It’s July and here on the southern tip of Africa we are into winter, but apart from being cold at nights, it has been mild so far on the Highveld – great weather for domestic holidays over the winter school break. However, the worst may yet be to come, and that’s when South Africans feeling the chill start looking north into Africa for a bit of warmth.
Our lead story this month is on Kenya, a destination that offers many of the same attractions as South Africa but with its own twist. We often see Kenya as a competitor, but looking at tourism from a Pan African point of view, which seems to be happening more and more, there’s no reason why we could not be partners in a Pan African tourism campaign. Something to think about, maybe? It seems that PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) agrees with this view as their recently released ‘South African hospitality outlook: 2013-2017’ report now includes an analysis of Nigeria and Mauritius.
This is a really useful report if you’re looking to benchmark your accommodation rates, as is the SATSA Market Intelligence Report ARR analysis.
In this edition, we also focus on the desperate issue of poaching, and David Smith’s article takes a long hard look at what we are up against – in short a very well organised a profitable crime industry that has so many people making big money. We look at what can be done to protect the less glamorous species that are poached for the pot from almost all our game reserves. It’s a very contentious issue and we would love to read your views on the subject of anti-poaching.
We have a great competition for winter; the prize is a stay at the beautiful Whalesong Hotel and Hydro, overlooking Plettenberg Bay in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. (don’t forget to enter HERE) We have gone out and done a few reviews too, from Ubizane Wildlife Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal’s Hluhluwe area to the ultra-sophisticated BiCE restaurant at Tsogo Sun, Hyde Park Hotel in Johannesburg. Africa certainly has it all, idyllic bush wildlife reserves and elegant city places to eat that can rival the best in the world.
We love it with a fierce passion. – So now, go out and sell it! Marjorie Dean.
