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The City of Cape Town will next week begin with the process of renaming its streets.

The city's Mayoral Committee agreed Wednesday to issue a call for nominations for a panel of experts set to advise it in the renaming process.

More than four years ago the Council adopted a policy that sets out clear rules for proposals to rename not only streets, but also "public places, natural areas and Council-owned buildings, facilities and artefacts".

"Within a fortnight the public will be invited to submit detailed suggestions about any name changes in the city.

"The window period for submissions and the procedure will be clearly spelled out in a widely advertised process. Late submissions will not be accepted," the city said in a statement.

Once the panel has made its recommendations to Council, the proposed changes would be advertised for public comment before Council took the final decision.

The process will culminate in September to coincide with Heritage month.

Councillor Owen Kinahan, a co-author of the policy, said advertisements would be placed inviting nominations to the panel of experts early next week.

"The policy calls for experience or expertise in history, culture, linguistics, town planning, onomastics, toponymy, reconciliation and religion and provides for a pool of 15 members who will receive suggestions from the public and advise the Council accordingly.

The panel also has to be representative of the demographic and cultural composition of Cape Town," Cllr Kinahan explained.

He said the policy was designed to involve the citizens of Cape Town as much as possible and to avoid "the top down and heavy-handed approach" in many other parts of the country.

"This city belongs to its citizens, not its politicians. I believe that our policy can be instructive to many other cities and provinces," he added. - BuaNews
Article from http://www.buanews.gov.za/
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Labels: South Africa - Road names

Cape Town Routes Unlimited head Sheryl Ozinsky resigned today after less than two months in the high-profile position.

Ozinsky took up the position on January 10 after being headhunted from the private sector in which she had worked for several years after her previous job as head of Cape Town Tourism.

At the time of her appointment, she was hailed as a "mover and shaker" by Finance and Tourism MEC Lynne Brown as well as mayor Helen Zille.

Ozinsky told the Cape Argus today: "I hope to continue in a consultative capacity, where I can play to my strengths in new developments and creative marketing, doing what I love and where I can be most effective rather than the day-to-day running of the organisation." - Staff Writer
Article from http://allafrica.com/
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Labels: South Africa - Tourism

Simon Grindrod, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic and SocialDevelopment, Tourism and Property Management said: "In order tostimulate increased demand for Cape Town as a destination of choice forFilm, Stills and Commercial production, I proposed and achieved theabolition of film location tariffs on Council land. This was approved byMayco last week.."

He said the revenue generated by the film industry certainly comparedfavourably to the turnover seen in other Cape Town based industries suchas tourism.

"The phasing out of all tariffs charged to the film industry is one initiative that needs to be investigated as a vehicle to attract more business to the city in this sector. Capetonians also must be educated and encouraged to help the City become more 'film' friendly. This willrequire a shift in attitude from one of resenting the inconvenience of location shoots, to one of appreciating the direct benefits of the filmindustry," Grindrod said.

Film Commission CEO Laurence Mitchell said: "During the past year, the CFC has enjoyed immeasurable success, with stronger buy in from the industry, positive partnerships with both government and industry, and significant international investment into the region".

He was speaking in Cape Town during a presentation to the City's Portfolio Committee for Economic, Social Development & Tourism.

"From July 2005 to December 2006, the Commission fielded 22 647 industry-related enquiries, provided assistance to 1 003 SMMEs and 416BEE firms, trained 974 people, established 55 new businesses, hosted 74industry events, and created over 2 000 direct and indirect jobs," saysMr Mitchell.

The CFC was established in 1999 as a joint initiative of the City ofCape Town and the Provincial Government of the Western Cape in response to the significant rise in filming activity in the region and it is keyin supporting economic growth, job creation and skills development.

"It is one of six sector bodies funded jointly by the City's Economic & Human Development Department and the Provincial Department of Economic Development, Environment & Planning. Since 2002, the City of Cape Town has contributed R3,32 million to the CFC, while Province has contributed R11,2 million," says Mr Mansoor Mohamed, the City's Executive Director: Economic and Social Development.

The Commission operates both as a specialist agency marketing the region as a preferred global destination for local and international filmmakers, as well as a representative body for the film industry.

The industry encompasses the entire 'value chain' which includeslocations, servicing, and the production of feature films, television,videos, commercials, stills and animation formats.

"There are currently 150 production companies, 1 650 skilled supply companies, and six world-class equipment rental companies in the region.During 2005/06, filming activity included 2 100 photography shooting days and the production of 687 film and TV commercials and 30 featurefilms.

