UK blockbuster novelist Penny Vincenzi has included Cape Town in her latest 750-page book, “The Best of Times”, which was launched in Cape Town last month. Speaking at the book launch lunch, organised by the Cape Times and Wordsworth, Vincenzi explained that no experience or information she gathers is lost to her books. Vincenzi and her husband had visited Cape Town for a previous book launch. The new novel refers to two of the characters visiting Cape Town for a medical congress, staying at “the Vineyard: a five-star wonder nestled just below Table Mountain, with rambling showpiece gardens, complete with giant tortoises and incredible flowers, and a superb spa”, going up Table Mountain, driving along Chapman’s Peak to Cape Point, visiting the townships, going out to Robben Island, and then leaving Cape Town on the Blue Train, travelling to Pretoria, from where the couple flies to the Kruger National Park. Cape Town’s popularity

as a tourist destination should increase due to the reference in the book, given the success Vincenzi has in her book sales, selling millions of copies. Her books hook the reader in, and are “utterly unputdownable”, as the cover of the book says accurately.

The City of Cape Town and the FIFA Local Organising Committee (LOC) have signed a Service Level Agreement, for Cape Town to host the FIFA Final Draw on 4 December, reports www.goal.com. The Final Draw will determine which of the 32 teams play at which venues. The Final Draw will take place in the Cape Town International Convention Centre, and is to be attended by 2 000 guests and 800 media representatives, and is to be broadcast in 200 countries. The Final Draw will be a week-long event featuring a number of activities staged by FIFA, the Organising Committee, the City of Cape Town, the Western Cape Provincial Government and all the local Host Cities, says Danny Jordaan, the LOC CEO. “The Final Draw in Cape Town is a critical date and an important milestone for us. And we could not find a better city in which to host it. Cape Town’s a wonderful location and its Greenpoint Stadium is a landmark, one of the best in the world,” he added.

“The FIFA Confederations Cup has really shifted the mood world-wide. Where people once questioned and doubted, we’ve now reached a position where people are looking forward in anticipation and excitement to the FIFA World Cup in South Africa,” said Jordaan. FIFA’s Secretary General Jerome Valcke rated South Africa as 8/10 on its readiness to stage the 2010 World Cup from 11 June to 11 July next year, reported the Cape Times. FIFA President Sepp Blatter downsized the score to 75 % at the conclusion of the Confederations Cup. The FIFA rating was based on the country’s organisation and hosting of the Confederations Cup. “The organisation from the LOC has been really top class. What is more pleasing is the players are returning to their countries with a good opinion of South Africa, the people, fans, stadiums, hotels, and training facilities. That is the best advert we could hope for”, Valcke said. Blatter added that the Confederations Cup had been well run and that FIFA is looking forward to a “hugely successful 2010 World Cup”, reports the Cape Times. Blatter has personally visited President Barack Obama, to invite him to attend the opening or closing crèremony of the 2010 World Cup. Blatter said that he hoped to give South Africa a score of 10/10 in 2010.

FIFA has announced that South Africa’s favourite soccer noisemaker, the plastic vuvuzela “trumpet”, will not be banned for the 2010 World Cup, despite heavy criticism of the noise it makes from journalists and players. Blatter has agreed that it is a noisy instrument, but said: “But that is what African and South African football is all about - noise, excitement, dancing, shouting and enjoyment. When we go to South Africa, we go to Africa.

It is noisy. It is something else than in the rest of the world.” Spanish star Xabi Alonso said: ”That trumpet? It is not nice. I think Fifa should ban it. It’s not really distracting, but it’s not a nice sound to hear”, reports The Times. Brazilian Robinho complained about the noise, saying that he could not hear the instructions from his coach when they played the United States. A South African soccer fan was quoted by USA Today in saying that the vuvuzela is ”a part of my life”. Another said: “This is our voice. We sing through it”! Spanish Santi Cazorla said: ”It’s true that they make a lot of noise, but we’ll just have to get used to them”.

South Africa was on the world stage twice in July, with the help of Nelson Mandela. Mandela’s tribute to the late Michael Jackson was read at the start of the memorial music service in honour of Jackson in Los Angeles. Mr Mandela’s statement to the Jackson family was as follows:

"Dear Jackson family,

It is with great sadness that we learnt of the untimely death of Michael Jackson. Michael became close to use after he started visiting and performing in South Africa regularly. We became fond of him and he became a close member of our family. We had great admiration for his talent and that he was able to triumph over tragedy on some many occasion in his life. Michael was a giant and a legend in the music industry and we mourn with the millions of fans worldwide. We also mourn with his family and his friends over the loss of a dear friend. He will be missed and memories cherished of him for a long time.

