The evening was not merely a social occasion. It was a strategic gathering of decision makers at a time when the global tourism industry is being reshaped by evolving traveller expectations, geopolitical uncertainty, shifting investment flows, and a growing demand for resilient destination strategies. In this context, leadership gatherings of this kind are gaining importance for the quality of dialogue they enable.

Held at one of Cape Town’s most iconic landmark hotels, the Mount Nelson provided a fitting setting for a meeting centred on leadership, trust, and long-term vision. The choice of venue reflected more than elegance. It also symbolised heritage, relevance, and global stature. As destinations compete not only for visitors but also for capital, attention, and partnerships, the environments in which discussions take place are becoming increasingly significant.
What distinguished the Global Tourism Forum Leaders Dinner was the calibre of participants. With more than 40 top executives in attendance, the event created a rare space for meaningful exchange among those actively shaping the future of the sector. These gatherings often serve as the starting point for new partnerships, clearer alignment on shared challenges, and a broader perspective on market opportunities.

The setting of Cape Town added further significance. As one of Africa’s most dynamic and internationally recognised cities, it offered a strong backdrop for discussions on the future of tourism leadership. Africa is playing an increasingly central role in the global tourism narrative, both as a destination rich in cultural and natural assets and as a region of growing strategic importance. For business leaders, the location reinforced the message that future growth will depend on engagement with emerging markets.

For the Global Tourism Forum, the dinner also reflected a wider strategy to create platforms where business, policy, investment, and destination leadership intersect. In a sector where visibility often dominates headlines, long-term progress continues to rely on access, trust, and executive-level engagement.

While large-scale events attract attention, the most effective gatherings are often the most carefully curated. By bringing together individuals with influence and decision-making power, they create space for conversations that are less performative and more consequential.

The Leaders Dinner in Cape Town served as a reminder that while the industry continues to evolve, the fundamentals of leadership remain unchanged. Relationships, dialogue, and trust continue to underpin progress. When senior executives gather in a setting such as the Mount Nelson, the outcome is not only a memorable evening, but a clear signal of intent for the future direction of global tourism.

L’article Global Tourism Forum gathers more than 40 tourism CEOs in Cape Town est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Sequestration is sometimes used to describe the capture and storage of CO₂ to remove the greenhouse gas from our environment. Plastic waste is a major polluter of our environment and poses a significant danger to human health. Tires are hazardous if burnt; if abandoned, they can become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other disease-carrying insects, and like plastics, they degrade slowly. These forms of polluting waste can be sequestered and used to build “durable, fire-resistant, well-insulated buildings” at lower cost. 

Uthando, working in partnership with the Natural Building Collective, “built two preschools (Ulwazi in Delft and Goal 50 in Heideveld) as well as three 5-a-side Soccer Pitches for Peace, diverting 5000 tyres, 18,000 plastic-bottles filled with waste and thousands of additional glass bottles and waste bricks from landfills, depots, movie sites or illegal dumping.”

As they say in their application for the Earthshot Prize.

“Our solution turns South Africa’s growing waste crisis into safe infrastructure for disadvantaged communities. Each tyre is packed with +-200 kg of earth, the plastic bottles are tightly filled with waste (also known as Eco bricks), and we also build using recycled glass bottles and film-set waste bricks. With a combination of reused and natural building materials, we create durable, fire-resistant, well-insulated buildings that remove waste from the environment permanently.”

Back in April, James Fernie of Uthando in Cape Town took me to see some of the buildings sequestrating used tyres and eco-bricks, plastic bottles stuffed with plastic waste, in mud walls. In the photograph below, the used tyres are clearly visible and the ‘mud’ used to create the walls. From the outside and in, construction looks ugly.

As can be seen from the image below its looks stylish. The round windows above on the right are the bottoms of glass bottles.

The wall below is made of plastic bottles stuffed with non-recyclable waste, much of which would otherwise have been spread in our environment and consumed as microplastics in our food chain.

You can find out more from Uthando.

