Africa Dynamics - Specialists in travel to Africa

PAFURI CAMP - WINNER OF EQUATOR PRIZE 2010 (South Africa)

Pafuri Camp, a partnership between Safari Adventure Company and the Makuleke Community, located in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, has been chosen as one of 25 winners of the Equator Prize 2010.

The Equator Prize recognises and celebrates outstanding community efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation of biodiversity.

Equator prize-winners are selected by the Equator Initiative’s Technical Advisory Committee on the principal criteria of impact, partnerships, sustainability, innovation and transferability, leadership and community empowerment, as well as gender equality and social inclusion.

Pafuri Camp now joins an elite group of Equator Prize winners, constituting an influential grassroots movement of local and indigenous best practice in biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction.

As this global network grows in size, it grows in influence, and the Makuleke Community and Pafuri Camp look forward to working and connecting with other Equator Prize winners as well as being part of the Community Summit, a community “dialogue space” that will facilitate peer-to-peer learning, community presentations, and special events and training related to biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction. The Summit will take place in September in New York.

STARBUCKS OPENS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Starbucks Coffee International, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Starbucks Coffee Company (NASDAQ: SBUX), has entered into a license partnership agreement with Emperica Marketing (Pty), Ltd. to distribute Starbucks Coffee in South Africa through its "We Proudly Brew Starbucks® coffee" program in the hotel, restaurant catering, hospitality and leisure channels.

The first "We Proudly Brew coffee" will be served in select Southern Sun Hotels and Tsogo Sun Casinos in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban in time for the World Cup festivities. Customers will be able to enjoy Starbucks brewed coffees, espresso based beverages and Tazo Teas in restaurants, cafes and catering. In South Africa, all Starbucks espresso and espresso based beverages will be made from 100 percent Fairtrade certified coffee.

Southern Sun and Tsogo Sun Gaming are ideal business partners as they are leaders in the leisure industry and they share the same passion and commitment to providing customers with high quality products, and outstanding service.

African farmers produce some of the most extraordinary coffees in the world and Starbucks has a long history of purchasing coffee from Africa. This move into South Africa through the Foodservice channel is another sign of Starbucks commitment to doing business in Africa.

Graham Wood, MD of Southern Sun, comments, “As a brand with over 40 years of experience in servicing the local and international business and leisure traveller, and with our focus on building our portfolio of successful brands, we are excited about the association between our brand and the global leader in high quality coffee. We look forward to being able to offer our guests the large variety of coffee options that will be available to them in select hotels”.

Says Rob Collins, MD of Tsogo Sun Gaming, “We are delighted to be partnering with Starbucks to bring the world’s foremost coffee brand to visitors at our entertainment destinations. This partnership is an example of an ongoing strategy that has seen Tsogo Sun Gaming developing relationships with like-minded brands such as Disney to bring The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast to SA, in addition to some leading local entertainment and media brands.”

LOCATIONS:

Southern Sun Hotels:

• Johannesburg: Southern Sun, SunSquare Montecasino Hotel
• Johannesburg: InterContinental Johannesburg Sandton Towers
• Cape Town: Southern Sun Cullinan Hotel
• Durban: Southern Sun Elangeni Hotel

Tsogo Sun Gaming :

• Johannesburg: Montecasino
• Johannesburg: The Teatro at Montecasino
• Potential future rollout into other Tsogo Sun properties nationwide

WTTC NAMES 2010 TOURISM FOR TOMORROW WINNERS

The four winners of the World Travel & Tourism Council’s 2010 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards have been revealed during the 10th Global Travel & Tourism Summit in Beijing.

Of the 12 finalists, Emirates Hotels & Resorts, Whale Watch Kaikoura, Accor and Botswana Tourism Board were named as winners for their successful work in advancing sustainable tourism best practices in different parts of the world.

“We are seeing a new horizon in the global travel and tourism industry where more and more companies and destinations, both large and small, are leading the way forward in demonstrating that tourism can be an opportunity for protecting our planet and delivering tangible social and economic benefits at the local, national and international level, “said Costas Christ, chairman of the judges for the awards.

