Thursday, February 26, 2009

Hermanus & Cape Town - Newsletter 20 - Percy Tours

This Newsletter is rammed full, so happy reading it all or you will most certainly miss out on loads of interesting & important info :-))))


Hermanus wins the “Town of the Year” competition

After 3 months of frantic voting from across the entire country of South Africa, Hermanus has won the coveted award of “Town of the Year in South Africa” via the Rapport national newspaper, who’s readership is over ½ million South Africans.

The prize for this award is not only loads of media coverage but also that our local Tourism board will attend the DSTV & Gateway Magazine travel show in Jo’burg in September 2009, where they will be given a large stand for free to promote our delightful seaside town to the amassed crowds. (Last years attendance at this show was 535,000 people.)

Hermanus also won the prize, run by Cape Town Routes Unlimited, by being voted as one the “Top 10 must-do-events in South Africa”, for our annual Whale Festival, which is held in late September each year.


USA visits South Africa
In mid-September 2008, 110 NBC American basketball stars visited Jo’burg to bring “Basketball Without Borders” to inspiring & aspiring young South African kids to show-case that there are other sports out there on the planet than soccer.
South Africa’s Wines keep winning awards

South Africa swept the board at the Decanter World Wine Awards on September 1, 2008, reports Adam Lechmere.
In an evening full of surprises, South Africa emerged triumphant from the Decanter World Wine Awards. South Africa won 12 Regional Trophies & an amazing 6 International Trophies – among them the International Bordeaux Varietal Trophy (Under £10) & the International Rhone Varietal Trophy (Over £10), Cederberg Shiraz won in the Rhone category, while Amani Vineyards Cabernet Franc-Merlot took the Bordeaux Trophy.
Only 26 International Trophies are awarded. The only other region to come close was Australia with 4 – but it entered hundreds more wines.
Against intense competition South Africa swept the board in Chardonnay, winning the International Trophies in both the Under £10 & Over £10 categories with Paul Cluver Elgin & Rustenberg Five Soldiers respectively – beating the best that the Burgundy, Australia & Washington State could offer. Then South Africa took the International Sauvignon Blanc Under £10 Trophy – beating top Chilean & New Zealand wines.
South Africa is the fastest-growing category in the UK off-trade wine market, growing by 13% in volume, against a total market growth of only 1.1%. The country's value sales also grew by 13%, making it the 5th largest country in the UK market. The UK accounts for a ¼ of all South African wine exports, which totalled 300 million litres in 2008.

The new John Platter South Africa wine book came out in mid November & as always the wineries around Hermanus were awarded some very high accolades for their fabulous wine creations.

South Africa's grape harvest is just about to start now - 3rd week of Feb 2009.

2009 – looking at the year ahead & what an amazing one it will be

British & Irish Lions Rugby tour of South Africa

The British & Irish Lions will be visiting South Africa during June 2009, touring 7 cities over 6 weeks, with 10 matches including 3 test matches against the 2007 World Cup Rugby champions The Springboks. Percy Tours has teamed up with a specialist Rugby company to offer VIP hospitality seats to any & all the games. These amazing hospitality tickets totally guarantee a seat with loads of luxury thrown-in too & range in price from R1850 (£123) for initial games, to the final match tickets at R3995 (£266). For further info on this tour & all relevant match dates, please contact us at – travel@percytours.com so that we can discuss & organise your entire Rugby holiday in South Africa.

The Springbok rugby emblem must go due to political correctness gone wrong – so now all of South Africa’s international sporting teams will be called Proteas, how confusing is that going to be – crazy world we live on isn’t it?

Cricket matches

Australia & England international cricket tours all occur this summer, so prepare for these incredible sporting events.

