South Africa Travel

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Fish Hoek - History - Self-catering whale watching accommodation

Fish Hoek Trek fishing boats on Fish Hoek beach Fish Hoek is a picturesque town situated about halfway down the Cape Peninsula, between Cape Town and Simonstown.Fish Hoek is renowned for its friendly hospitality, proximity to all sorts of tourist attractions and activities besides boasting one of the best swimming beaches in the Cape.There is also a good suburban railway link with Cape Town. As a coastal suburb of Cape Town, Fish Hoek is popular as a residence for commuters and holidaymakers alike. The traditional industries of 'trek' fishing and angling coexist with the leisure pursuits of surfing, sailing and sunbathingEver since 1901, when Hester de Villiers opened her home to guest accommodation, Fish Hoek has remained, with its situation and views, a beacon of extra-ordinary accommodation. A Whale of a Time continues the tradition, offering superior self-catering and bed and breakfast accommodation.

travel.iafrica.com | bulletin board 'Garden Route is open for business'

The Garden Route is open for business. That's the emphatic word from Craig Nancarrow, CEO of Knysna Tourism, who says that, despite the recent road closures in the area, tourism operators throughout the Garden Route are encouraging visitors not to delay or cancel their holiday plans."The roads are open, although motorists should expect delays," says Nancarrow.The N2 at the Kaaiman's River Pass was closed to traffic last Thursday after mudslides and rock falls, sparked by heavy rain, damaged the road which was in the process of being upgraded. The Pass, which connects Wilderness and George, is a vital transport link for an area which relies heavily on tourism. Freight and bus companies travelling from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth have also been severely affected.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

allAfrica.com: South Africa: SAA Launches Bid to Grab Passengers

SOUTH African Airways has lodged an application with the Air Service Licensing Council to begin a low-cost carrier operation.The airline says it will use four Boeing 737-800s, in service with SAA, on routes between Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Bloemfontein.If SAA's application is granted, it is expected that the domestic air-travel market will be flooded with extra seats that would further jeopardise the already thin margins plaguing an overtraded industry.The applicant, Tulca (The Ultimate Low Cost Airline), of which SAA is the holding company, will operate as Mango.com, according to a variety of sources.The four SAA aircraft are reportedly being repainted and will sport an orange livery.The new low-cost operation is seen as a desperate bid by SAA to win back market share lost to no-frill carriers 1time and Kulula.com.According to its application, SAA expects its low-cost subsidiary to begin initial operations, transporting passengers and cargo between the four cities, by October 1.The launch was originally forecast for early November.

IOL: Garden Route N2 collapsing

The section of the N2 highway on the Kaaiman's River Pass near Wilderness, severely damaged by last week's floods, is in danger of collapsing and has been closed indefinitely to traffic.This cuts off one of the country's major transport routes and will have serious economic implications for Garden Route towns.The railway line below the road has also been closed. It is severely damaged and has developed a "kink".On Sunday, emergency services officials were preventing even pedestrians from going onto the pass.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

BBC NEWS | Education | Africa 'leading gap-year choice'

Africa 'leading gap-year choice'Student on gap yearThousands of gap-year students travel the world each yearAfrica is the most popular destination for gap-year students, according to travel industry figures.South Africa came top of a survey of 38 companies by the Year Out group, while Tanzania was in second place.Next were Canada, India and Peru. But Australia, the most popular choice in 2002, did not make the top 10.The UK came sixth in the table, with many students preferring a "safer option", such as working in education or with sporting projects.

Future looks bright for SA conference industry : Mail & Guardian Online

South Africa is sure to break into the top 10 international conference destinations by 2010, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk said on Monday.Speaking at the national conference of the Southern African Association for the Conference Industry, he said conferencing and its allied products continue to thrive.This despite the "looming threat inherent in the many economic, political and social curved balls presently in play in our troubled world, all of which have the potential to seriously impact global travel", he said.

Saturday, August 12, 2006

SA has world's best hotel

Cape Town - Singita Private Game Reserve in Sabi Sands has been voted as the world's best hotel, while Cape Town ranked among the top ten "best tourism cities", according to an internet survey conducted by Travel & Leisure Magazine.

Cape Town was ranked sixth worldwide in the travel magazine's annual survey for 2006 on tourism criteria such as sights, culture and arts, restaurants/food, people, shopping and value for money.

Source: http://www.fin24.co.za/articles/economy/display_article.aspx?Nav=ns&lvl2=econ&ArticleID=1518-25_1979982

South Africa: SA Exports Her Tourism Through Travel Agencies

With the 2010 Fifa World Cup nod, South Africa is the destination. Travel agencies are now in the thick of things trying to be part of this World Cup affair and South African tourism in general.

