Following the South African government's decision to allow international travel to return to Cape Town International Airport, Leeu Collection (https://leeucollection.com/) is to re-open its Cape Wineland properties (which have been closed since March due to the Covid-19 pandemic) in phases, following some impressive upgrades and renovations, many of which make it easier for guests to socially distance.
Discover another side to the city with new offerings for South African Residents.
The talk on the hospitality street is what Level 1 is going to do for the industry - how has lockdown affected the hotel landscape and its offering, will it recover, and what does the future hold? Local tourism is likely to drive this recovery until our international borders re-open, but what is this post-Covid guest looking for in terms of accommodation?
On 26 March 2020 as we said our goodbyes to colleagues, we did not foresee that six months later many hotels across South Africa would remain closed.
Rob van der Velden has been appointed as the General Manager of Radisson Hotel & Convention Centre, Johannesburg, O.R. Tambo, which is the first of its kind in Southern Africa.
South Africa announced a progressive ease of restrictions that enables Four Seasons Hotel The Westcliff Johannesburg to reopen its doors on September 1, 2020 with the utmost care, and launch the new Four Seasons global Lead With Care program and contactless Chat experience.
Canopy by Hilton Johannesburg Rosebank will be located on Jellicoe Avenue, amidst a leafy upmarket suburban area famed for its vibrant art and cultural scene. The hotel is located across the road from the Keyes Art Mile Precinct and close to the CIRCA modern art gallery. Its design concept will be carefully crafted to allow guests to connect with the artistic fabric of Rosebank whilst offering facilities such as a rooftop bar, pool and garden area that will bring the neighbourhood into the property.
Hilton has appointed Andrew McLachlan to the role of Managing Director, Development, Sub-Saharan Africa. He joins the company with over 30 years' experience of the African hospitality market in Operations and Development roles and will oversee its ambitious growth plans in the region. He will work closely with the teams we have in place in Dubai, Cape Town and Nairobi to drive hotel growth, building on the milestone we reached last year of 100 properties trading and under development on the continent. Having begun his career as an F&B Trainee in 1990, McLachlan's passion for hospitality saw him take on his first General Manager position in Johannesburg seven years later. He subsequently took on a number of senior corporate roles within major hotel chains in South Africa before focusing his career on Development where he has subsequently worked on projects in markets across 32 countries in Africa. McLachlan will be based in Hilton's Development office in Cape Town, South Africa, leading a team of Developers working across the region. Hilton has 46 hotels open in Africa across 6 brands with 57 further properties in the pipeline.
Airbnb has announced the launch of #GetBehindTheMask, a host led movement to support communities struggling with the impact of COVID-19. In partnership with the Western Cape Government's Maskathon and Afrika Tikkun, the initiative will kickstart with an Online Experience on how to create face masks, alongside a call to action from the host community to challenge others to make masks. In addition, a relief fund will support tourism entrepreneurs who participated in the Airbnb Africa Academy and who have been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis.
"…Frankie liked to say that boxing is an unnatural act, that everything in boxing is backwards. Sometimes the best way to deliver a punch is to step back . . . but step back too far, you ain't fighting at all…" Million Dollar Baby
Consumer uncertainty is one of the greatest barriers facing the travel industry, and despite cases of COVID-19 stabilizing across South Africa, 70% of South African respondents in a recent survey by GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, say they are still extremely concerned about the impact of COVID-19 - in comparison to the 1% that declared they are not concerned. In addition, 74% believe that conditions will worsen over the next six months. This highlights the extent of uncertainty surrounding this global pandemic in the country, which is bad news for the country's travel industry.
Mitchells Plain-born chef Calvin Poole (27) has worked and served in the culinary industry and a focused innovation leader for the past 9 years.His passion for cooking started at home, helping his mother out with meal preparations at dinner time. It was at the age of 12 that Poole dreamt of working as a chef one day. In doing so, he watched cooking programmes of TV of the likes of Jamie Oliver and Martin Yan.Poole is excited to join Park Inn by Radisson Cape Town Foreshore as of March 2020 where he regards his new position as a "learning environment for everyone". He sees the hotel's kitchen as an innovative space for his staff where they can increase their knowledge and skills about food, while also making the kitchen a "passionate food hub".If that's not all, Poole is looking to cook up a storm in the kitchen with some "homely and hearty quality food" - with a twist.
Solomon (Sol) Kerzner, one of the world's most innovative hoteliers, founder of the Southern Sun hotel group, Sun International and Kerzner International, has died of cancer at the Kerzner family home, Leeukoppie Estate, in Cape Town, South Africa. Always a maverick, Kerzner was a titan of the hotel and resort industry who redefined the scale and scope of integrated destination resorts worldwide. He was 84.
Marriott International today announced the opening of Johannesburg Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch and Marriott Executive Apartments Johannesburg Melrose Arch. The opening marks the debut of Marriott Executive Apartments in South Africa and the first purpose-built Marriott Hotel in the country. Owned and developed by the Amdec Group, the hotel and apartments are situated in the bustling Melrose Arch Precinct and provide a premium destination for business travelers and a fully serviced extended stay destination.
Luxury travel company andBeyond has added a brand new way to experience the romance, adventure and magic of Africa at andBeyond Ngala Private Game Reserve in South Africa. The Ngala Treehouse is a remote overnight retreat that offers guests the ultimate in sleep-out experiences beneath the stars.
Radisson Hotel Group is proud to announce the signing of its first Radisson branded hotel in South Africa, the Radisson Safari Hotel Hoedspruit. Radisson is Radisson Hotel Group's fourth brand and 13th hotel to open in South Africa. This achievement brings Radisson Hotel Group's African portfolio to almost 100 hotels i n operation and under development.
InterContinental Hotels Group (www.IHG.com), one of the world's leading hotel companies, has signed voco™ The Bank, Rosebank in South Africa in partnership with Valor Hospitality Partners Africa. Last year, IHG announced the signing of a Master Development Agreement (MDA) with Valor Hospitality Partners Africa to roll out multiple franchise hotels over the next 10 years, across IHG's portfolio of brands in midscale, upscale and luxury segments. This is the first signing under the MDA and adds to IHG's growing pipeline in the Middle East and Africa whilst strengthens the growth of company's new upscale brand, voco in the region.
The first design-led hybrid hotel in Africa has opened its doors in Cape Town - and it's all down to one of the continent's youngest and most successful tourism entrepreneurs, Bheki Dube.
IHG Hotels & Resorts ®, one of the world's leading hotel companies, opens the newly refurbished Holiday Inn Johannesburg Sunnyside Park Hotel situated in the leafy suburb of Parktown, Johannesburg. Offering authentic experiences designed to bring friends, family and business partners together for genuine and joyful memories, the hotel is the first Holiday Inn property in South Africa recognised as a Heritage site, with national monument status. The surrounding residential areas are filled with Heritage homes and include numerous Herbert Baker designed homes.
AC Hotels, the carefully curated lifestyle brand from Marriott International marked the African debut of the global thought leadership series, AC Unpacked at AC Hotel Cape Town Waterfront on 26 September with a lively panelist discussion between local experts shaping the world of Art and Design in The Mother City.