South Africa Travel

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Langebaan accommodation - At The Rocks

Recently found a wonderful place to stay in Langebaan, which is on the West Coast in Cape Town, South Africa. The place called "At The Rocks" is 4 star graded by the TGCSA, and is very luxurious. The staff are extremely friendly and helpfull, and I would highly recommend you take advantage of the low accommodation rates. The website address is http://www.langebaan.biz - Ed

Thursday, December 07, 2006

The 2010 World Cup in South Africa

The 2010 World Cup in South Africa will take place June 11-July 11 of that year, the ruling body FIFA announced on Wednesday amid a warning to local organizers to finally start with stadium construction and renovation. FIFA said that its executive board also agreed that the preliminary round draw for the World Cup will take place November 23, 2007, in Durban.

The Confederations Cup in South Africa will be played June 14-27, 2009, in the five cities of Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, Johannesburg (Ellis Park), Pretoria and Rustenburg.

FIFA said it was satisfied with a progress report on the World Cup and reiterated its supprt to the local organizing committee, but insisted work on the venues must now start.

Read more

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Cape Town number one city in Africa

The 19th annual Condé Nast Readers’ Choice Awards has voted Cape Town as the number one city in Africa and the Middle East and has been ranked as the eighth city in the world.

In this year’s awards, Cape Town beat Marrakech, Morocco, Jerusalem and Israel to the crown of the top city in Africa, and in the world category, they were beaten by cities such as Sydney, Florence and San Francisco. Rated on ambience, culture/sites, friendliness, lodging, restaurants and shopping, Cape Town scored 82.8 on a scale of 100

Full story here: http://www.etravelblackboard.com/index.asp?id=58817&nav=51

Cape Garden Route was named the 2006 Golf Destination of the Year

South Africa`s Cape Garden Route was named the 2006 Golf Destination of the Year for Africa and the Middle East at the International Golf Travel Market held at Marbella, Spain. The award is made annually by IAGTO, the Global Trade Organisation for the Golf Tourism Industry and is a milestone for golf tourism in the Garden Route and Western Cape province.

The Cape Garden Route walked away with the grand prize, beating top destinations like Dubai and Mauritius amongst others, after more than 200 golf tour operators in 38 countries worldwide cast their vote based on the quality of golf courses and accommodation, customer service, professional conduct of suppliers, support from the local tourism authority, value for money and accessibility of tee-off times.

The Cape Garden Route is home to the world famous Fancourt Hotel & Country Estate where the Presidents Cup was hosted in November 2003, Goose Valley, designed by the Gary Player Group, and Pezula Golf Club, situated on one of the most magnificent locations in South Africa. It also has five other 18-hole and eight 9-hole golf courses, and a driving range.

Full Story here: http://www.traveldailynews.com/new.asp?newid=33895&subcategory_id=107

Thursday, November 02, 2006

SouthAfricaSearch - with Quicklinks

Quick links to the most popular South African websites, news, car hire, shopping, banking, cell phone networks, accommodation and more.

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.

Friday, September 29, 2006

Tourism boom hits SA shores

A record 2,7 million tourists visited South Africa between January and April, reflecting a 16 percent increase over the first quarter of last year, Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said.

"With just over 2,7 million arrivals from January to April, this is the first time we have broken through the 2,5 million mark in the first four months of the year," he said. "This figure compares very favourably with our first quarter arrivals of 1998, which stood at just over 1,8 million. We have seen a 16 percent increase in arrivals across all territories compared to the same period last year."

"The largest component of this growth comes from the Africa and the Middle East region, which was 21,9 percent higher confirming the importance of this sector to our continued success," he said.

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Tuesday, September 26, 2006

IOL: Cape Town scoops triple win at World awards

Cape Town has received three awards at the prestigious 13th annual World Travel Awards.The Mother City clinched the "Africa's Leading Destination" award, while the stately "Pink Lady", Mount Nelson Hotel, was named Africa's leading hotel.Cape Town International Airport was voted Africa's leading airport.More than 160 000 travel industry professionals from 120 countries were asked to vote for their leading conference centres, travel destinations, airlines, hotels and companies around the world.Dubbed the travel industry's equivalent of the Oscars, the awards celebrate service excellence.

Monday, September 25, 2006

7DAYS » South Africa roars for business travel

South Africa, riding the wave of a tourism boom, is touting Survivor-style business meetings with the aim of turning it into one of the world’s top ten conference venues by the end of the decade. The brand new Business Unusual unveiled at roadshows across the US, Europe and Asia, offered executives a chance to swap their stuffy pinstripe suits for shorts in the bush while chalking out strategy or ironing out problems.“What we’re saying is we can go beyond the usual business conferences and meetings,” Angeline Lue from South African Tourism said.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Travel Video Television News

Tourism Africa has great potential as an annual event to promote international tourism to the continent and to make its vast range of natural attractions better known to the world. It could be a regular date in the travel trade calendar for African suppliers to meet European and world buyers. It could be the greatest opportunity for traders in the field of African tourism to network, to exchange views and meet the press and media.The inaugural Tourism Africa conference was accompanied by an exhibition of tourism and travel operators in the vast space of the Palexpo congress center beside Geneva's international airport. It was wonderful to step off a plane from London and walk through the terminal directly into the event. This seemed a master-stroke of conference organization.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

SAT - (Travel Daily News)

In line with its strategy to position South Africa as a leading destination for the global film industry, South African Tourism and Cape Town Routes Unlimited, together with the Cape Film Commission, have facilitated the shooting of a glamorous multi-million rand Bollywood movie, Cash, in The Mother City. The project was officially launched at a media conference at the Radisson Hotel in Cape Town.Produced by Bollywood great Sohail Maklai and distributed by Metro-Adlabs, Cash is the first Bollywood film whose script / story-line is set in Cape Town. This has given the producers and directors a unique opportunity to truly showcase the icons, the hot spots and the dramatic scenery that make Cape Town and the Western Cape one of the most popular tourism destination cities on the planet.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Eric Nathan: Highlights of South Africa - AfricaNews EN

South African photographer Eric Nathan made a selection of his highlights of the most southern country of Africa. His selection contains images from the lush green hills of the Transkei in the Eatern Cape, the wine lands in the Western Cape, the skyline of South Africa's economic hub, Johannesburg, and the mothercity of Cape Town, were people usually take it a bit more easy. Eric is a self-taught photographer and specialises in travel and landscape photography. He has travelled to over fifty countries worldwide.