Big Five Explorer

Limpopo and Mpumalanga leading Tourism Stakeholders will this evening experience the “Premier  Classe” train from Pretoria all the way to Hoedspruit in Limpopo via Mpumalanga.  Premier Classe is a luxury long distance rail service of PRASA (Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa). The moment you board the Premier Classe train, you step into a World that recaptures the elegance of a bygone era of the luxury train travel, enhanced by the convenience that modern technology can offer.

The Premier Classe departs from Johannesburg to Hoedspruit every Thursday evening, returning from Hoedspruit to Johannesburg every Sunday. The overnight trip between Johannesburg and Hoedspruit takes approximately 16 hours, departing from both venues in the afternoon thus arriving at the respective destinations the following morning very refreshed indeed.

The Premier Classe is a very luxurious train equipped with features such air-conditioning, technological sophistication in its dining lounge cars, conference coach and a smoking lounge that is equipped with a plasma screen and DVD player, spacious compartments  and well appointed bathrooms to name but a few new features.

The CEO of Limpopo Tourism and Parks, Mr. Robert Tooley will lead the Limpopo delegation that will experience this train. Tooley said, “The reintroduction of this train is indeed something very exciting and we feel it will enhance the tourism and thus add to the visits by various corporate organizations to the two provinces “.  He further said , “It is thus our firm belief that the train will increase a number of tourists in our province, particularly if PRASA can see the need for the introduction of such a train on the existing route  to various towns of Limpopo. We believe these things are possible as this will only happen once in a week”.

Source: TravelWires (http://www.travelwires.com/wp/2010/07/limpopo-and-mpumalanga-tourism-welcomes-premier-classe’s-new-route/)

Returning World Cup visitors questioned in a snap poll in the departures lounge at Cape Town International Airport on Wednesday almost all gave South Africa an overall rating of 9.06 out of 10 as a destination and 66 percent said they would return with their families.

They included one who was robbed of his camera in the street but still rated this country at 9 out of 10.

Before the start of the World Cup negative publicity in the UK and northern European press, mainly about crime, made many visitors apprehensive. But by the time they left 50 percent of those questioned said they felt “much more positively about South Africa”, according to the results of the poll.

A total of 50 travellers took part in the poll. According to their passports they were from 13 countries – the US, UK, Dubai, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Mexico, China, Montenegro, the Cayman Islands. Singapore, Switzerland and Germany. But the majority of those leaving, according to Alan Winde, Minister of Tourism for the Western Cape, were from the UK and US – “probably because their teams were now out of the World Cup”.

Admitting that the responses came from a small sample of the thousands of visitors who came to this country for the event, he said several organisations were conducting polls in which more people would be questioned but their results would be announced and analysed only after it was over, giving a reliable indication of the effect of hosting it on our economy.

Winde said the average age of those questioned was 40 and they were “predominantly male.” Most of them- 60 percent – had stayed in hotels and 32 percent in guest houses.

Most of them – 70 percent – considered restaurant prices to be moderate and 66 percent of them gave this rating to accommodation charges.

The average spend on accommodation was R1 199 a night and most had spent about R900 a day in addition to this.. Most had spent 7.64 days in the Western Cape out of 10.38 nights in South Africa and an average had watched almost three games in a stadium and one in a fan park.

The Winelands was the most popular region to visit in the Western Cape, with 72 percent saying they had gone there and a number had travelled up the West Coast. “The rating shows that just about everyone who came to the Western Cape found it an outstanding experience,” said Winde.

Taxis were the most popular mode of transport in this country, with 56 percent using them and 32 percent using hired cars.
The top 3 most positive experiences apart from soccer were going up Table Mountain, visiting Cape Point and meeting the people of South Africa.

“The perception of the destination was much more positive (on leaving) than on arrival”, Winde said, “with 50 percent saying they felt much more positively about South Africa since coming here. There were no respondents who said they felt more negatively.

“These figures suggest that hosting the World Cup has had a positive influence on the reputation of South Africa as a tourist destination. We may see a boost to the economy around the tourist industry for years to come.”

Source: Business Report (http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=566&fArticleId=5539126)

“Die Kaap is Weer Oranje” (The Cape is orange again) reads a banner hanging in Green Point stadium  on Thursday night as thousands of fans clad in orange cheered on the Dutch national team as they took on Cameroon.

It’s a scene reminiscent of the last few days in Cape Town as thousands of Dutch fans took over the city.

The Western Cape and in particular Cape Town and its surrounds have been inextricably linked with Holland since 1652 when traveller Jan Van Riebeeck landed there and founded the Dutch East India Company.

Many streets in the City like Buitengracht and De Waal and towns such as Stellenbosch were named after Dutch settlers who followed him.

And this week the Cape experienced its second Dutch invasion as fans of Die Oranje took the opportunity to revisit the history of the Cape

Members of the Royal Netherlands Football Association Supporter’s Club, dressed in their traditional orange colours, visited a number of Dutch settlements in the city and their world famous travelling campsite “De Oranjecamping” has even settled in the Boland town of Paarl, about one hour from Cape Town.