Indigenous Maori-owned and locally operated, Whale Watch Kaikoura won the community benefit award for its outstanding achievement in rebuilding the local economy through community-based tourism in Kaikoura on the east coast of South Island in New Zealand.

Whale Watch Kaikoura specialises in giving more than 100,000 visitors annually the opportunity for up close observation of marine life, including rare sperm whales, using environmentally-friendly vessels.

The company was founded in 1987 by local Maori, to create jobs for the indigenous Ngati Kuri community, and has since grown into a multi-million dollar nature tourism business.

In the conservation category, Emirates Hotels & Resorts was chosen for creating the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (DDCR) – the first protected area in the United Arab Emirates – through the establishment of the Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa.

In Australia, the Wolgan Valley Resort next to the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area is successfully reversing extensive grazing and development damage to restore rare native flora and fauna.

Botswana Tourism Board was the winner of the destination stewardship award for its 'low-volume - high-yield' approach to tourism in the Okavango Delta, and particularly for the legislative framework and ecotourism standards that ensure proper management of one of the world most iconic nature travel destinations.

Today, sustainable tourism in the Okavango employs 34 percent of the adult population in the area while protecting the largest inland wetland in the world for future generations.

Accor won the award for global tourism business for its Earth Guest Programme and company-wide philosophy based on hospitality, respect for diverse cultures, environmental best practices and the social welfare of local people where they operate in more than 40 countries.

The Tourism for Tomorrow Awards are organised in association with Travelport and the Travel Corporation’s Conservation Foundation.

JOINT VENTURE ON DUBA PLAINS (Botswana)

Great Plains Conservation and Wilderness Safaris have entered into a joint venture on Duba Plains Camp in Botswana.

With immediate effect, Great Plains and Wilderness Safaris wish to announce an exciting change at one of Botswana’s famous properties: Duba Plains.

Duba Plains has long been the home and favourite location for Great Plains Conservation principals Dereck & Beverly Joubert, and after many years of asking, have convinced Wilderness Safaris that combining efforts in this region could take the area to new heights. The 30,000 hectare reserve in the northern Okavango is well known for its lion and buffalo interactions with some of the largest lions in Africa and a herd of well over 1000 buffalo.

Great Plains Conservation will take over all management and will extend the experiences offered at Duba Plains by taking advantage of exceptional floods and the new opportunities that they present. Duba Plains will be re-positioned as one of the premier all-round Okavango experiences offering a full complement of Okavango activities. In addition to the existing game drives, Duba Plains will offer boating and mokoroing in celebration of the exceptional floods. Sleep outs will be offered in time. New 4x4 vehicles and boats are arriving shortly to increase the quality of the wildlife experiences on offer. The new team will add a research element to the camp with visiting experts on predators. We see Duba Plains becoming an all round, all year and more exciting destination than ever.

The relationship with Wilderness Safaris will continue along the lines of those that exist at the Selinda Reserve with Selinda Camp, the Selinda Canoe Trail and the award acclaimed Zarafa Camp for reservations. The existing published rates and booking policies remain as is and housed on the Wilderness Safaris WISH reservations system. We are truly looking forward to another fruitful and innovative partnership with Wilderness Safaris and our friends in the travel trade.

GO CAPE TOWN CARD (South Africa)

City Sightseeing Open-Top Tour, Table Mountain Aerial Cableway and Two Oceans Aquarium have joined forces to launch the Go Cape Town Card, an all-inclusive ticket for the three popular tourism attractions.

Visitors pay only R360 per card, which includes a return trip on the cableway, a visit to the aquarium and a ride on an open-top sightseeing bus. Children under 18 pay R180 per card.

“The beauty of the card is that visitors no longer have to stand in queues at any of the attractions and the three-month validity allows more flexibility in planning your itinerary,” said Jillian Grindley-Ferris, brand and business manager of Two Oceans Aquarium.

Sabine Lehmann, CEO of Table Mountain Cableway, believes the Go Cape Town Card encourages visitors to experience all three attractions at a reduced rate, making it an affordable and stress-free outing.

The Go Cape Town Card can be purchased at any of the three attractions, the Cape Town Tourism offices or online at www.webtickets.co.za. The cards are valid for three months from date of purchase.