient accommodation stock for the World Cup accommodation requirements.  

The Cape Argus also reported on the MATCH cancellations, and quoted Dr Laurine Platsky, the Western Cape province 2010 co-ordinator, as saying that “rooms were released because of a lack of demand and fewer bookings than expected.”   Rooms cancelled in the Western Cape were on the West Coast and in outlying areas, she said.  

The room nights cancellations may imply that MATCH’s Matchville concept, in creating hubs or concentrations of accommodation outside host cities, in supplementing accommodation supply, may have raised the hopes of accommodation establishments which cannot be fulfilled.   In Plettenberg Bay, a Matchville centre, for example, it appears that 50 % of the room nights booked by MATCH have been cancelled already.

MATCH has until 10 April to cancel further room nights without being subject to its cancellation policy, and resultant payment to accommodation establishments for accommodation cancellations.   More cancellations are expected before this date.

Accommodation establishments who have had their MATCH room nights cancelled are unhappy, saying that FIFA “overhyped” its accommodation needs, reports a further article in the Cape Times.

FEDHASA CEO Brett Dungan is quoted in reports about the MATCH cancellations, in which he opportunistically offers cancelled MATCH establishments the hope that his new (personally owned) website “portal” www.rooms4u.travel, which has been set up on behalf of S A Tourism, can fill all the room nights cancelled by MATCH.  This is contradictory sentiment, as Dungan has praised MATCH consistently, and protected their rip-off pricing, pointing a finger at non-MATCH contracted properties and blaming them for “rip-off” pricing!

Even Cape Town Tourism has insensitively “welcomed the release of the rooms and the opportunity now available for establishments to market their rooms during the 20 weeks leading up to the tournament.   Experience has taught us that last-minute bookings for events like the World Cup are not unusual and we are expecting an increase in booking confirmations during the next few months”, according to a quote in the Cape Times.

Non-MATCH contracted guest houses are complaining that bookings are not looking as rosy as they were led to expect, and many are only about 50 % booked, even if they are charging “reasonable” prices for their accommodation.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

The festive season saw fewer holiday makers in the Cape, they stayed for a shorter period, and they spent less during their stay, say the tourism authorities, reports Fin24.   According to the Cape Argus, international tourism numbers dropped by 6 %, compared to 2008, due to the recession and due to the stronger Rand, offering lesser value for money.

According to Cape Town Routes Unlimited CEO Calvyn Gilfillan the Garden Route was quieter, speculating that this was due to the water shortage in the area.   The bookings however were slow compared to previous years, long before the water crisis became a reality.   The Overberg (especially Hermanus) and the Cape Town city centre were quieter, while the Boland reported similar tourism numbers as last year.   The West Coast had improved visitor numbers, being a more affordable destination.

Tourists were looking for affordability, says Cape Town Tourism, and that is why 5-star hotels struggled financially as guests traded down to lower star accommodation or even to self-catering accommodation.   Fedhasa Cape reports that occupancy in 5 star hotels reduced by 10 - 20 % compared to last year, over the festive period, while 3 and 4 star hotels “did better”.

The lower number of visitors from Johannesburg was evident in Cape Town and especially Plettenberg Bay.  It is said that the Johannesburgers stayed home this festive season, to save money in order to renovate their homes, which they want to rent out for the FIFA World Cup, at which time they want to leave the country.  Even the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company had mainly Capetonians as visitors.

At Whale Cottage Camps Bay bookings are starting to look good from 28 January onwards, the start of the weekend on which the J & B Met takes place, and almost all of February is booked out already.  The Argus Cycle Tour in March is also good for business.

Upmarket restaurants have been reported to have also felt the pinch over the festive season, and many did not manage to fill their expensive tables for New Year’s eve, with prices as high as R 2 000 per person.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

A most bizarre media report was posted by Eye Witness News, in stating that Lianne Burton, the Marketing Manager and media spokesperson of Cape Town Tourism, the city’s tourism body, is happy that Cape Town is seeing fewer tourists this summer season, and that they are going to other more affordable cities such as Durban.

Burton told Eye Witness News that Cape Town Tourism is “…pleased high-end tourists were choosing to spend their festive season holidays in the Mother City”.   Burton also said that “the city needs so-called ‘quality tourists’ who spend more cash.”   The report continues: “Burton said Cape Town Tourism was not distressed thousands of local travellers apparently chose to flock to seemingly more affordable areas in KwaZulu-Natal and other parts of the country, instead of travelling to the Cape.”   Burton is reported to have said: “We can’t pack people in by the thousands.  I think Cape Town and Durban are slightly different, we certainly aren’t aiming for quantity”.   