Last week, a team from South Africa held a workshop at Sheraton hotel and engaged many travel agencies. Tumani Leshoai, the regional head of Africa and Middle East for South Africa's tourism said they had identified vital markets to partner within selling travel destinations including Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200608080281.html

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Contemporary fine art gallery in South Africa - Child of Afrika

This is a great site for art collectors out there. If you want authentic art by South African artists visit the Child of Afrika art gallery online, or in person in Pringle Bay.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

IOL: Township tours 'an authentic experience'

Township tours 'an authentic experience'

Cape Town Tourism is bracing itself to take township tourism to a new level despite crime and poverty.Managing director Mariette du Toit said it was important to show a Cape Town committed to a sustainable African culture by delivering authentic, people-driven experiences that capture the hearts and minds of global and local visitors."The attraction for most visitors is the experience of visiting an area that, although filled with poverty, is also filled with hope," Du Toit said.Tourists needed to be given the right information about crime in their chosen destinations.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

DA wants Travelgate numbers

Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance on Monday wanted to establish exactly how many MPs were implicated in parliament's Travelgate fraud as the Cape High Court postponed the trial to October 17.Douglas Gibson, the DA's chief whip, said he would try to establish exactly how many MPs were indebted to parliament."It seems that several hundred MPs were originally named and that anything up to a hundred had a civil liability to parliament," said Gibson in a statement.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

:: BuddyMarks ::

Check out all my South Africa links

Saturday, July 22, 2006

business.iafrica.com | business news Tourists to SA up 26.6%

BUSINESS NEWSTourists to SA up 26.6%Fri, 21 Jul 2006The total number of foreign travellers who visited South Africa from mainland Africa, overseas and unspecified countries, arriving through all ports of entry during April 2006 was 727 272, Stats SA said on Thursday.The April 2006 figure represents an increase of 26.6 percent when compared with the April 2005 figure of 574 364.The number of foreign travellers who departed from South Africa in April 2006 was 657 019, which increased by 22.9 percent from 534 648 recorded in April 2005.During April 2006, the most common mode of travel used by foreign travellers arriving in South Africa was road, involving 534 952 (73.6 percent) of total travellers, followed by air, involving 178 902 (24.6 percent) travelers.Of the total number of foreign travellers arriving by air, 142 873 (79.9 percent) arrived through Johannesburg International Airport while 34 557 (19.3 percent) arrived through Cape Town International Airport, 492 (0.3 percent) arrived through Durban International Airport and the rest, 980 (0.5 percent), arrived through other airports.Those arriving by rail, sea and unspecified modes of travel were 13 418 (1.8 percent). Among the total number of foreign travellers departing from South Africa, road was the most common mode of travel (468 848 representing 71.4 percent), followed by air (187 574 representing 28.5 percent).Of the total number of foreign travellers departing by air, 146 948 (78.3 percent) departed from Johannesburg International Airport, 39 039 (20.8 percent) departed from Cape Town International Airport, 350 (0.2 percent) used Durban International Airport and the rest, 1237 (0.7 percent), departed through other airports.Those departing by rail, sea and unspecified modes of travel were 597 (0.1 percent). It is observed that the distribution of air arrivals by port of entry and air departures by port of exit are almost the same.During April 2006, 165 410 overseas travellers visited South Africa. This represents a 13.4 percent increase in the volume of overseas travellers as compared to April 2005 when there were 145 926 overseas travellers. It must be noted that the Easter holidays in 2006 were in April, whereas in 2005 they fell in March.It is further observed that in April 2006, there were 143 377 air arrivals from overseas, which accounts for 86.7 percent of all overseas arrivals. Of these overseas air arrivals, 109 729 (76.5 percent) arrived through Johannesburg International Airport; 32 551 (22.7 percent) arrived through Cape Town International Airport; 370 (0.3 percent) arrived through Durban International Airport and the rest, 727 (0.5 percent), arrived through other airports.The number of overseas travellers arriving by road during April 2006 was 21 523 (13.0 percent). The number of those arriving by rail, sea and unspecified mode of travel was 510 (0.3 percent).The total number of travellers who arrived in South Africa from mainland Africa during April 2006 was 558 776, as compared to the April 2005 figure of 422 706, representing an increase of 32.2 percent.Of these travellers from mainland Africa, the number arriving by road was 512 487 (91.7 percent). In April 2006, there were 34 607 (6.2 percent) air travellers arriving from mainland Africa. Of these air arrivals, 32 318 (93.4 percent) arrived through Johannesburg International Airport, 1921 (5.6 percent) arrived through Cape Town International Airport, 121 (0.3 percent) arrived through Durban International Airport while the rest, 247 (0.7 percent), arrived through other airports.The number of travellers from mainland Africa arriving by rail, sea and unspecified mode of travel was 11 682, which constituted 2.1 percent of all travellers from Mainland Africa.Of the 165 410 overseas travellers visiting South Africa during April 2006, 152 883 (92.4 percent) stated that they were in South Africa for holidays while 5280 (3.2 percent) stated that they were on business trips. Overseas travellers arriving for the purpose of work (including contract work) were 4674 (2.8 percent), those in transit were 1036 (0.6 percent), those visiting for the purpose of study were 1276 (0.8 percent) and those with border traffic concession were 256 (0.2 percent).Of the 558 776 travellers from mainland Africa visiting South Africa during April 2006, the majority 518 369 (92.8 percent) stated that they were in South Africa for holidays while 9095 (1.6 percent) stated that they were on business trips.A further breakdown of travellers from mainland Africa is as follows: those visiting for the purpose of study were 11 491 (2.1 percent), those arriving for the purpose of work (including contract work) were 3098 (0.6 percent), those with border traffic concession were 10 943 (2.0 percent) and travellers in transit were 5707 (1.0 percent).During April 2006, the number of travellers from the UK visiting South Africa was 40 795 (24.7 percent), making it the leading country of origin of overseas travellers. This was followed by travellers from Germany, 20 708 (12.5 percent) and the USA, 18 965 (11.5 percent). Other main countries of origin of overseas travellers were: France, 8532 (5.2 percent); Netherlands, 7031 (4.3 percent); Australia, 6991 (4.2 percent); India, 3834 (2.3 percent) and Canada, 3830 (2.3 percent).Upon comparing the figures of April 2006 with those of April 2005, the highest increase in the number of arrivals from these leading source countries was for India, (24.0 percent increase from 3092 in 2005 to 3834 in 2006).The highest percentage of the decrease in the number of travellers was observed for travellers from France (6.8 percent decrease from 9154 in 2005 to 8532 in 2006).During April 2006, the top eight countries in mainland Africa from which travellers arriving in South Africa came were: Lesotho, 166 679 (29.8 percent); Zimbabwe, 88 918 (15.9 percent); Swaziland, 85 799 (15.4 percent); Botswana, 78 575 (14.1 percent); Mozambique, 74 251 (13.3 percent); Namibia, 25 838 (4.6 percent); Zambia, 13 266 (2.4 percent) and Malawi, 9550 (1.7 percent).When comparing arrival figures from the leading source countries from mainland Africa for April 2005 and April 2006, the highest increase in the number of travellers was from Mozambique, (74.7 percent increase from 42 491 in 2005 to 74 251 in 2006).During April 2006, the most common mode of travel used by South African residents arriving in South Africa was road, involving 249 169 (64.4 percent) travellers, followed by air, 136 197 (35.2 percent) and those arriving by rail, sea and unspecified modes of travel, 1631 (0.4 percent). The most common mode of travel for South African residents departing was road, involving 268 688 (65.0 percent) travellers, followed by air, 144 702 (35.0 percent) and those departing by rail, sea and unspecified modes of travel, 221 (0.0 percent).I-Net Bridge