Jorg Groll, a member of the Dutch supporters club said, “we travel into the city everyday and have visited historical Dutch settlements like the Castle of Good Hope that was built by Dutch in the 17th century. We have also been to the Waterfront.”

Stephanie Breede, from Cape Town but who has a Dutch grandmother, says, “I’m here to catch up with my Dutch roots. This is so nice. It’s like a little Amsterdam. I like the Dutch music and the food is amazing. I’ve also had some lekker (nice) Dutch beer.”

The city of Cape Town also did its bit to make the travelling Dutch fans feel at home.

Organisers at the FIFA Fan Fest had traditional Dutch music and a Dutch master of ceremony to cater for the large “orange army” at the Fan Fest.

“This was done to cater for the large number of International visitors to the city. We wanted to make them feel welcome and give them something they could relate to. Many of the countries who’ve played in Cape Town has had some link with the City in the past and today it was the turn of the Dutch who have such an interesting history with the city,” said Cape Town 2010 spokesperson, Pieter Cronje.

Hawkers along Cape Town’s Fan Walk also did a roaring trade this weekend.

One trader, Steven Arendse said, “this is my most profitable day of the World Cup. I wish the Dutch would play here more often. I’ve sold about 50 orange vuvuzelas, 50 Dutch scarves and 30 orange wigs. Unlike the French and Italian fans I can understand them because Dutch and Afrikaans (one of South Africa’s 11 official languages) is very similar and that makes my sales pitch easier.”

Source: FIFA (http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1258128/)

A Yemeni fishing boat has been spotted in the southern Egyptian Red Sea de-fining sharks. Please report any sightings immediately.

Shark de-fining and fishing are criminal offences, prohibited and punishable by law in the Red Sea, in accordance to regulations set by the Governor of the Red Sea and the Minstry of Agriculture and Fisheries in 2006. This vessel has also violated international and Egyptian law by transgressing Egyptian waters.

The fishing vessel was obeserved at Zabargab and Brothers Islands by several safari boats and was las observed at St Johns at N 23 24.495  E 35 9.282. It is believed to still be in the area.

Do not approach the boat !  Document any activity using photo or  video and contact HEPCA immediately.

This is the time to collectively work together and end a direct threat to the ecosystem and livelihoods of those who depend on the Red Sea.

HEPCA would especially like to thank the crew, staff and guests of Seven Seas, Obsession, Sea Serpent, Longimanus and Golden Dolphin who provided information about the location of the vessel and documented the vile activities that have taken place upon it and have deviated from their planned courses in order to fight for the protection of our natural resources.

Please report any sighting immediately to:

HEPCA Office: +20 65 344 5035 / +20 65 344 7728
HEPCA Mobile: +20 10 635 5011
Email: info at hepca.com (change at for @)
VHF Channel: 16

Source: Information provided by HEPCA, 26 May 2010.

Nearly half the 22 000 beds available for tourists in Mpumalanga are still firmly booked by FIFA World Cup visitors from overseas despite the fact that Match, the official accommodation agents, released a quarter of the reservations it made originally, according to Charles Ndabeni, chief executive of Mpumalanga Tourism.

Four matches are due to be played in the new stadium at Nelspruit in the first weeks of the tournament – Chile versus Honduras on June 16, Italy versus New Zealand on June 20, Australia versus Serbia on June 23 and Korea versus the Ivory Coast on June 25.

In between these events, thousands of the visitors are expected to visit Mpumalanga’s world-famous tourist attractions ranging from the Sudwala Caves, believed to be the oldest in the world at 3.5 billion years, with cave paintings and other signs of early human habitation, to the Barberton Mountains with unusual rock formations also believed to be the oldest in the world.

Ndabeni said R45 million had been spent on a sky bridge similar to that in the Grand Canyon in the US, between 400 and 500 metres long, connecting the God’s Window rock formation with the Blyde River Canyon – also believed to be the oldest canyon in the world – a restaurant in the canyon that could cater for 300 people at a time and on restoring the old mining town of Pilgrim’s Rest.

Other attractions included the Kruger National Park and 19 other nature reserves where elephants and rhinos could be seen.

“We are very strong on wildlife and on African culture. There are Shangaan and Matsamo cultural villages where the traditional life and artefacts can be seen.”

The attractions of Nelspruit itself include an elephant sanctuary. Adventure tourism in the Hazyview area, where many of the World Cup visitors have chosen to stay, includes river rafting on the Crocodile and Sabie Rivers, mountain biking and rock climbing.

Ndabeni said that although there were 5-star hotels in the area there were also four-star. Some of the game lodges were 3-star and there was a wide range of bed and breakfast establishments including some with 5-star and 4-star grading.

Nelspruit had already benefited from the World Cup, with about a thousand temporary jobs created by the construction of the new stadium.

Many more permanent jobs were expected to be created through the hoped-for increase in tourism to the area following worldwide publicity.

Source: Business Report (http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=566&fArticleId=5478724)