L’article Sequestrating used tyres and plastic bottles est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Located at the former Fisantekraal airfield, north east of Durbanville, the site has a long aviation history and is now set to play a central role in the future of air travel in the Western Cape. Once completed, the airport is expected to complement Cape Town International Airport, which has experienced sustained growth in passenger numbers in recent years.

A strategic response to rising demand

Cape Town remains one of South Africa’s most popular long-haul destinations, particularly for European travellers seeking winter sun. As air travel continues to recover and demand grows, capacity constraints at Cape Town International Airport have become increasingly apparent.

Developers say Cape Winelands Airport will help relieve congestion while providing greater flexibility for airlines and travellers. The new hub is being positioned as a secondary international gateway that can absorb future growth and enhance resilience within the region’s aviation network.

From military base to international gateway

The Fisantekraal airfield was established in 1943 as a base for the South African Air Force and today operates as a general aviation facility serving light aircraft. Under the new plans, the site will undergo a comprehensive transformation into a full-scale international airport.

The R8 billion investment will fund the construction of a modern passenger terminal, cargo processing facilities, fuelling infrastructure, hotel accommodation, and a heliport. The airport is also being designed as a logistics hub, with strong links to road, rail, and ocean transport corridors.

By 2050, Cape Winelands Airport aims to serve more than five million passengers annually, reflecting long-term confidence in the growth of travel and trade across the Western Cape.

Construction timeline and runway expansion

Cape Winelands Airport has confirmed Wilson Bayly Holmes Ovcon as the contracting partner responsible for technical development and construction. According to managing director Deon Cloete, the appointment marks a critical step forward for the project.

“With the contractor now formally on board, the project advances into a crucial new phase of technical development and planning,” Cloete said.

Construction is expected to begin in early 2026, subject to the completion of statutory and regulatory processes. A key element of the project is the extension of the existing runway to approximately two miles, allowing the airport to accommodate wide-body aircraft capable of operating long-haul international routes.

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Environmental process, jobs, and sustainable design

While environmental authorisation has been granted, the project has faced a small number of appeals from neighbouring land users and other stakeholders. Of the approximately 1,500 registered interested and affected parties, six appeals have been lodged.

Cloete has expressed confidence that these issues will be resolved through the statutory appeals process, which is expected to conclude by March 2026. He noted that discussions with neighbours are ongoing, focusing on land use integration and long-term planning.

“We have been working with those neighbours on consolidating land use and integrating our development. We are making good progress, and we expect announcements in that regard in the near future,” he said.

Beyond aviation capacity, Cape Winelands Airport is being positioned as a significant driver of employment and regional development. The project is expected to create around 35,000 direct and indirect jobs during its initial phases and sustain approximately 100,000 jobs over its first 20 years of operation.

Developers have also highlighted a strong focus on sustainability and passenger experience. The airport will incorporate smart technologies and green design principles aimed at reducing environmental impact while offering a user-friendly travel experience.

“We have two critical things that drive the development. It is smart, and it is green, making it user-friendly and a very special experience,” Cloete said.

A boost for tourism in the Western Cape

The airport’s location places it within easy reach of the Cape Winelands, one of South Africa’s most renowned wine-producing regions, as well as Cape Town and the wider Western Cape. Tourism stakeholders say the new gateway could help distribute visitor flows more evenly across the region, supporting rural tourism and reducing pressure on urban infrastructure.

If completed on schedule, Cape Winelands Airport will represent one of South Africa’s most significant aviation developments in recent decades. The project underscores growing confidence in the Western Cape’s long-term appeal as a destination for leisure, business, and logistics in an evolving global travel landscape.

L’article South Africa plans new €410m international airport near Cape Town by 2028 est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The Kruger National Park in South Africa welcomes some 1 million visitors per year and has obtained international fame for its unique wildlife. The popular safari spot is home to the so-called Big Five: lion, rhinoceros, elephant, leopard, and buffalo.

Before its establishment in 1926, the Kruger National Park already existed in another form since 1898, known as the Sabi Game Reserve. When the national park was officially created, however, the name was changed in order to honour the former president of the South African Republic, Paul Kruger.