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Cape Town and South Africa Tourism links and information

Voted Favourite Foreign City by the UK Telegraph in 2004, Cape Town is one of the places you just have to visit before you die.It's an awesome city. All the vibe you want - great parties, great shopping and loads of galleries and other cultural attractions can't detract from the fact that what makes Cape Town special is the fact that it is set in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Even Sir Francis Drake, who'd pretty much seen it all, called Cape Point the 'fairest cape in all the circumference of the world'. It's a needle-sharp promontory, which - contrary to marketing hype - does not divide the Indian Ocean from the Atlantic. But Capetonians claim it does and you can often see a line of foam heading straight out from the point - possibly all the way to Antarctica - which certainly divides the False Bay Coastline on the east from the Atlantic Seaboard on the west.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

South Africa Accommodation - 3032 Establishments

Seaside accommodation in Cape Town - a whale of a time

Friday, July 14, 2006

Flickr

This is a test post from

, a fancy photo sharing thing.

Friday, June 09, 2006

Wedding cakes - Emma's wedding cakes Cape Town

Welcome to the website of Emma's wedding cakes, we supply two tier, three tier, and four tier designer wedding cakes in Cape Town. (the Northern, and Southern suburbs) We also supply individual cakes, cheesecakes, tarts and pettit fours, for your big day.

Luxury Guest House Accommodation Cape Town Self Catering Holiday Accommodation Fish Hoek - A Whale of a Time

Welcome to A Whale of a Time!Overlooking False Bay, we offer guests a variety of accommodation in Fish Hoek options: a Cottage, Penthouse, Garden Apartment and single bedroom Apartments.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Travel.South.Africa - Travel to South Africa

Travel to South Africa pages lauched.

The website has launched for Travel to South Africa. New pages will be added all the time, and updates will be posted here.Read more at travel.south.africa.goo...

South Africa Travel pages

This website has some great links for travellers to South Africa.
The Travel Guide for South Africa has loads of excellent pages.

Check out: http://travel.south.africa.googlepages.com