What is interesting is the public reprimand Cape Town Tourism Board member Nils Heckscher, GM of the Winchester Mansions Hotel in Sea Point, has given Burton, who said that every prospective tourist is essential.  He is reported to have said:”To turn around and say,’We don’t want this tourist or that tourist’ is an arrogance that we can ill-afford”.

Cape Town Tourism has been appointed by the City of Cape Town to market Cape Town.   Both Belinda van Niekerk, the acting-CEO of Cape Town Tourism, and Burton, were unavailable for comment this morning, as they have given themselves and most of the Cape Town Tourism staff the day off, according to the switchboard, on this the busiest tourism day of the whole year!

See the report at www.eyewitnessnews.co.za

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

The Sweet Service Award  goes to 221 Waterfront restaurant, in the Victoria Wharf in the V&A, and its Public Relations consultant Annette Ashley, for a wonderful dinner of a prawn and avocado handroll, a main course of duck, and a lovely bottle of Hartenberg 2005 Shiraz, with efficient service, and an evening of chatting.   Ms Ashley’s hard work has put the restaurant on the map, with an Australian soccer group signing up the restaurant for 3 weeks for its catering and meeting needs during the 2010 World Cup.  

The Sour Service Award  goes to Cape Town Tourism and MediaNova, the publishing company, which was appointed by Cape Town Tourism to produce its Visitors’ Guide for 2010.   Cape Town Tourism regularly changes its Visitors’ Guide publisher, and this means a new learning curve for each publisher, and an irritation for the members of Cape Town Tourism who advertise in the Guide.  The current issue’s accommodation ad design is completely ineffectual, in that the tiny type size of the copy in the 1/16th ads is barely legible, especially the name of each establishment.   The company also forgot to allow a line for the street address in the contact details!  The Guide still has not been published, being more than a month behind schedule.   The lack of management by Cape Town Tourism over the production of this Guide is most irresponsible!

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.   Past winners of the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be read on the Friday posts of this blog, and in the WhaleTales newsletters on the www.whalecottage.com website.

We asked Cape Town Tourism on Saturday why they had not informed members of Cape Town Tourism of the Private Home Registration program they have launched.   Lianne Burton, spokesperson of Cape Town Tourism, has apologised for this communication error, and sent the following statement to Cape Town Tourism members today: 

“With regard to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as Cape Town’s official tourism authority, Cape Town Tourism’s role is to ensure that the expectations of World Cup visitors are met and exceeded to ensure a lasting tourism legacy for Cape Town. Hence our decision to offer full paid membership to Cape Town Tourism for temporary accommodation providers, covering the costs of assessing their accommodation to ensure that it meets our minimum requirements, advising owners on visitor services and guest relations standards, and offering potential visitors an assurance that there is comeback via Cape Town Tourism if they are unhappy.

This is our role as the Visitor Services organisation for Cape Town and we are committed to fulfilling it for the benefit of Cape Town’s tourism sector as a whole. Bad visitor experiences, even if they are as a result of temporary accommodation promises not being delivered on, will hurt Cape Town’s reputation for offering exceptional accommodation for every budget; from 5 star Hotels to Backpackers, B&Bs and private homes or tented villages. Great visitor experiences during the 2010 FIFA World Cup will ensure repeat business for the tourism sector. Ours is a long-term view and we are committed to this vision.”

Lianne also replied to our questions addressed to Cape Town Tourism regarding the Private Home registration program:

Why have you not informed us as members of Cape Town Tourism about this?

Bad visitor experiences, even if they are as a result of temporary
accommodation promises not being delivered on, will hurt Cape Town’s
reputation for offering exceptional accommodation for every budget; we are
known for our excellent accommodation standards, and we would like this to
apply over the World Cup period, whether for 5 star Hotels, Backpackers, B
and Bs, private homes, university residences or temporary tented villages.

The established tourism industry stands to suffer if unscrupulous temporary
accommodation providers aiming to make a quick buck take advantage of
unsuspecting World Cup visitors. The entire tourism sector will then be
tarred with the same brush and Cape Town’s reputation as a quality
destination will be damaged, to the detriment of everyone working in
tourism.

