Best Holiday Lettings

Category: Holidays

  • Sports tourism in Tshwane to take center stage

    The city of Tshwane, South Africa, is pursuing sports and events tourism if you want to reposition town’s brand and introduce the city to the worldwide sports tourism industry.

    The city’s wonderful climate, well-kept sports venues, passionate spectators, and a wealth of sport champions makes town an ideal host for any sporting code.

    Nomasonto Ndlovu, Strategic Executive Director for the Communication, Marketing and Events Department of the Tshwane Metro, says the town is moving directly to a brand new fairway, so that you could speak, in its destination marketing. “Independent research has shown that the sports event arena is growing faster than the national gross domestic product rates around the globe, and as a municipality we feel that for the town – its residents and businesses – the prospects for the longer term during this sports tourism market are promising.”

    Setting the town in this path was the inaugural Tshwane Open on the end of February on the Els Club Copperleaf Golf Estate in Centurion. The inaugural Tshwane Open 2013 was co-sanctioned by the eu Tour in association with the light Tour. In the course of the golf tournament, held from February 28 to March 3 on the Els Club at Copperleaf, a field of 156 players all chased the 1.5 million euro prize money.

    It is the largest single investment town has ever made because the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup and is a sign that town recognizes sports tourism as a strategic platform to construct the destination brand of the Cithat Tshwane, an event the town will host for 3 years.

    Tshwane has over 15 golf courses which are on par with the smartest on the planet, and it has hosted numerous professional and amateur events. The town is renowned for its blue skies and delightful natural surroundings and a favourite meeting place for a lot of golfers who want “to break out from all of it.”

    The Union Buildings will later this year come to life with the roar of bike engines when the world’s most prestigious and challenging freestyle motocross competition, the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour, expands to South Africa. The long-lasting Union Buildings will play host to the tour within the year this famous Sir Herbert Baker architectural landmark celebrates its centenary.

    The city of Tshwane may be the last stop at the six-stop tour and may bring something to the Union Buildings that not many South Africans tend to have seen of their lifetime – the world’s best freestyle motocross riders performing gravity-defying, breathtaking tricks inside the air above what many consider Sir Herbert Baker’s greatest achievement.

    Tshwane has also played host to lots of other local, national, and international sports. The various more memorable ones were the Rugby World Cup, Cricket World Cup, All Africa Games, World Tug of War Championships, World Junior Chess Championships, and the International Karate Championships. Probably the most memorable of all of them was the 2010 FIFA World Cup, when Tshwane was named by FIFA as the most effective host cities to 1 of essentially the most spectacular physical activities ever at the African continent.

    Tshwane boasts world-class sporting facilities such as:

    – SuperSport Park Cricket Stadium – during this venue with a 22,000 capacity in Centurion, the Proteas wrapped up their test series against Pakistan with a three-0 white wash last month.

    – Loftus Versfeld Stadium – this can be the house ground of the Blue Bulls and Mamelodi Sundowns. The Bulls, who’re topping the log of the Super Rugby (South African Conference), recently hosted Australian Western Force and the Stormers and won both matches. The Premier Soccer League, struggling to out fit the Sundowns, also play their home games at this ground.

    – High Performance Centre – The HPC on the University of Pretoria is Southern Africa’s first elite one-stop sports facility. It was launched in 2002, and the heart is the learning ground for tomorrow’s sporting champions and the venue of choice for sport professionals and enthusiasts alike, including the hot Olympic Champions like Cater Semenya and the South Africa four – James Thompson, Matthew Brittain, John Smith, and Sizwe Ndlovu – that stunned the sector by winning gold on the 2012 Summer Olympics.

    From the learning facilities to medical services, accommodation and food, the HPC offers everyone the chance to enjoy its awe-inspiring environment. The role of the HPC may be divided into two inter-related parts: the TuksSport Academies and to give a venue for top-profile international and native athletes and teams for pre-season and pre-event training.

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  • Paramount launches $1bn project in Dubai

    Film company Paramount has revealed that it’s teaming up with Damac Properties to launch a hotel and serviced apartment project in downtown Dubai.

    The $1bn four-tower project, The Damac Towers by Paramount, will comprise a 540-room Paramount Hotel & Residences and greater than 1,400 units of Damac Maison – Paramount co-branded serviced hotel residences.