Be strong,
Nelson Mandela"

Whilst the 46664 Mandela Day concert had a low key presence in South Africa, it was sold-out in New York on 18 July, and was a good marketing coup for South Africa. Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Chris Chameleon, Will.i.am, Jesse Clegg, Gloria Gaynor, Dave Stewart, Aretha Franklin, the Soweto Gospel Choir, Cyndi Lauper, Queen Latifah, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Zucchero, Josh Groban, Freshlyground, Jesse McCartney, and Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse, were some of the artists who performed at a sold-out Radio City Music Hall concert in aid of the fight against HIV/AIDS.

The Western Cape has been less affected by the credit crunch than Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and the Free State, reports Cape Business News. Since 2004 the Western Cape has shown the highest level of growth, and in the 12 month period ending February 2009 the economic decline in the region (- 7%) was lower than in Gauteng (-16%) and the Eastern Cape (- 15 %). Factors to the benefit of the Western Cape are that it does not have a mining industry, which has been severely affected by the credit crunch; it has fewer job losses and a broader base of business sectors; its agricultural sector is diversified; manufacturing is diversified, with little involvement in the depressed motor industry; and last, but not least, the tourism industry is larger and stronger, and is attracting visitors from Southern Africa who are not travelling overseas this year. Professor Wolfgang Thomas from the Stellenbosch Business School advises businesses “to not panic” due to the credit crunch, and sees it bottoming out soon.

A joint ‘Strategic Destination Marketing Plan’ by Cape Town Tourism and Cape Town Routes Unlimited was discussed in July, to eliminate the duplication of marketing activity between the two tourism marketing bodies, at a meeting to focus on the growth of visitors to Cape Town and the Western Cape, and to ensure that tourism withstands political changes. Cape Town Tourism’s mandate to market Cape Town has been extended by another year, Cape Town Tourism’s Mariette du Toit-Helmbold announced.

The statement released by the City and the Province included the following:

“The opportunity to find a lasting solution to manage tourism for destination Cape Town and the Western Cape has never been better. There is a need for all spheres of government to work together so that an environment can be created for business and residents to work in partnership with us. We have given the mandate to the officials to jointly develop a lasting solution for tourism marketing. It is important that the solution is able to withstand changes in political leadership and ensures no duplication. The Fifa 2010 World Cup is around the corner and we should not allow this opportunity to be missed. The City will, in the meantime, continue to use CTT to provide Destination Marketing and Visitor Services. The timeframe for developing a sustainable model will be nine months and the key focus will be on how to best increase the number of visitors to Cape Town and the Western Cape”.

British Airways has confirmed that its prediction that South Africa will be its most popular long-haul destination has been proven correct. The airline has increased its market share to the country by 4 % by increasing the number of its flights, to Johannesburg in particular, at a time when the credit crunch has reduced the airline’s capacity on other routes, says an article in Business Report. The airline’s Ashley Cowen, General Manager for Africa and Asia-Pacific for the airline, says that it has achieved “fairly good passenger loads”, utilizing special offers. The Confederations Cup and the British and Irish Lions rugby tour created good additional support for the airline.

Two celebrities, David Hasselhoff and Orlando Bloom, were spotted in Camps Bay in July, reported the Life is Savage blogsite. Orlando Bloom was spotted at Cafe Caprice, one of Camps Bay’s hottest spots, while David Hasselhoff was spotted joining a game of volleyball in a red swimsuit on Camps Bay beach. Camps Bay is one of the most desirable locations for tourists to stay in Cape Town - it has beautiful views, a selection of 25 restaurants, two hotels and a collection of top guest houses and B & B’s, and is 10 minutes to town and 15 minutes to the V&A Waterfront.

A 2010 World Cup soccer team is tipped to take over the Twelve Apostles Hotel outside Camps Bay next year, and the sportfield at Camps Bay High School will be the training ground for that team, reports People’s Post. Team representatives from Spain, Denmark, Brazil, Argentina, France and Japan have paid site visits to the school. The final announcement about the team that is to stay in Camps Bay will only be made after the final draw takes place in Cape Town in December. The school’s sportfield will be upgraded to be as close as possible to the quality at the Green Point stadium.

Table Mountain has made the top list of the “mountains and volcanoes” list in the New7Wonders of Nature, and is one of the top 77 sites selected from over 261 participants from around the globe, reports News24. Cape Town’s icon, Table Mountain, beat fellow category contenders Mount Everest, K2 and Mount Fiji in round two of the international competition that relied solely on votes from the public. It needed to be ranked in the top 11 of its category - mountains and volcanoes - to carry on in the competition. Other categories include seascapes, lakes, islands, ice formations, waterfalls and forests. The official New7Wonders of Nature list will be announced in 2011.