Kruger functioned as State President of the South African Republic (or Transvaal) from 1883 to 1900. Being one of the main players during the fight against the British colonialists during the Second Boer War of 1899–1902, he has since become a symbol of resistance for Afrikaners, descendants of the European settlers during the 17^th century. Yet many others consider him to be a sorry reminder of the country’s racist past.

Kruger National Park, a key South African wildlife reserve, is central to debates on its namesake's historical legacy.

Proposals to rename the park highlight conflicts between preserving heritage and mitigating economic impacts.

Critics argue the name change could undermine the… pic.twitter.com/zORUHOp6BY

— Business Insider Africa (@BusInsiderSSA) October 15, 2025

Breaking with a tainted history

In September 2025, the South African opposition party Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has therefore entered a proposal in the Mpumalanga province legislature to change the name of the national park, following the example of many cities, towns, and roads that experienced a similar fate with the end of apartheid and the formation of South Africa’s democratic government in 1994.

“How do we celebrate our heritage as South Africans when we still have our beautiful national parks named after the architect of apartheid, Paul Kruger”, EFF representative Rhulani Qhibi said in a speech according to BBC News.

The EFF’s Statement on Heritage Day 2025

-As part of marking that the heritage of African people is not the celebration in public spaces of genocidal colonialists and land thieves, the EFF has introduced a motion in Parliament to remove all Apartheid statues and symbols from… pic.twitter.com/faOsUyKDSZ

— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) September 24, 2025

Already, however, multiple parties have expressed their disapproval of a possible name change. For example, Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism CEO Linda Grimbeek spoke of the motion as “a joke”, while Afrikaner lobby group AfriForum stated it would oppose any attempt to change the name of the Kruger National Park. Part of their argumentation is the fact that a name change could possibly impact the visitor numbers of the park, with direct consequences on the country’s tourism industry and economy.

While the Mpumalanga Provincial Geographical Names Committee (PGNC) acknowledges the motion passed by the provincial legislature, South Africa’s Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation said that no formal application for the renaming of Kruger National Park has been submitted to the PGNC at this stage. The proposal is set to go through an extensive legal process managed by the South African Geographical Names Council, which could eventually lead to an official public consultation.

L’article South Africa considers a name change for famous Kruger park est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

By 2024, !Khwa ttu had partnered with 44 local producers, creating the equivalent of 4,500 employment days and directly investing in rural livelihoods. The judges praised the centre’s innovative integration of local economic development and cultural heritage through food.

In 2017, CNN Travel asked: “Can tourism and art save the world’s oldest people, the San, in southern Africa?” It noted: “Caught between modernity and 20,000 years as hunter-gatherers, the San people sit at a crossroads. Saving the world’s oldest people is a big challenge, but their, and our, heritage is being celebrated on the coast of South Africa, close to Cape Town, at Grootbos and !Khwa ttu.” Both sites have received Responsible Tourism Awards for their efforts.

A shared human heritage

As !Khwa ttu reminds us: “It is our story – the story of humankind.” There are an estimated 130,000 San living across six countries in southern Africa. They are among the last remaining hunter-gatherer societies in the world. Their languages, ancient lifestyles, and cultural traditions are under severe threat from climate change, land displacement, and a lack of public understanding.

The !Khwa ttu San Heritage Centre embraces the concept of ‘community curation’. It showcases the skills and knowledge of San people from across the region, alongside the archaeological story of early human development along southern Africa’s coastline.

Nature, conservation and the Cape Floral Kingdom

Both !Khwa ttu and Grootbos are situated in the Cape Floral Kingdom – one of only six floral kingdoms in the world. This region is known for its biodiversity and high levels of plant endemism. The fynbos biome, a Mediterranean-type shrubland, is both fire-prone and ecologically rich.

Grootbos has conserved extensive areas of this ecosystem. Through guided nature walks and its botanical collection, the Grootbos Florilegium (featuring more than 100 botanical illustrations and their pollinators), visitors gain a deeper appreciation of this unique environment. TIME recognised Grootbos as one of the World’s Greatest Places in 2024.

The birthplace of modern humans

At the southern tip of Africa, two major marine ecosystems converge. According to a film produced by Grootbos, this region avoided glaciation during the Ice Ages, allowing relatively uninterrupted human evolution. Many scientists now argue that modern human life originated here.