    The 250-metre high towers, that may be connected by a multi-level plaza, represent Paramount’s first venture into the hotel and real estate industry. Features will include themed F&B concepts, meeting facilities, a screening room, fitness centres, pools, kids club, retail, and merchandise all featuring the Paramount brand or select partner brands.

    One tower will comprise of the Paramount Hotel & Residences with the rest three towers, housing the Damac Maison – Paramount co-branded serviced hotel residences.

    “The history, glamour and tradition of the films indirectly transcend every portion of the design and ethos of this aspirational project,” said Damac Properties Managing Director Ziad El Chaar.

    “We will employ an identical, tried and tested production process, pioneered by Paramount Pictures on the studio, to direct, design and detail a global-class experience. The Paramount brand stands for greater than exceptional film and entertainment: it’s an inviting lifestyle.” Adds El Chaar.

    The towers, that are currently under construction and are expected to be completed by the tip of 2015, in line with reports.

    Paramount Hotels and Resorts was established by a gaggle of investors in Dubai last year and has a license from Paramount to construct a sequence of Paramount-branded hotels and houses.

    The company plans to divulge heart’s contents to 50 Hollywood- and California-themed luxury hotels worldwide.

  • Paramount launches $1bn project in Dubai

    Film company Paramount has revealed that it’s teaming up with Damac Properties to launch a hotel and serviced apartment project in downtown Dubai.

    The $1bn four-tower project, The Damac Towers by Paramount, will comprise a 540-room Paramount Hotel & Residences and greater than 1,400 units of Damac Maison – Paramount co-branded serviced hotel residences.

    The 250-metre high towers, on the way to be connected by a multi-level plaza, represent Paramount’s first venture into the hotel and real estate industry. Features will include themed F&B concepts, meeting facilities, a screening room, fitness centres, pools, kids club, retail, and merchandise all featuring the Paramount brand or select partner brands.

    One tower will comprise of the Paramount Hotel & Residences with the remainder three towers, housing the Damac Maison – Paramount co-branded serviced hotel residences.

    “The history, glamour and tradition of the flicks indirectly transcend every part of the design and ethos of this aspirational project,” said Damac Properties Managing Director Ziad El Chaar.

    “We will employ a similar, tried and tested production process, pioneered by Paramount Pictures on the studio, to direct, design and detail an international-class experience. The Paramount brand stands for greater than exceptional film and entertainment: it’s an inviting lifestyle.” Adds El Chaar.

    The towers, that are currently under construction and are expected to be completed by the top of 2015, in line with reports.

    Paramount Hotels and Resorts was established by a bunch of investors in Dubai last year and has a license from Paramount to construct a series of Paramount-branded hotels and houses.

    The company plans to divulge heart’s contents to 50 Hollywood- and California-themed luxury hotels worldwide.

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  • Dubai welcomes record 10 million visitors

    Visitor numbers to Dubai increased by 9.3% in 2012, with the town welcoming greater than 10 million visitors over a three hundred and sixty five days period for the 1st time in its history.

    The results were announced by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM).

    Increases in key indicators including hotel guest numbers, nights, average length of stay and hotel revenues, demonstrate Dubai’s strengthening position as one of several world’s superior destinations.

    H.E. Helal Almarri, Director General of DTCM, said: “For the primary time in our city’s history we’ve crossed the 10 million threshold in visitor numbers. This continual year-on-year growth is because of just a few factors including the coordinated city-wide destination management strategy; our world-class infrastructure; our location on the crossroads of East and West; and our unrelenting efforts to improve our already diverse and compelling tourism offer.”

    Key indicators of Dubai’s success in attracting visitors in 2012 include:

    • Figures for Hotel Guests and Cruise Passengers rising to approximately 10.16 million – a rise of 9.3% on 2011 figures
    • Hotel Guests numbering 9.96 million – up 9.5% compared with 9.1 million in 2011
    • Guest Nights increasing by 14%, numbering 37,445,453 in 2012, when compared with 32,848,190 in 2011
    • Hotel Revenues increasing by 17.9% at Dhs18.82bn.

    The status of Dubai as a location of choice for hotel operators is demonstrated by an influx of recent hotel openings during 2012, with the variety of hotel establishments increasing from 575 to 599.

    Openings in 2012 included five-star properties consisting of Jumeirah Creekside, Fairmont The Palm and the JW Marriott Marquis, and various new Hotel Apartments with rooms within the latter category increasing by 10% to greater than 23,000. But the additional supply has not had an adverse effect on room rates.