These included the filming of international blockbusters such as Blood Diamond and Goodbye Bafana.

"Our strategic vision is to position Cape Town and the Western Cape as a globally competitive film destination, thereby creating sustainable jobsand business opportunities, boosting tourism, and developing coreskills," says Mr Mitchell.

According to Mr Mohamed, the Commission's strategy is aligned to theCity's Economic and Human Development Strategy as well as the Provincial Micro Economic Development Strategy.

"With the adoption of the City of Cape Town Film Policy and Protocol in 2004, the City recognised the valuable contribution of filming to thecity's economic and cultural environment. The City also introduced a by-law in 2005 to provide the legal framework to regulate filming activities in Cape Town.

'In order to facilitate a sustainable, film friendly environment, the Film Permit Office co-operates closely with all City directorates toprovide services such as issuing of permits, liaising, coordinating and mentoring and traffic control," says Mr Mohamed.

The City also funded research into the economic and social impact of the filming industry on Cape Town and the Western Cape, which has been completed recently.
Download the full report

Article from http://www.filmmaker.co.za/
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Labels: South Africa - Film Industry

Find out which airline gives you more room for your money.

Whether you are flying to Cape Town or London, Maputo or Sydney, you want to be comfortable in your seat.

Moneyweb asked 1time, kulula.com, SAA, Mango and British Airways (BA) how much legroom they give their customers in their aircraft.

According to the stats that the airlines provided, SAA is number one when it comes to the amount of legroom airlines allocate their passengers.
SAA's seat pitch, which is the measurement from the end of the seat to the seat in front of you, for its economy class could be anything from 78,7cm to 86,36cm, depending on the aircraft.

Premium class figures are double that of economy class at 198,12cm, 187,96cm and 185,42cm depending on the aircraft.

1time's marketing manager, Anya Potgieter said that her airline's seat pitch could be anything from 79cm to 84cm, which puts its legroom provision second after SAA and first out of the low-cost carriers.

Glenda Zvenyika, Comair's communication's manager could not tell us how much room BA business class section allocates to its passengers.

At economy class level however, BA allocates passengers 82,5cm per seat pitch.

Kulula.com also allocates 82,5cm on its MD82 aircraft and 75cm on its Boeing 737 400 for legroom.

New low-cost airline Mango offers customers the least room to play with.

The seat pitch is the same as Kulula.com's Boeing 737 400 at 75cm, and the seat width is only 41,25cm.

Both BA economy class and Kulula.com offer passengers 48cm in seat width, which is the largest size seat of all the airlines at economy class level.

With 45cm to 46cm wide seats, 1time offers a better deal than SAA's economy class which sits at 43,18cm, 43,6cm and 43,7cm depending on the aircraft.

As for SAA's premium class offering, passengers are allocated 55,88cm and 52,07cm wide seats.

Article from http://www.moneyweb.co.za/
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Labels: South Africa - Airlines

kulula.com

Johannesburg 6 March 2007. kulula.com today announced its new fundraising project for the Children's Haematology Oncology Clinic Childhood Cancer Foundation of South Africa (CHOC) and gave a cheque of R560 000 to the childhood cancer charity.

The new project will be the building of the first ever kulula/CHOC village to be built in four phases in Pretoria at an estimated cost of R4 240 000. The village will serve as a community-based NGO housing children needing cancer treatment under the care of their caregivers in a home away from home environment. It will also serve as a volunteer base and educational facility on childhood cancer.

Of the R560 000 cheque, R400 000 is for the first phase of the kulula/CHOC village project which involves establishing the building site and putting staff in place to manage the facility.

The other R160 000 is for CHOC's Transport Fund, a facility which gives transport money to families that need to travel locally to and from hospitals for continued treatment and doctors reviews. The airline's customers raised R80 000 in two weeks for the fund which kulula.com matched.

Most of the money has been raised by the airline's fans through a highly successful donation facility on its website. The facility gives customers the opportunity to add between R10 and R200 to their air ticket payment by credit card which is then given to CHOC.

Said Erik Venter, the airline's joint CEO, We've been truly amazed at our customers generosity for this worthy cause - their response has been phenomenal. We want to thank them for the money so far and encourage them to keep giving towards this project.

Geoff Penny, CHOC's National Director commented, kulula.com and their customers have been extremely generous. This wonderful donation will go a long way towards meeting the needs of children with cancer and life threatening blood disorders in the region. kulula.com is a fine example of a truly public-spirited organisation and we are most grateful for its support.