Sea-level fluctuations reshaped the now-submerged Paleo-Agulhas Plain off South Africa’s coast, once rich in wildlife and inhabited by early hunter-gatherers. Modern Homo sapiens are believed to have developed complex behaviour here between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago.

Humanity’s Global Journey

Curtis W. Marean, Foundation Professor at the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University and honorary professor at Nelson Mandela University, South Africa, argued in a 2015 Scientific American article that Homo sapiens became the ultimate invasive species:

“Sometime after 70,000 years ago, our species, Homo sapiens, left Africa to begin its inexorable spread across the globe… Everywhere H. sapiens went, massive ecological changes followed. The archaic humans they encountered went extinct, as did vast numbers of animal species. It was, without a doubt, the most consequential migration event in the history of our planet.”

He attributes this success to a social shift: “I think the diaspora occurred when a new social behaviour evolved in our species: a genetically encoded penchant for cooperation with unrelated individuals… It also fostered innovation, giving rise to a game-changing technology: advanced projectile weapons. Thus equipped, our ancestors set forth out of Africa, ready to bend the whole world to their will.”

If you’re visiting the Cape, don’t miss Grootbos and the !Khwa ttu San Heritage Centre. Nestled within the Cape Floral Kingdom, these places are more than attractions — they are reminders that this region is where our shared human story began.

L’article Tourism and the origin of humankind est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Tourism destinations are clusters of accommodation, attractions, and activities, and the stronger the destination cluster, the more likely tourists are to stay longer, creating more significant economic benefits for local businesses and the community.

Porter and Kramer explained their “big idea” in a 2011 Huffington Post article, following the 2008 economic crisis. “We still lack an overall framework for guiding these efforts, and most companies remain stuck in a ‘social responsibility’ mind-set in which societal issues are at the periphery, not the core. The solution lies in the principle of shared value, which involves creating economic value in a way that also creates value for society by addressing its needs and challenges. Businesses must reconnect company success with social progress. Shared value is not social responsibility, philanthropy, or even sustainability, but a new way to achieve economic success. It is not on the margin of what companies do but at the centre. We believe that it can give rise to the next major transformation of business thinking.”

The challenge is to create shared value by growing the cake and creating a vibrant cluster.

Malcos Sengwayo, Chairman of Piggs Peak Hotel, welcomed participants to the conference, endorsing Responsible Tourism and telling those present that “our team lives it every day … proud to be part of this growing movement” to make tourism better.

“The Responsible Tourism movement reminds us that tourism should not be something we build on top of communities—it must grow from within them” said the Honourable Minister of Tourism, Mrs Jane Mkhonta-Simelane, during the opening address. “Tourism must create value not only for visitors, but for the people who live, work, and raise families in our destinations. And that value must be felt in livelihoods, in dignity, and in opportunity.

The role of the monarchy and the preservation of our customs are not merely historical; they are a living part of who we are. And as we welcome visitors into our country, we must ensure that this heritage is honoured and protected—not commodified but shared with dignity and pride.

It is in that spirit that we come together today—not to talk about tourism as a commodity to be sold, but as a system that can uplift, connect, and reflect who we are as Emaswati. At Piggs Peak Hotel, new management and energy are combining with commitment and innovation from the local town council and surrounding community to share this great part of the Kingdom of Eswatini with travellers.”

The Honourable Minister of Finance, Mr Neal Rijkenberg, reminded us in his address of the strength of Eswatini’s distinctive culture and endorsed Responsible Tourism: “We don’t have the beaches. We don’t have the Kruger Parks. We don’t have those kinds of things. But what we do have is some unique things. We believe that we are the number one country in the world when it comes to preserving culture. I don’t think there’s another country in the world that takes its culture as seriously as Eswatini does. We don’t do it for tourism—we do it because it’s what we do as a nation, as a country. But for that reason, I believe there’s a strong tourism play that one can do around it, to be able to really make sure that the world understands and gets to see us better. Especially around responsible tourism discussions—it just really fits hand in glove with our strategy as a government. I’ve had a look at the Responsible Tourism Charter—it’s brilliant. It ticks all the boxes and makes us all benefit. I want to congratulate everyone who’s been working on that and all those bringing it into Eswatini to make sure we comply and feed into the responsible tourism network.