    Combined with the pointy increase in hotel revenues and a growth inside the Average Length of Stay, it is more likely to see more hotel operators decide to build in Dubai and numerous new properties are slated to open during 2013 including Sofitel Dubai The Palm Resort & Spa and The Oberoi Dubai on Sheikh Zayed Road.

    On the figures, H.E. Helal Almarri commented: “The growth across each indicator is a welcome confirmation of Dubai’s ever-increasing appeal and a testament to the aggressive marketing and promotional agenda of DTCM in positioning Dubai because the major tourist hub of the region and a worldwide destination of choice. The increasing average length of stay and the rising variety of hotel apartments is evidence of a growing trend in people and families visiting Dubai for longer periods – historically town was seen by some markets as a stopover destination but in recent times it has become the destination.”

    Arab markets continue to offer an important percentage of Dubai’s overall visitor numbers and 2012 saw 30% more visitors from Saudi Arabia, that’s the city’s no 1 source market. Europe contributes over 1 / 4 of the city’s hotel guests and the past year saw a considerable 54% rise inside the selection of Russians coming to Dubai. an important increase in Chinese visitors coming to the town has also been seen, with a 28% rise inside the period demonstrating the appeal that town has to the burgeoning middle class of China. The Chinese market will stay a key focus of Dubai’s marketing efforts because the city looks to capitalise at the circa Dhs202bn that Chinese travellers spend per year worldwide.

    H.E. Helal Almarri continued: “The growth in visitors is partly associated with the increasing cross-border trade and investment ties that the town is making with growing economies which include China. As these links continue to develop, visitors from these nations will continue to rise.

    “It’s encouraging to look that visitor numbers from each of the markets within which DTCM has a representative office continue to swell, demonstrating the role that our overseas offices play in helping to drive growth in both intra-regional traffic and in arrivals from other key source markets comparable to India, the united kingdom, the united states, Russia, Germany and China.”

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  • South Africa boasts double digit tourism growth

    South Africa has once more announced increasing tourism numbers: The months from January until October 2012 showed a rise of 10,4%, with 7 535 498 tourist arrivals in comparison to 6 823 517 tourist arrivals for a similar period within the previous year. a complete of 204 247 tourists from Germany visited South Africa from January to October 2012. This represents a rise of 12,2% in comparison with the corresponding period in 2011. Germany is probably the key traditional overseas markets for travel to South Africa, with the usa of America and the uk taking the lead.

    Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk explains: “Positive growth from the standard markets ordinarily – and Europe especially – gives us confidence that the work we’re doing to grow tourist arrivals is paying dividends. South Africa has every reason to feel confident concerning the state of its tourism industry going forward.

    “The credit should visit the tourism industry for creatively and constructively working together to grow tourism to South Africa. It’s also extremely important that we make sure that every new tourist who arrives in our country is given the very best experience, as word of mouth remains one in every of our most significant marketing tools,” Minister van Schalkwyk said during his visit to the ITB trade event in Berlin.

    Minister Van Schalkwyk also underlined the significance of the German marketplace for South Africa, and stressed that the expansion of arrivals from Germany ought to be maintained. To inspire and motivate German travellers, South African Tourism continues to accentuate its marketing initiatives with German tour operators, and likewise approaches travel agents individually to teach them in regards to the destination. Media cooperation agreements created for the relevant German target groups in addition to innovative brand partnerships continue to draw German travellers to the Rainbow Nation. 

    The UN World Tourism Organisation’s forecast for international travel growth in 2012 is purely 4%, growth of 10,4% in tourist arrivals to South Africa over the period January-October 2012 exceeded that by far. In response to the Minister, it is a reflection at the destination itself: “South Africa is irresistible and lovely; it’s easy to access and explore, and gives excellent value for money. Notably, our friendly people and the original experiences our country offer make a trip to South Africa extra-special.”

    Minister Van Schalkwyk also reiterated the significance of tourism as an economic growth engine for the rustic. Tourism was identified as considered one of six priority sectors in South Africa to attain economic growth and attract investment. Tourism attracts foreign direct spend and creates jobs. During this regard, the rustic has identified the next targets: to draw 15 million arrivals by 2020; to extend the proportion of tourism in gross domestic product from R189,4 billion in 2009 to R499 billion in 2020, and to create greater than 225 000 new jobs in tourism.

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