Penny added, The central base for volunteers and the education centre will play a key role in the early identification of cancer in children, thereby increasing the chances of successful treatment of children with cancer.

Article from http://www.moneyweb.co.za/
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Labels: South Africa - Airlines

Cape Town's credentials as a competitive player in the meetings and events market are growing significantly. The city is continuously making strides in cementing its presence in the associations market. Role-players including the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), hospitality industry, airlines and professional conference organisers are constantly rising to available opportunities.

In 2006 alone, nine international association bids were secured by Cape Town Routes Unlimited Convention and Events Bureau. These bids will bring approximately 24 800 delegates to the destination with a combined estimated economic impact of more than R232 million between 2007 and 2014. They include the 5th IAS HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment Conference with 5 000 delegates in 2009, the Medical Informatics Conference with 3 000 delegates and IEEE Globecom Conference with 2 000 delegates in 2010, International Academy of Pathology conference with 2 000 delegates in 2012, and World Pharma 2014 (17th IUPHAR World Congress of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology) with 10 000 delegates in 2014.

It is crucial that Cape Town and the Western Cape takes full advantage of marketing opportunities South Africa's 2010 Soccer World Cup is providing the city, province and country with, and the way in which the tournament is already profiling South Africa.

In the 2005/2006 financial year, nineteen bids were secured for Cape Town and an additional seventeen submitted during this period, which have the potential to generate new business between 2007 and 2016. The combined direct economic impact of bids secured and in progress is some R436 million. This includes international association congresses, corporate meetings and incentives.

The beauty of business tourism for a destination is that approximately 35% of delegates to an international conference return to the destination as leisure tourists within five years of the conference taking place. Conference delegates normally also tell friends and family back in their home countries about the destination they have just visited.

Destinations largest conference yet held in Cape Town

In December last year, Cape Town played host to its largest conference yet when it welcomed approximately 12 700 delegates to the 19th World Diabetes Congress. The conference, held from 3 to 7 December 2006 at the citys state-of-the-art convention centre, was a benchmark event for the destination, proving that it can successfully host events of this magnitude and that it is ready to do so in the future.

The expected direct economic impact of the 19th World Diabetes Congress on Cape Town and the Western Cape was more than R80 million. Hosting this event showed how conferences, of this scale and smaller, profit the various links in the tourism value chain by contributing to the growth, development and transformation of the Western Cape tourism industry. It also illustrates how tourism plays an important role through its bids for conferences, as a vehicle for developmental, economic, environmental and social causes.

Besides the World Diabetes Congress, the biggest conferences hosted in the destination had been the International Urology Congress with 4 100 delegates and the International Society of Blood Transfusion Congress with 3 500 delegates, both in 2006, according to the CTICC.

Number One conference destination in Africa - ICCA

Cape Town is ranked the Number One convention destination in Africa. The city secures more than half of conference business coming into the continent. According to the International Congress and Convention Associations (ICCA) Global Ranking Report for 2005, Cape Town retained its position as the only African city in the top 40 ranking report.

BestCities Global Alliances Certification Programme

Cape Town is also part of the BestCities Global Alliance, an alliance with eight partners on five continents. Besides Cape Town, the member cities are Copenhagen, Dubai, San Juan, Singapore, Melbourne, Edinburgh and Vancouver. The vision of the Alliance is to be recognized internationally for being innovative and represent the highest standards of service in the global meetings and convention industry.

Cape Town and the seven other member cities recently signed up for the first Global Certification Programme governing the service standards of convention bureaus. The Alliance launched the final phase when it met in Singapore for a two-day internal audit training programme in November last year. A Quality Policy was agreed upon and signed.

A further aim of the internal audit programme was to train the member cities of the Alliance to monitor the effectiveness of the Quality Management System, and to improve the quality and performance of convention bureaus. The Alliance`s primary goal in establishing this certification process is to be the only consortium of convention bureaus offering the worlds state-of-the-art service experience to the global meetings industry.

Through the past year, the BestCities Global Alliance worked closely with Lloyds Register Quality Assurance, Ltd. (LRQA) and the Mohamed Al Geziry Consultancy (MAGC) to develop and implement its certification programme.

Meetings Africa

Cape Town Routes Unlimited has sent a team to Johannesburg to attend Meetings Africa, the continents business tourism exhibition, which was held from 28 February to 1 March 2007.