In contrast, great visitor experiences during the 2010 World Cup will ensure
repeat business for the established tourism sector, since most temporary
accommodation providers are purely focused on the World Cup opportunity and
will not be operational beyond June and July 2010.  Hence the repeat
business generated as a result of Cape Town¹s standards of excellence in the
established and temporary accommodation sector during the World Cup, will
greatly benefit established accommodation providers.

Cape Town Tourism’s is certainly a long-term view and we are committed to
this vision.”

What survey have you done to establish what our availability is for the
World Cup, especially if we have not contracted with MATCH?

“Cape Tourism in the process of refining our online accommodation and tour
operator listings and booking system and will be advising members of the
strategy shortly. Our contact centre is currently fielding 2010
accommodation booking queries and passing on all enquiries to members who
meet the criteria outlined in the requests in terms of number of rooms,
proximity to the stadium, budget etc.

“Why would you want to divert attention from your stated objective, i.e. to
market Cape Town and its products, to advise and organise non-professional
private home owners in their marketing?

If the media release had not been issued by BUANews, the government’s information agency, one would not have believed what one was reading when picking up the release about S A Tourism’s new accommodation portal via Google Alert on 9 December.

The release makes the following startling announcements, none of which have been shared with the accommodation industry directly:

1.  “Establishments to be used during the 2010 FIFA World Cup will need to register the details of their accommodation booking and listings at www.rooms4u.travel” - the “portal” is set to be “… launched in February”.   It is meant to offer”…smaller players the opportunity to market themselves as there was no registration fee to join -  a fee was only payable when bookings were successful” - this means that booking commission will be charged. (The website contains extremely little information, with only 2 pages, one to seek accommodation, and the other to register accommodation.  The logos of TOMSA (Tourism Marketing Levy of South Africa), SATSA, TBCSA (Tourism Business Council of South Africa) and FEDHASA are the only signs of attempting to bring credibility to the website.

2.   “…all establishments would be pre-registered on the booking portal and the Federated Hospitality Industry of South Africa (FEDHASA) would be undertaking a process to verify information on each provider during the course of this month and January”

3.   A contact centre will be established, with a website (www.southafrica.net) and a call center (+27 87 803 INFO), accessible 24 hours a day, in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and Portugese.  The website will also contain information about tourist attractions, transport, restaurants, activities and routes, as well as what to do in the case of an emergency.

We ask the Minister of Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk:

*   why have accommodation establishments not been notified by the Department/South African Tourism about the requirement to register?

*   why would such a website only be launched in February, 4 months prior to the World Cup, when all the booking action is happening right now, directly after the Final Draw?

*   why do accommodation establishments have to declare any bookings to a central website?   Is there a law to dictate this?

*   who is behind the www.rooms4u.travel website?  Do accommodation establishments pay commission for bookings received?  How much?   Why is there so little information on the website - there are no credentials presented, no “About Us”!

*   what qualifies FEDHASA to verify the information about accommodation establishments - it is a hotel association, that is not in touch with the small accommodation sector and its needs.   It is an industry association with barely any full-time staff - only having secretarial staff in the regional offices.  FEDHASA closes its regional offices for almost a month from mid-December - to mid-January.  How will they cope in doing this “verification” over this period, at a time when the accommodation industry is at its busiest?  What is that they will verify?

*    Why does the call centre not offer assistance in more languages - to assist visitors from the two Koreas, Japan, the other African countries, and in South Africa’s vernacular languages?

Even more bizarre was the news release from Cape Town Tourism, proudly announcing that it will register private accommodation of Capetonians in a separate “temporary accommodation tier”, for which they will pay a membership fee.  In return, they will have their property assessed by Cape Town Tourism, which will lead to membership accreditation, representation on its website www.capetown.travel/2010, and promotion of the properties via Cape Town Tourism’s call centres and Visitor Information Centres.   Furthermore, and probably at an additional fee, the release says that “Cape Town Tourism will also offer assistance in the areas of brochure compilation, marketing, and visitor requirements to ensure that temporary accommodation service providers offer a remarkable experience”

We ask Cape Town Tourism:

*    Why have you not informed us as members of Cape Town Tourism about this?

*    Why are you taking business away from your membership base, who have supported you loyally over the years, when professional accommodation establishments are not yet fully booked for the 2010 World Cup?   Do you need additional income so badly that you have to include private home owners into your membership base?  

*    What survey have you done to establish what our availability is for the World Cup, especially if we have not contracted with MATCH?

