South Africa Travel: October 2006

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

IOL: SAA hopes cheap Mango will bear fruit

It's a case of hello to dirt-cheap seats, goodbye to legroom, and hello again to pensioner pilots.Launched on Monday, South African Airways' new low-cost kid on the block, Mango, will cost just R200 to fly between Johannesburg and Cape Town and a little less for flights between Johannesburg and Durban.But while Mango will be offering the cheapest flights in the country, they will also be the tightest.Mango's four Boeing 737-800s, leased from SAA, will see 186 seats packed into planes which, under normal seating configurations including Business Class, have places for 157 people.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

travel.iafrica.com | flights BA flights a boost for Cape Town

British Airways on Friday began operating double-daily flights to Cape Town, providing an additional 14 040 seats between the Mother City and London during the busy summer season.The airline, which first began flying directly to Cape Town in 1984, has long campaigned for more services to meet both burgeoning inbound tourism demand from one of South Africa’s major source markets and to provide sufficient seats for outbound business and leisure travellers.It started operating daily services to Cape Town in 2000 and has steadily increased this schedule whenever it was able to in terms of the inter-government agreement which regulates the number of flights between South Africa and the UK. Last summer it operated 12 services a week.

allAfrica.com: South Africa: JIA Officially Renamed O.R. Tambo

The Johannesburg International Airport is now known as the OR Tambo International Airport, following an official renaming ceremony here on Friday.President Thabo Mbeki joined by among others, former President Nelson Mandela and the Tambo family, attended the ceremony to rename the airport in honour of the late Oliver Reginald Tambo.The former African National Congress (ANC) leader passed away on 23 April 1999. He would have turned 89 today.The renaming is set to immortalise Mr Tambo and pay homage to his contribution to South Africa's liberation struggle.Speakers at the ceremony showered Mr Tambo with praise for his outstanding work in rallying international support for the liberation movement and getting the global community to condemn apartheid.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

allAfrica.com: South Africa: Gauteng Tourism, Airports Company Sign Agreement

The Gauteng Tourism Authority (GTA) and the Airport Company of South Africa (ACSA) signed an agreement today, to promote access to information about tourism in the province.Gauteng is pulling out all the stops to ensure it boosts its popularity among foreign visitors, ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.With the tournament set to attract millions of tourists into the country, the hospitality industry is making sure it does not miss great opportunities the event promises.Passenger traffic at the airport is said to be at about 17 million a year currently and is expected to grow to about 24 million a year by 2010.For this reason, the two organizations have agreed to man an information kiosk at the OR Tambo International Airport, to disseminate information about tourism and the airport.The GTA said the kiosk will provide accurate and relevant information and material about Gauteng's key experiences. Some include shopping, business, heritage, wining and dining, advice on travel, sights and sounds of the province, tours and accommodation booking.

allAfrica.com: South Africa: Gauteng Tourism, Airports Company Sign Agreement

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Tourismcapetown - (Travel Daily News)

The local tourism organisation of Stellenbosch is the first of a potential 68 in the Western Cape to be officially accredited by the provincial tourism destination marketing organisation, Cape Town Routes Unlimited, as part of a process to give visitors to Cape Town and the Western Cape an improved, integrated tourism service and enhance their tourism experience of the province. Being accredited will give local tourism organisations access to long-term funding from local municipalities.An official accreditation certificate, valid for three years, will be handed over by Cape Town Routes Unlimited to representatives of the Stellenbosch Tourism Organisation at a ceremony at The House of JC le Roux, Stellenbosch, this afternoon (Friday, 13 October 2006). The event follows an extensive consultative process with local tourism organisations and local municipalities in the Western Cape over the last six months, including 32 workshops and several discussion sessions hosted by Cape Town Routes Unlimited’s Visitor and Membership Services Unit.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Business Report - V&A Waterfront to get R7bn pizazz boost

Cape Town - The V&A Waterfront, one of Cape Town's top tourist attractions, is set to get a cash injection of R7 billion that will place the already swanky centre firmly in the upper-class bracket.Nakheel Hotels & Resorts chief executive James Wilson said the money would be in addition to the R7 billion that the new owners had paid to Transnet and its pension funds.In September Nakheel sibling company Istithmar, UK property company London & Regional Properties and local black empowerment partners bought the V&A, announcing that they would bring an element of "pizazz" to the property. Only about half of the 603 000m2 property had been developed by Transnet.

Friday, October 06, 2006

Tourismcapetown - (Travel Daily News)

Most international visitors to the Western Cape this winter were British and they spent more than their American and German counterparts, even though they didn’t stay as long. But somewhat surprisingly more Americans than Germans visited the province and, on average, spent more.This according to the results of research commissioned by Cape Town Routes Unlimited and released to its members in a new weekly newsletter, Let’s Talk Tourism. The study was carried out in June and July by a consortium comprising the University of Stellenbosch, University of the Western Cape, the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and African Equation.