Cape Town Routes Unlimited hosted a special ˜five senses™ breakfast on 28 February 2007 for approximately a hundred international and domestic hosted buyers and media, inspiring them to see, taste, smell, hear and feel some of Cape Town and the Western Capes most exquisite tourism offerings. A few hosted buyers and media from countries such as Germany and China had the chance to experience these first hand when they undertake familiarisation trips to the province immediately after Meetings Africa.

In their effort to create market access for tourism SMMEs (small, micro and medium enterprises) and to mainstream emerging entrepreneurs, Cape Town Routes Unlimited and the Tourism Enterprise Programme assisted four business tourism entrepreneurs from the Western Cape to attend Meetings Africa for the second consecutive year. Together with eight other exhibitors and the Cape Craft & Design Institute, they took part in a Western Cape exhibition at Meetings Africa. The entrepreneurs were also to attend a Business Tourism Conference a day before Meetings Africa started.

Society of Incentive & Travel Executives International Conference in 2010

Cape Town and the Western Cape played host to a component of the Society of Incentive & Travel Executives (SITE) Executive Summit, which ran concurrently with Meetings Africa. The Western Cape used this platform to impress and convince the SITE to hold their 2010 international conference in Cape Town.

Article from http://www.traveldailynews.com/
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Labels: South Africa - Tourism

Inspired German journalists praise province for wild beauty

By TOM MAPHAM

ONE of Germany’s largest daily newspapers, Die Welt, has published a report praising the Eastern Cape as a tourist destination with a “wild beauty” which it said was “far more relaxed” than the more developed Western Cape.

The report, by journalist Peter Ehrenberg, was the first of three articles that will be published in various leading newspapers.

Die Welt has a daily circulation of about 250000 and is described as “the flagship publication, within the quality newspaper market, of the Axel Springer empire”.

Ehrenberg noted the diversity of the landscapes, history, value for money and security, as the factors that made the Eastern Cape a favourite for him.

He was not just paying lip service either, he has already booked a non-working holiday for himself in May.

In his article, he noted that the Eastern Cape offered opportunities to see the Big Five, without the threat of malaria.

The group visited Inkwenkwezi Private Nature Reserve and the Addo National Park.

Ehrenberg, and two other top German journalists, took part in a week-long tour of the province, organised by the government of Lower Saxony, after Eastern Cape Premier, Nosimo Balindlela suggested the idea during a visit there last year.

The professional tour guide who led the tour group, William Ross, said the visitors were amazed at the diversity of the Eastern Cape’s landscapes – from beaches to tropical forest, including wide rivers and arid deserts.

Ehrenberg was amazed to see “kilometres of white beaches”.

“In front of you a fin shoots out of a wave, not an upside down surfboard, but a dolphin. What a feeling,” he wrote.

Ross said the journalists had been impressed by the value for money they found in the Eastern Cape.

“It is something that Cape Town has been seriously criticised for, but prices in the Eastern Cape don’t even come close. They could not believe that they could order the biggest steak in the restaurant for R80,” he said.

According to the boss of the Western Cape’s tourism marketing, the distinction between the Eastern and Western Cape was less important than the fact that a South African destination had been given such high profile.

“The Western Cape works closely together with the Eastern Cape to ensure that we increase the length of stay of tourists in our country and provide visitors with a diversity of tourism experiences,” said Sheryl Ozinsky, chief executive of Cape Town Routes Unlimited, the Western Cape and Cape Town’s official tourism destination marketing organisation.

She said Cape Town and the Western Cape offered “scenic beauty, outdoor adventure and cultural heritage” that complemented the Eastern Cape’s safari experiences and game reserves.

“We look forward to further growing South Africa’s new gold, tourism, together with the Eastern Cape,” she said.

The report in Die Welt has had an immediate effect on its audience of German readers.

After Stutterheim’s Manderson Country Hotel appeared at the top of Die Welt’s list of top hotels, visits to the hotel’s website leapt from 10 a day to 1300.

“We couldn’t believe it,” said co-owner Ingrid Newbold, herself a Dutch emigré.

She said the party of journalists had been amazed to find a luxury hotel at the end of a dirt road when they visited last year.

“They were amazed to find more to these little towns than dirt roads and shebeens,” she said.

Tourism Buffalo City’s acting manager, Mervyn Gatke enthused about the article’s effect.

“Our reserves are more open and natural than smaller ones in the Western Cape. Visitors enjoy our wide open spaces and our beaches. We have got what they are looking for and we are well priced,” he said.