*    Why would you want to divert attention from your stated objective, i.e. to market Cape Town and its products, to advise and organise non-professional private home owners in their marketing?

Post Script:  New Tourism Portal 

After the first draft of this story was written, we came across the following post, via Twitter, from Capeinfo.com.  Carl Momberg is not known to be shy about what he says, and his story on what he calls the “Tourism Mafia”, and which he quite rightly refers to as a scandal, follows: 

“Are the Minister of Tourism and his Department (DOT) a bunch of blundering idiots or are they getting into bed with a tourism mafia?  Their latest announcement seems to be ill-conceived and acknowledges that accommodation arrangements for the 2010 World Cup are not as rosy as he claims.

Here are the facts:

It started on Tuesday when we received an email from a website called rooms4u claiming to be the official South African accommodation and bookings portal, accredited by FIFA, and supported by the DOT, SA Tourism, Fedhasa, Tourism Business Council of SA, etc.

Now everybody in the hospitality industry has been subjected to a flood of emails from new websites that promise the world and his wife for 2010, so our first thought was that this is another scam.  And we wrote to the DOT, 2010 Organising Committee, SA Tourism and Fedhasa saying, “What’s going on?”

Website ownership is in the public domain so we looked it up.  rooms4u is owned by Kiara Holdings and its MD is Brett Dungan, who is also the CEO of Fedhasa and the chair of the Tourism Business Council.  Could he have the clout to grab all those bednights that the World Cup needs so badly, and that many others have been working very hard to cater for?

Only the DOT responded to all our emails and it was with a phone call the next day from the Head of Communications.

He confirmed that rooms4u is the new official South African accommodation and bookings portal.  It is accredited by FIFA.  There was no tender or public awareness process because it is a businesswide initiative, he said.

So why is the website owned by a private company?  He didn’t answer that but kept repeating that it’s a businesswide initiative supported by MATCH, SA Tourism, Fedhasa, etc.

Why were provincial and city tourism authorities unaware of all of this, since many have devoted a lot of effort to 2010 and the World Cup?  He sidestepped that one too but said if we have problems with the new portal, we must take it up with our provincial tourism authority.

He promised to email the press release with the announcement several times, as though that would solve all disputes, but it never arrived.

Sorry, this sounds like a scandal in the making.

A week ago, SA Tourism was still discussing mechanisms to link 2010 fans to the existing portals offering online booking, and they were considering a panel of approved websites.

Calvyn Gilfellan, Cape Town Routes Unlimited’s CEO, was surprised when CapeInfo told him about the Minister’s announcement.  “Both SA Tourism and DOT’s position on booking portals was consistently one of not getting involved. They have left it up to the provinces, local tourism organizations and private sector,” he said.  Both Cape Town Routes Unlimited (CTRU) and Cape Town Tourism rely on booking commissions for revenue.

He agreed that the whole thing is irregular because they knew nothing about it, although they are in frequent contact with the DOT and are working on three initiatives with them.

After further enquiries, Gilfellen wrote saying that “SA Tourism has come back to us and suggested that it be an urgent item on the agenda for Friday’s national marketing manager’s forum in Johannesburg.”

The DOT advised CTRU to ignore my questions saying they would respond to them.  We’ve received nothing.  A further email to Sindiswa Nhlumayo, deputy director-general of tourism, also elicited no response.

This has all the makings of another scam and scandal.

rooms4u advertises free listings but there are no terms and conditions. They say an (optional) allocation and booking system will follow in March 2010  and “your world-wide exposure to all travelers and potential customers will commence.”

There is no mention of any booking commissions or other fees that might be introduced when the world-wide exposure commences.  Will this official website offer free bookings and exposure or, if MATCH is part of the rooms4u equation, does that mean that the total fee will again be 30–40%?  It’s only good business practice to state this upfront.

And what will happen to rooms4u after the World Cup?  Will it be closed down or will it continue to compete with other websites, as South Africa’s official accommodation and bookings portal? Will government continue to promote it after 2010?

Surely it is the public’s right to see the contract between the Department of Tourism and Kiara Holdings, or are Fedhasa and the Tourism Business Council a front for Kiara Holdings?

The boards of SA Tourism and the Tourism Business Council comprises some heavyweight businesspeople known for their integrity.  One wonders if they were fully informed of the process or has this caught them by surprise too, like the provincial and city tourism authorities?