The Piggs Peak Hotel reported its contribution to the local economy:

In the financial year 2024–25, the hotel spent 819,077 Eswatini Emalangeni in the local economy, equivalent to USD 43,465. When the Piggs Peak Hotel is full and there is demand for additional beds, the hotel sources them locally, contributing 159,781 Emalangeni (USD 8,479) to other accommodation businesses. The hotel has increased its staffing to 100, contributing 8,324,375 Emalangeni (USD 441,742) to local households in 2023–24.

In total, Piggs Peak Hotel contributed USD 485,207 in shared value to the local economy. The total shared value created is even greater when accounting for local spending by tour operators and individual tourists on experiences and crafts.

I have re-recorded my presentation at the 2025 Piggs Peak Conference on Creating Shared Value to make it more widely available and as a point of reference for the municipality, businesses, and the local community.

Growing the cake

The next stage is to work with the Piggs Peak municipality to develop ways of measuring and reporting the economic benefits to businesses and the community from tourists attracted to stay at the Piggs Peak Hotel. If there is a richer range of attractions and activities for guests, the hotel benefits from longer stays, and local businesses and the community gain from tourist spending.

Next year, at the follow-up conference, the municipality will report on the community benefits that come from attracting tourists.

L’article Creating shared value at Piggs Peak in Eswatini est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Bucket list adventures

A South African game reserve and safari operator has partnered with the world’s largest ridesharing company to offer this latest addition to the Uber Go Anywhere travel product series, which follows in the footsteps of hot air balloon rides in Türkiye and champagne odysseys in Epernay.

The series is designed “to help our customers book bucket list adventures with the Uber convenience they know and love,” Frans Hiemstra, the regional general manager of Uber in the Middle East and Africa, said in a statement. “With Uber Safari – one of our most wild offerings to date – our Reserve technology makes it easier than ever to unlock South Africa’s most iconic travel experience.”

The big five

From now, through to the end of January 2025, so benefitting from the southern hemisphere spring and summer seasons, Uber users in Cape Town can use the app to book a safari day out to get up close and personal with the so-called “big five” – lions, elephants, buffalos, leopards, and rhinos. The safari takes place at Aquila Private Game Reserve, one of South Africa’s most popular wildlife conservation projects.

“We’re excited to partner with Uber to extend our bucket list wildlife experiences to their customers,” said Johan van Schalkwyk, Commercial Officer of Aquila Collection. “Uber Safari allows folks to book and enjoy an unforgettable day at Aquila, where they’ll get to experience the Big 5 in an easy and luxurious way. It’s the perfect combination of modern convenience and natural beauty, all while supporting wildlife conservation efforts that are vital to preserving South Africa’s biodiversity.”

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$200 dollars for four people

Bookings can be made as far as three months in advance, or with as little as 24-hours notice, subject to availability.

Taking place on Fridays and Saturdays and costing just $200 for up to four guests, the day trip starts with pickup by an Uber Safari-branded vehicle which will take the visitors out of Cape Town to the park. A beverage and lunch can then be enjoyed at Aquila before experienced game rangers and field guides take guests on a traditional safari experience. Afterwards, the reserves gardens remain accessible for visitors’ relaxation.

The limited edition experience will help Aquila Private Game Reserve continue its longstanding commitment to conservation and sustainable tourism. According to a press release, every booking made through Uber contributes to those efforts meaning that Uber Safari-ists can rest assured they are a part of promoting wildlife protection.

L’article Uber now offers $200 safari experiences in South Africa  est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The debate polarises around the means by which this will be achieved. This extension of conserved land is planned to be funded by biodiversity businesses, such as hunting, bioprospecting, and plant trade. Opponents of this strategy argue that there will be a large increase in the numbers of “big game hunters” and prey. They point out that 1.8 billion rand (89 million euros) was paid by 6,242 international clients who killed 36,500 animals in 2022. They estimate that the new plan will require an increase of 155% more international hunters to 15,900, killing 93,000 animals. This at a time when sporting trophy hunting is in rapid and significant decline.