After flying into East London, the journalists drove straight to Stutterheim, originally a German settlement named after Baron Richard von Stutterheim, who settled in the region in 1856.

The tour party travelled through the Transkei to Port St Johns before returning south to Nieu Bethesda.

Lower Saxony’s local representative, Yorck Wurms, said the journalists grew suspicious during some of the long journeys that appeared to lead into the middle of nowhere.

But they were repeatedly rendered speechless by sites that were not sign-posted.

The unmarked Magwa Falls in the Transkei, Bushman paintings in a cave near Graaff-Reinet and the unspoilt splendour of the Baviaan’s Kloof all left an impression on the visitors, he said.

What Die Welt said about their experience in the province:

THE Eastern Cape and especially the Wild Coast made an impression on Die Welt journalist, Peter Ehrenberg.

He began his article, published in the daily newspaper, like this: “The waves of the Indian Ocean crash against the cliffs, every now and then a cricket chirps, and high above in the clear skies the stars of Southern Cross are flashing.”

He wrote that if your “soul” does not “chill out” in Coffee Bay it never will. He noted that at such moments the most important question in the world was: “Which is the country’s best beer?”

“The real asset of the Eastern Cape is Nature, which offers everything: endless savannas and dense forest, high waterfalls and dried out rivers, lifeless desert and wild sea,” he wrote.

Of equal interest to Ehrenberg was Qunu, the birthplace of the province’s most famous son, Nelson Mandela. The journalist visited Madiba’s Qunu residence, describing it as modest, and was impressed by the nearby museum, conference centre and heritage site in the former President’s honour.

By the end of the trip Ehrenberg had solved the question of the best beer, “No question, Carling Black Label”.
Article from http://www.dispatch.co.za/
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Labels: South Africa - Tourism

By Dianne Hawker

A "rowdy" passenger on a domestic flight triggered a security panic and was arrested when the plane landed at Cape Town International Airport on Tuesday night.

The passenger on board a 1Time flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town is being detained at airport police cells.

The flight landed on the far end of the runway shortly after 8pm, and passengers were greeted by a barrage of flashing lights and sirens as the police's elite Special Task Force prepared to board the plane.

Passengers then had a three-hour wait while police checked luggage for "a further threat".

Airports Company SA (Acsa) spokesperson Kim Webster confirmed that the passenger had been arrested within 20 minutes and safety procedures were carried out.

1Time airline marketing director Rodney James said the passenger had become "a little bit rowdy". "At that point one of the cabin attendants decided he shouldn't have any more to drink. At this point he got more rowdy and the attendant had to contact the captain," he said.

The captain had advised Acsa of the situation before the plane landed, added James.

However, passengers and family members who waited for three hours have questioned the way in which the incident was handled.

The Cape Argus arrived at the airport at about 9.10pm, nearly an hour after the plane had landed. Most of the family and friends waiting in the domestic arrival lounge were still in the dark about the nature of the threat.

Although police and bomb squad lights could be seen from the terminal, sporadic speaker announcements were the only source of information, giving no indication to anxious relatives of how great the threat was.

Eventually the passengers were moved to a bus which waited on the runway for a long time. Again no information was given to those waiting.

Passengers had been told their bags would need to be searched as there might have been a dangerous substance on the plane.

"We still don't actually know what happened. There was no communication throughout this whole fiasco," said an Ottery resident, Alexis Tobias, who was on the flight.

She said the rowdy passenger had not been overly loud but alleged that he was clearly drunk and that he might have been drunk before boarding the flight.

Eleanor Williams alleged that cabin attendants had continued to serve the man drinks although he was clearly drunk.

"He wasn't really loud but you could see from his body language that he was swaying around," she said.

Williams was upset that passengers were not informed what substance was being searched for and whether it had been found.

Passengers were eventually bused to the international arrivals section. Many were visibly shaken when they left the terminal.

Police Captain Elliot Sinyangana said the man would appear in Belville magistrate's court on Friday on charges linked to the Civil Aviation Act.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, a 33-year-old woman from Hanover Park was arrested at the airport for alleged possession of 2kg of heroin when she arrived off a flight from London.

Police who searched her luggage found the drug, with a street value of R2,4-million, wrapped in plastic hidden in a separate compartment of her suitcase. She is being held in police custody.

Sinyangana said she would appear at the Bellville magistrate's court soon.

Article from http://www.iol.co.za/
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Labels: South Africa - Airlines