This sends out all the wrong messages.  It seems to say that if you sit on boards, you can get a slice of the cake.  Surely the Minister must have been aware that the appointment of a single website owned by a high profile businessman would come under public scrutiny?

The old British Tourism Authority had a very clear way of levelling the playing field but still giving website visitors access to online booking.  They published a list of criteria for accredited websites offering online booking.  They linked to all websites that met their criteria and took no commissions.

But if MATCH is there wanting their pound of flesh, that’s not going to happen.

MATCH got things badly wrong in South Africa.  They had to change their usual rules.  SA doesn’t have the stock of graded accommodation they could call upon elsewhere, and they tried to embrace the small accommodation sector that provides the bulk of all rooms in SA.   But they didn’t change their modus operandi to go with it.  They have been bad communicators and tried to impose big hotel practices on more laissez faire establishments.

With this announcement, ‘Kortbroek’ van Schalkwyk seems to have been caught with his pants right down.”

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

Cape Town is facing strong tourism competition, and will have to set itself far tougher tourism challenges and to market itself more creatively to be able to meet this competitive challenge, said Cape Town Tourism CEO Mariette du Toit-Helmbold at the tourism member association AGM earlier this week, reports Southern African Tourism Update. 

“ * be recognised as one of the top cities in the world to live, visit, study and invest in
  * double its tourism income
  * use the Fifa World Cup as a springboard to create an economic legacy and unite Capetonians
  * to solve its seasonality problems.”

 ”* a commercial business development strategy focusing on retail, use of technology to upgrade the visitor services network, and expansion of a patron partnership programme with the corporate sector.

* Joint marketing agreements with the tourism industry to expand private-sector funding contributions.

Instead of competing against each other, Cape Town Tourism and Cape Town Routes Unlimited will be working together in marketing Cape Town from the end of October, says Southern African Tourism Update.

Discussions are underway as to the co-funding of marketing both Cape Town and the Western Cape at international marketing shows, for business tourism, for city events, for e-business, and the V & A Tourism Gateway.  In addition, the respective roles of the two bodies for marketing the city and the region are being discussed. 

Commenting on the discussions, Cape Town Routes Unlimited CEO Calvyn Gilfellan called for a “lasting institutional framework that would be protected from political interference”.  

The City of Cape Town is already funding Cape Town Routes Unlimited on a project-by-project basis.   In June the two parties met with the respective city and provincial politicians, to discuss the prevention of marketing duplication and fragmentation, following from the City of Cape Town withdrawing its R 25 million funding from Cape Town Routes Unlimited, and allocating the responsibility for marketing the City to Cape Town Tourism.   This resulted in both bodies marketing Cape Town locally and especially internationally.   Previously the city and the province were controlled by two different political parties, but now that the DA runs both city and province, a tourism marketing alignment can be created.

It is surprising how poor both marketing bodies are in keeping tourism players up to date, especially Cape Town Tourism, which has a membership body it could easily and regularly e-mail.

Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

Cape Town will be buzzing with energy and excitement this week, as the country’s advertising industry descends on the city for the annual industry Loerie Awards, the top local recognition of the best advertising agencies and campaigns.  The Loeries run from 24 - 27 September.

The advertising award functions will take place in the Good Hope Center in the city centre over two evenings, and will be hosted in Cape Town for the first time ever.  Previously, the Loeries were held at Sun City for many years, and in Margate for the past three years.    Ticket sales are up 20 % relative to last year, reports the Weekend Argus, yet award entries decreased by 5 %.

The Loeries are an excellent tourism and conference marketing opportunity and platform for the city, and Cape Town Tourism and the City of Cape Town were involved in the bid to attract the Awards to Cape Town.   Many restaurants in Camps Bay have been booked for lunches over the Loeries weekend, and the evening entertainment will take place in Long Street.   The top Loeries Awards executive team will stay in the Grand Daddy Hotel on Long Street, and all registrations will take place there.

Camps Bay is an important daytime location over the Loeries weekend, with Brunches and Lunches taking place at various restaurants on the Camps Bay beachfront on Friday and Saturday, a Very Important Ego Lounge taking place at Caprice over midday on both these days, and a Velocity Party being held at Summerville at midday on Friday.   On Saturday a Beach Soccer challenge will take place on Camps Bay beach, while the media will be hosted at a lunch at Blues.

Follow The Loeries on Twitter: http://twitter.com/loeries2009

Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com