In the opponents Daily Maverick article, “Government trying to slam through plan that will result in massive exploitation of wildlife” the DFFE is quoted: “The implementation of the strategy will ensure safe and sustainable harvesting of game meat, job creation and rural economic development… There will be new business, investments, jobs and value chain opportunities that will have secondary benefits related to the commercialisation of this commodity. These benefits far outweigh the costs.”

This is described by those opposed to the DFFE’s plans as “a form of extractive conservation, based on the idea that what you consume you will conserve. … sacrificial animals being hunted to provide funds for the conservation of a species or biome…” To quote Dr Ross Harvey, the director of research at Good Governance Africa, a plan to commodify wildlife “ignores the biological reality that trophy hunting removes prime males (never ‘surplus’ males, which is a convenient myth).”

As the international sale of ivory and rhino horn is prohibited by CITES, there is a possibility that domestic trade could be stimulated. The opponents argue that developing a market for domestic trade in animal parts such as carved ivory or rhino horn as traditional medicine for Asian tourists was particularly “shocking”, and that it would stimulate their export.

Two weeks later came the riposte from a different group of conservationists, which included some of the people I know who are concerned with securing benefits for communities living in the buffer zones of national parks. Too often, people living in the buffer zones of national parks bear the costs and receive few, if any, benefits. Their Op-Ed is headed “SA’s new biodiversity strategy is a key move away from colonial fortress conservation.”

They begin by pointing out that: “If you have ever paid entry fees to a national park, paid to watch a wildlife documentary, stayed in a private game reserve, bought game meat for the braai or an indigenous plant for the garden, you have contributed to ‘monetising’ South Africa’s biodiversity. If you have the privilege of owning or working for a tourism operation or wildlife filmmaking company, you are definitely monetising biodiversity.” And, of course, that may include many of you reading this post.

National parks need money and “high levels of poverty alongside policies and practices that exclude people from using wildlife legally create fertile grounds for poaching. Turning this situation around requires improving livelihoods (ie, money) and linking them closely with biodiversity conservation.”

They point out that it was back in the 1970s that South Africa began to take an economic approach to wildlife conservation, granting wildlife ownership rights to landowners and creating a diverse and thriving wildlife industry on privately owned land.  As they argue the “majority of rural Africans have been excluded, particularly those living in communal areas with no secure land tenure and therefore no legal ownership over wildlife.”

They argue that “the most encouraging aspect of the plan is its focus on inclusivity and bringing hitherto excluded rural communities into the biodiversity economy.” They recommend that South Africa should explore how community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) programmes have worked in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia.

They conclude: “Creating and strengthening the link between biodiversity conservation and improved livelihoods is what this strategy is all about. This plan is neither underhanded nor out of line with the rights of all South Africans. On the contrary, it is grounded in Section 24(iii) of the Constitution, which requires ‘reasonable legislative and other measures… that secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development’.”

The polarised debate will continue. Many morally object to monetising wildlife and biodiversity. However, local communities need to benefit from the wildlife they live with, too. Fortress conservation locks the animals in and the local people out, enabling only tourists, some of them hunters, to access the wildlife.

Coincidentally, the BBC reports that the president of Botswana has threatened to send 20,000 elephants to Germany after Germany’s environment ministry suggested that there should be stricter limits on importing trophies from hunting animals. Botswana’s President, Mokgweetsi Masisi, told German media this would only impoverish people in his country, pointing out that elephant numbers in Botswana had exploded as a result of conservation efforts, and hunting helped keep them in check.

A month or so earlier Botswana’s Wildlife Minister Dumezweni Mthimkhulu threatened to send 10,000 elephants to London’s Hyde Park so British people could “have a taste of living alongside” them.” Elephants damage property, eat crops, and trample residents.”

L’article Tourism and biodiversity business in South Africa – the debate rages est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

As far as safaris go, railways used to be an important means of transportation for tourists visiting South Africa and the Kruger National Park in particular. The Selati Railway Line was used for steam trains that often halted on the Selati Bridge for an overnight stay, offering early 20^th century tourists the chance to spot lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants, buffalos and many more animals that went to the river in order to quench their thirst.

