Africa's Travel Indaba, a celebration of African tourism, is happening from 13 to 16 May in Durban, South Africa. This established event showcases the continent's diverse offerings and warm hospitality. The scenic KwaZulu-Natal province with its coastline and the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre serve as the beautiful backdrop.
Business Opportunity Networking Day (BONDay) was the first event on the ATI agenda, a crucial day for advancing knowledge and exploring new opportunities in the tourism sector.
Inter Hotel Challenge (IHC) winners were announced last night, 28 November, at a gala event held at the Southern Sun Cape Sun. Sponsored by Heineken Beverages, the annual competition aims to identify and nurture the best hospitality talent in South Africa.
The Hospitality Counsel hosted their third annual Luxe Restaurant Awards at the spectacular AURUM restaurant within The Leonardo, celebrating the finest contributions to the South African restaurant industry on the 8 June 2021.
In March, the tourism sector came to a sudden halt when President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that South Africa would go on a nationwide lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The lockdown saw international travel banned and the gates of every hotel and game reserve temporarily closed, leading to the tourism industry to shed thousands of jobs and billions of Rands in profit.
With the lockdown restrictions being eased to allow international visitors and open recreational areas, Carte Blanche finds out if the tourism sector can survive the continuing effects of the coronavirus pandemic....
The Mhondoro Safari Lodge & Villa in Limpopo has successfully opened an organic food production at its Platbank farm near the Welgevonden Game Reserve. The farm produces a wide variety of vegetables that include spinach, beetroot, pumpkins, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, and onions, as well as herbs and salad greens, while the farming of free-range chickens produces free-range eggs in abundance.
With the closure of the lodge due to the coronavirus lockdown regulations, all the farm's produce is being donated to the local community, including to the Bushveld Mission Children's Home outside Vaalwater, which provides shelter to 60 orphaned, abandoned, abused and starving children the aged from newborn to 18 years old and is staffed by 15 volunteers....
A South African National Parks (SANParks) initiative led by SANParks CEO Fundisile Mketeni distributed food parcels and water tanks to vulnerable communities bordering Marakele National Park in Limpopo.
Hostex 2020 was a hospitality industry expo that took place in early March at Sandton Convention Centre. It gathered over 5000 visitors to connect with more than 200 producers, manufacturers and distributors of hospitality-related products and services.
The Radisson Hotel Group has announced that it is implementing a plan to reduce single-use plastics on a global scale. The group also announced plans to introduce bulk amenities in all hotels across its portfolio by 2022. The video below further describes the group's new initiative.
South African designers shined at the #REDExperiment 2.0 awards ceremony hosted by the Radisson RED Hotel V&A Waterfront, Cape Town last week. The design competition started accepting entries from early February and entrants were given a chance to design the hotel's new staff uniform - a T-shirt, a cap and a long-sleeve jacket. The winning designers for each of the three categories were awarded R10,000 and their designs will go into production this month....
Business events industry leaders at this year's Meetings Africa explored reasons why Africa's diversity gives it a competitive advantage and called for more partnership across nations within the continent to ensure success in the tourism sector.
Delegates also discussed the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement that could help fast-track Africa's growth in the tourism industry. The agreement looks to allow free movement of travellers across 54 African countries and attract long-term investment....