Posted by {Whale Cottage Camps Bay} on October 2nd, 2007. Categories: {Cape Town News}
The UK Conde Nast has ranked Cape Town as the eighth Best City, a dramatic increase from its 17th position last year, in its 2007 Readers’ Travel Awards, according to the Cape Times. Sydney was voted the top city in the world, and other top cities include New York, Paris, Rome and Venice.
By contrast, South Africa as a country has slipped nine places to 21st in the world. Singita Private Game Reserve was the highest rated South African destination, while The Cape Grace Hotel and Londolozi Private Game Reserve also made it to the top 100 destinations list. The Cape Grace was the only South African establishment to make the top list of business hotels. In the Middle East, Africa and Indian Ocean Islands Leisure Top 20 hotel list, Singita was ranked 3rd, Cape Grace 7th, Londolozi 9th, Ellerman House 11th, Kwande Private Game Reserve 13th and Lion Sands Private Game Reserve 18th. The Cape Grace was ranked top for its staff and service. Pezula was the only spa to make it on the top spa list. SAA was voted as 9th best long haul leisure travel airline, in which category Virgin was voted as best in the world.
Photograph: Cape Grace on Cape Town’s Waterfront
South Africa has a new permanent representative in London, in the form of a new statue of its icon Nelson Mandela. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown unveiled the statue in Parliament Square last month.
The USA was the lead international tourism source in June, and tourists from this country increased by 11 %, followed by the UK, Germany Australia and France. Overall, the international arrivals in June were 11 % higher than the year before, reports TravelHub.
Cape Town music fans are set to enjoy a summer musical feast, in the form of performances by Enrique Iglesias in October, Michael Buble in December, Elton John in January, and Celine Dion in February.
Locals are to be encouraged to travel in their own country, in a new Domestic Tourism campaign developed by SA Tourism. The campaign will focus on the affordability of local tourism products.
The tour operator association SATSA has called on the government to liberalise its air access strategy, in order to encourage more tourist arrivals from key source markets, reports TravelHub. Addressing the parliamentary committee on tourism, SATSA CEO Michael Tatalias said that only six of the 25 international tourism source markets identified by S A Tourism are serviced by SAA.
Tourists from Scandinavia are set to travel to Cape Town and the Garden Route in greater numbers this summer, with the arrival of MyTravel charter flights from Sweden and Denmark from November.
George Airport has opened a new terminal, and is expected to see one million passengers by 2012, almost double the current passenger numbers.
A name change that will be hard to come to grips with is that of the landmark Arabella Sheraton Hotel adjacent to the Cape Town International Convention Centre, which is now called The Westin Grand Cape Town Arabella Quays. The name change results from a joint-venture agreement with Starwood, giving Arabella exclusive rights to the Westin brand in South Africa and Namibia.
Chapman’s Peak has been an unfortunate victim of the heavy rainfalls experienced in the past winter, and is indefinitely closed to traffic so that potential rockslides can be avoided. Since opening in 2003, the pass has been closed for 132 days, reports the Weekend Argus. Cape Town residents travelling between Hout Bay and Noordhoek believe that there have more road closures since the rock catch fences were installed