By the beginning of the 1970’s, the line was no longer useful and was therefore decommissioned. In 2016, however, Motsamayi Tourism Group, the company behind the Kriger Shalati hotel, was offered the chance to buy the former train and to restore the bridge to its former glory. After a few years of renovations, the hotel finally opened its doors to the public in 2020, offering tourists a very similar experience as one could have had in the early 20^th century.

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The hotel, which offers 31 rooms decorated in a mix of modern and Art Deco styles, is quite different from what you’d usually expect from a safari holiday. The breathtaking views offer guests the chance to spot some of Africa’s rarest animals but, meanwhile, the carriages offer all the luxury one can dream of. Travellers can however take part in a game drive through the Kruger National Park, wether it is alone or with an experienced guide, to get a taste of life on the ground.

“Having hippos grunting underneath the carriage attracts people who want to be in the wild but don’t want to be immersed in the wild,” Jerry Mabena, CEO of Motsamayi Tourism Group, told CNN.

At the hotel, travellers will find no less than three pools, a spa and a fine dining restaurant, which uses produce from the hotel’s very own garden and local meats, including crocodile and springbok. Prices for a room aboard the train start at 335 euros a night based on double occupancy.

L’article Former South-African train transformed into luxury hotel with wildlife views est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The deal, not yet confirmed but leaked a few days ago, comes as part of South Africa’s ambition to turn its economy around and attract 21 million visitors by 2030.

[WATCH] “Money that is invested in tourism is not the same money that’s required for energy; it’s not the same amount of money that’s required for potholes,” says Tourism SA Acting CEO Themba Khumalo about the Tottenham Hotspur sponsorship deal. pic.twitter.com/1zj5dkztbO

— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) February 2, 2023

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is under pressure to declare a national disaster due to ongoing power blackouts devastating the country. The incidents, called “loadshedding” by locals, are contributing to food insecurity, driving up prices, and placing an even greater strain on stretched household budgets.

SAT’s acting chief executive officer Themba Khumalo told reporters on Thursday: “This is not about football.”

We are accessing the audience in the British Premier League. We are accessing it so that we can persuade them to travel to South Africa, spend pounds, euros, dollars, yen in our destination, and bring dignity back to our people.

Themba Khumalo, SAT’s acting chief executive officer

The British market represents 8.3% of all international arrivals to South Africa – with over 430 000 British tourists visiting South Africa in 2019 alone.

As well as increasing visibility among UK travellers, sponsoring the hugely popular Premier League could bring a further billion eyeballs to South Africa’s marketing campaign, which is likely to include training camps in South Africa, kit branding, match-day advertising, partnership announcements, complimentary tickets, and stadium hospitality.

The club is yet to comment on the deal which is causing some controversy in South Africa. Mmusi Maimane, veteran opposition leader of Build One South Africa questioned the strategy, which follows in the footsteps of Rwanda’s sponsorship of Arsenal in 2021.

“What are the deterrents to tourism?” Maimane tweeted at the weekend. “Crime. Corruption. Load shedding. Polluted beaches. Rwanda did not just sponsor Arsenal. They made sure that Kigali was safe, clean and working.”

What are the deterrents to tourism?

Crime. Corruption. Load shedding. Polluted beaches.

Rwanda did not just sponsor Arsenal. They made sure that Kigali was safe, clean and working.

— Mmusi Maimane (@MmusiMaimane) February 3, 2023

The Democratic Alliance agreed, calling the plan “a slap in the face of every South African whose hard-earned tax will be used to sponsor a first-world football team.”

The potential deal still needs to go through consultation and gain approval. The leak places strain on that process, but the SAT is pushing ahead.

“We cannot carry on with business as usual, because it will not yield the desired results. This is why we are contemplating a partnership of this scale with Tottenham Hotspurs FC, to really help us shift the dial in our tourist arrivals,” Khumalo said.

L’article South Africa tourism in talks to sponsor Tottenham Hotspur amid energy crisis est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.