Sailing

The Volvo Ocean Race is the F1 of yachting races, generating R275million to the local South African economy, which sailed into Cape Town at full speed in mid-November & WOW what a carnival of boats, parties on huge floating venues, high action & sexy male & female sailors loving to just wonder around in tight shorts & showing off their athletic bodies.
Oh & the Volvo new cars on display were worth looking at too :-)))

The Volvo TV film crew of 25 from Germany, Russia, NZ, UK & USA also visited Hermanus for a full day of filming the whales, meeting our whale crier, exploring the town, meeting the tourists & local people.

Knysna Heads, Garden Route, Western Cape


It's been a while since Percy Tours went to the Garden Route, so it was lovely to do a quick 3 day tour down there over Christmas with a bunch of Aussies.
FIFA World Cup 2010 Stadium at Green Point, Cape Town

The 2010 Stadium is coming along very well (as you can see from the photo below). The entire main building is now complete, minus a roof, which will be connected to the circular rim above the grandstands, and seats which will take no time to put into place. Oh and I guess they better put some grass on the pitch too :-)))

The first qualifying soccer games of the 2010 World Cup games were played around the planet in early Sept.

Home Affairs (SA govt dept.) is to reduce the red-tape requirements for African citizens who have tickets to watch the games & hopes that these efforts will reduce the time it takes to go thro’ passport & customs controls that are currently stringent for African continent people to enter South Africa.

The stadium construction at Cape Town’s Green Point is now up to the top of the grandstands & the roof rim is in place. The next job is to insert over 10,000 pieces of glass that will cover 5 hectares.

VARIOUS STRATEGY PLANS -Road closures around the FIFA stadium perimeter & precinct are not uncommon & are not specific to South Africa. This is the norm for most mega-events including the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games & other major sporting events. The transport plan for the Cape Town stadium & CBD in general is based on years of planning & consultation with international experts & previous World Cup Host cities. This level of planning, preparation & investment is unprecedented in South Africa & Cape Town.

Western Boulevard from the city to the stadium will be closed on match days, open only to general traffic for about 5 hours before matches. It remains open to the FIFA Family, Accredited Vehicles & public transport which includes the City's new BRT system & other shuttle services (and
Percy Tours of course :-)))) for which detailed planning has been going on for over 3 years.
The BRT (bus rapid transport) system consists of dedicated lanes & modern new buses which will run from the Airport to CBD, provide an inner CBD circulation service & will provide a link from the city to the stadium, V&A Waterfront & Atlantic Seaboard.
The second link to be closed runs from the refurbished Cape Town Central Railway Station along Somerset Road to the stadium. This is termed the “FIFA Fan Mile” & provides entertainment & a fully pedestrianised zone. This was highly successful during Germany 2006 & allows for the separation of pedestrians & vehicles leading to the stadium. The closure of roads & streets is nothing new to Cape Town, as there are many festivals, night markets & shows that take place throughout the year.
Several sites just outside the CBD will act as park & ride areas for vehicles & buses & every constituent group has been accounted for. The summary of the Cape Town Host City Transport Operations Plan can be found at the following link.

The stadium is on schedule & perhaps even a few days ahead of schedule. It's completion date is 14 December, 2009. The completion date allows a 6 month time frame before the World Cup which is ideal. Beijing's Olympic Stadium was completed 4 months before the Olympic Games. The stadium will host 3 test events in 2010, in February, March & April. I assume the "opening" would be in February.

Confederation Soccer Cup

Between 14 to 28 June, 2009, the Confederations Cup (football) will be played in South Africa, between the national soccer sides of - Spain, USA, Italy, Brazil, Egypt, New Zealand, South Africa & Iraq!!?? - who will battle it out at 4 stadiums - Jo’burg, Pretoria, Rustenberg & Bloemfontein.

Kaapse Klopse Bands 2nd Jan 2009


The annual show of fabulous colour, music and festival splendid hit Cape Town's streets on the 2nd January for the Kaapse Klopse.
Miss World

Miss World competition was hastily moved from Ukraine to South Africa, giving a huge boast to local fashion designers.

