The November 2010 arrivals statistics released by StatsSA have indicated that the beginning of the peak season was a good one with a 9,8% increase in total foreign arrivals into the country.
Overseas arrivals were equally bolstered with an 8,8% increase over the month with key and emerging source markets showing positive growth. India and China showed a dramatic increase while the two source markets that showed disappointing results in November were the UK and The Netherlands, both with significant decreases.
The top overseas source markets for November 2010 were as follows:
UK, down 4,9% from 40 505 to 38 539
Germany, up 3,3% from 25 396 to 26 228
USA, up 19,4% from 16 594 to 19 808
The Netherlands, down 12,2% from 13 641 to 11 982
France, up 24,2% from 9 509 to 11 808
Australia, up 23,9% from 6 886 to 8 530
China, up 73,8% from 4 328 to 7 524
India, up 84,9% from 3 857 to 7 130
Sweden, up 5,9% from 5 053 to 5 350
Canada, up 24,2% from 4 015 to 4 986
It is interesting to see the dramatic increase in tourists from the Indian and Chinese markets and we will keep an eye these stats to see whether we can spot a trend developing.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. announced that Sheraton.com, the web site for Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, has been recognized as the best hotel website in its class.
The Best Of Web Site Brand Experiences 2010 by Forrester Research, Inc. Forrester Research conducted an independent survey of fourteen consumer web sites in the hotel, automotive, and skin care industries to identify best practices. The survey reveals that Sheraton.com leads the hotel category in Brand Action and all categories in Brand Image ratings.
Forrester first conducted a Brand Action Review of each web site, focusing on the "transactional, informational and usability aspects" of the site. The report revealed that Sheraton.com's design has a "responsive interface" and utilized bullets to display hotel features in a clean, easy-to-read format.
Sheraton ranked the highest across all industries in the Brand Image category. Forrester makes note of Sheraton.com's "unique visual design" and use of a "distinctive color palette, differentiated typography, and superior production values" which offer a "visual experience that transitioned seamlessly from the company's online ads." According to the report, "Sheraton differentiated its site from more than just the competition - it did it across all groups." Through consistent messaging reinforced by visuals and descriptions the Sheraton brand values of "connecting" and "sharing" were very clearly recognized.
Source: ehotelier.com
Denmark has won the Bocuse d'Or 2011 at the competition's world final held in Lyon yesterday, with Sweden and Norway finishing in second and third places respectively.
The Bocuse d’Or is known as the ‘Culinary Olympics’. Ever since 1987, the Bocuse d’Or contest has been giving young chefs a unique opportunity to demonstrate their skills, offering them a tremendous springboard for their careers. From one competition to the next, its international influence has grown constantly. With the successive creation of contests in Latin America, Asia and Europe, the Bocuse d’Or has become a showcase revealing outstanding talents and gastronomic trends from all over the world.
Beyond the competition itself, the Bocuse d’Or has created its own family: a global network of chefs, future celebrities and famous cooks, and partner companies. They all share the same values of creativity, rigour and innovation, are committed to passing on their skills … and have a passion for fine food and Art de Vivre.
Contestants must prepare 12 portions of both a meat and a fish dish in 5 hours and 35 minutes in small, identical, kitchen cubicles with picture windows that face an audience of more than 1,000 cheering, flag-waving, bell-ringing, foot-stomping, anthem-singing spectators.
Experts untangled a 13m piece of rope from the mouth and flippers of a young female North Atlantic right whale.
The whale was sedated by the experts before the tricky exercise was attempted. It followed a first rescue bid off Florida, which did not remove all 50m of rope snaring the rare and gentle giant - one of only 400 left of its kind.
Scientists are now tracking the young animal to ensure it makes a full recovery.
The official star-rating system used to rank hotels in Britain is to lose state backing this week, after claims that customer reviews posted online are more reliable.
National tourism agencies, such as VisitEngland, grade hotels from one to five stars, but the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) says collective rankings more accurately reflect holidaymakers' concerns. The current system is also considered to work against smaller hotels, which often receive just one or two stars because they cannot offer the same breadth of services as a large hotel, even if their standards of service, accommodation and food are judged very favourably.
A DCMS spokesman confirmed yesterday: "We are going to be publishing our tourism strategy next month and in that we back a consumer-led system like TripAdvisor rather than traditional star-rating systems."
Hotel owners who believe they have been unfairly judged online will be worried by the withdrawal of what they consider to be a more objective system. But the spokesman said: "You do get a broad range of opinions on online reviews. The feeling is that because there are so many reviews and they are so widely used that you do find a mean. You can see what effectively the average opinion is. It is because so many people do them, that is their strength really," he added.
Source: ehotelier.com
Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk will be participating in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, from January 26-28.
Besides representing South Africa in various meetings aimed at profiling tourism and South Africa's brand positioning, Minister Van Schalkwyk is also the Chairperson of the WEF's Industry Agenda Council for Aviation, Travel and Tourism. This Council monitors key trends and global risks in aviation and tourism and puts forward ideas and solutions to address these global challenges.
Emerging trends that will be discussed during the Minister’s various engagements include the multispeed recovery of travel and tourism following the financial crisis; the impact on tourism of currency wars and new transport security arrangements; tapping into the post-recession consumer; and new opportunities presented by emerging technologies.
Although travel demand in 2011 is expected to grow at the long-term average of 4%, it will likely be at a slower pace than in 2010 – and unevenly spread between mature and emerging markets.Source: SA Tourism Update
On Friday January 21, media reported that the Bayworld aquarium in Port Elizabeth was closing its doors after long-standing financial woes.
On Monday, Titus Chuene, Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism (NMBT) Marketing Manager told Tourism Update that the reports on the closure of Bayworld were incorrect.
Says Chuene: “Bayworld is not closing. They have been given a financial injection of R10,5 million from the Eastern Cape Department of Economic Development and Environmental Affairs.” The financial injection was announced at the Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture Committee on Friday.
However, Chuene confirmed that some operations at Bayworld would be scaled down. “Some infrastructure that is old and unused will scaled down as it drains money and is unnecessary. The money will be used to revamp and upgrade the facilities.”
The November 2010 arrivals statistics released by StatsSA have indicated that the beginning of the peak season was a good one with a 9,8% increase in total foreign arrivals into the country.