112 of the worlds most beautiful ladies were in South Africa to compete for the title of Miss World. The organisers had to hastily move the competition from Ukraine after troubles in that country & this created a sudden & very welcome blast of action to the costume & dress designers of SA as they showcased their garments on all 112 ladies.


Major of the Year

Cape Town’s major Helen Zilla was named as "The Worlds Best Major of 2008", by an international judging panel & deservedly so, as she does exactly what she says she will do & spends the local councils money where is it most needed – township housing, education, hospitals & many other important social up-liftment areas.

Recent famous visitors to Cape Town

Music – Lionel Richie was here in mid Nov / Rod Stewart in Dec / Maroon 5 early Dec / Goldfish at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens on NYE.

Prince Harry & William were here in mid-October to participate in the 8 day Enduro Africa 2008 Motorcycle rally with 88 other riders, to raise R5million for charities in Lesotho & South Africa, which set off from Port Edward & ended in Port Elizabeth. The entire group helped build swings, a jungle gym & paint crèches at various locations including Morgan Bay on the east coast.


How can booze be collectible and worth so much

Booze really can’t get any more expensive than this (can it?) – on 29th October a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue whiskey from 1805 was auctioned in Jo’burg, with only 200 bottles ever being produced & this bottle being the only one ever put up for sale – I spose the others were drunk centuries ago :-)).
It started at a reserve price of R190,000 (£12,666) for the bottle or = to R5277 (£350) per shot, this must be the most luxurious bottle of alcohol on the planet. Well maybe not, according to Forbes the only bottle to beat this was a 1929 Macallan Fine & Rare valued at R437,000 (£29,000). Still – what a price to pay for a sip of booze and more importantly – what occasion really warrants you opening any of these bottles – & would you share it with your friends??
Banking survey

We all know the world is currently in a financial mess but a recent in-depth analysis of the worlds banking systems came up with some quite amazing results, with them stating that South Africa’s banking system is the 15th best in the world – USA 44th & UK 45th.

Canada has the world’s soundest banking system, closely followed by Sweden, Luxembourg & Australia, a survey by the World Economic Forum has found as financial crisis & bank failures shake world markets. But Britain, which once ranked in the top five, has slipped to 45th place behind El Salvador & Peru, after a £50 billion ($86.5 billion) pledge afew months ago by the government to bolster bank balance sheets.

The United States, where some of Wall Street’s biggest financial names have collapsed in recent weeks, rated only 44th, just behind Germany at 39 & smaller states such as Barbados, Estonia & even Namibia, in southern Africa.
(SOURCE: World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009 – Reuters.)
Mad Charity Bikers

28,000 motorbike nutters hit the roads of Cape Town in one massive convey that went on the Bear Run on 30th Nov, which is a toy charity drive to collect money & toys for the under privileged kids of the townships.
VW expansion program

VW plant at Port Elizabeth grows even further by building a brand new paint spray factory & components manufacturing buildings, at a cost of R2billion & creating over 1000 new jobs, so that will be a total of 7500 people being employed here.

South Africa is a bargain holiday destination

Don't take our word for it - check out what a Reporter for MSN pages says, which will inform you that South Africa is still an absolute bargain to go on holiday to – check out his report at -

http://travel.uk.msn.com/inspiration/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=12520796&imageindex=7

Percy hits the brand new Hermanus Radio Station - WHALE COAST 96FM

Yes we have a brand new radio station beaming out over a large geographically area & reaches over 100,000 people in & around Hermanus.
Whale Coast 96FM went live 2 months ago & Percy Tours has started DJ-ing an important 2 hour show called Tourism Matters on Monday evenings, which discusses every conceivable tourism topic, while also playing some very diverse music – check out what this local website page says for a full run-down about the show -

http://www.overberginfo.com/content/view/1048/601/

Various new photos of the wedding and as usual many new
Percy Tours photos are to be found on your Gallery site, so check them out by clicking here at - See over 200 Percy Tours Photos

Contact us for more details on how we can assist you on your perfect South Africa holiday, at - travel@percytours.com

Until next time - have a good one and keep an eye out for our World Cup 2010 Blog in the next week or so, cheers - Percy :-)))

www.percytours.com

Designer Tours (& transfers) of Hermanus, Cape Town and the whole Western Cape region.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

WORLD CUP 2010 - TICKETS & loads more info....

WORLD CUP 2010 in South Africa
Ladies & Gentlemen roll-up for the worlds largest sporting spectacular, which is set to explode into action in less than 480 days time. (11th June to 11th July, 2010).

The soccer FIFA World Cup is going to be utterly massive & as it will be played for the first time on the African continent, you can expect the additional thrills of African adventures like - Big 5 Safaris, Whale watching & Great White Shark cage diving to entertain you between matches.

Percy Tours recently had a 2 hour face-to-face meeting in Cape Town with the official Ticket Issuing company, so that you (and I) know what's on offer & all the finer detail of how this process will work.

The most important question that people are asking is - How do we obtain tickets to watch the football?

This is a fair enough question, but there is quite alot of other information you need to digest before we get to that issue, so let's just look at what's what -

There will be 3 million tickets issued - 1 million to be sold in South Africa, 1 million sold in the rest of the world & 1 million will be allocated to all the FIFA officials, Corporate Sponsers like Coca Cola, Visa card, Adidas, Emirates & Sony, the 32 countries teams & their officials & families etc....

There are 10 stadiums & the start & final games will be held in Jo'burg.

Ticket allocation (for normal seats) will literally be a Lottery, by which people put their names forward for all the matches they wish to watch & then they will be pulled at random out of a hat. For the 1 million South African tickets, these are only limited to South African citizens at a maximum of 4 tickets per household & for a maximum of 7 matches.

On the 20th February 2009, there will be 800,000 tickets "released" to South African citizens & registering for these will be up to the 31st March. The 1st random selection will occur on 15th April 2009 & tickets will be issued 1 year later in April 2010.

The average price of these tickets is - $139 (R973) each, with the cheapest tickets for category 4 tickets being $20 (R140) each, while the most expensive tickets for the final will be $900 (R6300). The category 4 tickets will make up 15% of all tickets sold (450,000) & will only be sold to South African citizens.
(Source - Cape Times newspaper 19th February, 2009.)

So how the heck do we all avoid such a mad random Lottery process??

The easiest & simplest solution & the one that Percy Tours will be adopting is - offering Hospitality Tickets that we buy NOW & guarantee you a seat 100% of the time. These will obviously be a little more expensive, but due to the South African FIFA World Cup only happening once in our lifetimes, i think you will agree that it will be well worth spoiling ourselves :-)))

There are loads of different options available, so let's go thro' these -

There are 3 seperate Hospitality options -

Private Suite - the ultimate viewing pleasure, in a private suite, with waitress service, food, drinks, air-con, flat-screen TVs, comfy sofas & loads more absolute luxury - you walk afew metres from your dining table, open large glass patio doors & your seats are right there.

Shared Suite - as above, but Shared with other people, so perfect for large groups or Companies wishing to spoil their staff or business clients, etc.........

Executive Hospitality - these are massive air-con luxury marquees erected in a "Soccer-style-Village", literally metres outside the stadiums, where you will be dined & pampered in fabulous comfort. Then when the match begins you walk a short distance into the Stadium & take your seat for the game. These seats will be the closest to the pitch & are the first tier of seats up from the touch-line. Incredible viewing, I hope you will agree :-)))

N.B - Now FIFA are being alittle bit cheeky - many of these packages MUST be purchased in multiples of 4 for Shared or Executive, therefore meaning that if you just wished to watch the semi-final & final of 2 matches, you will need to buy a minimum of 4 tickets for each match - therefore meaning - 2 matches x 4 tickets = 8 tickets.

RECENT NEWS FLASH - NOVEMBER 2009 -
2 things were announced recently - the Executive tickets are now called Business Seats and more importantly - the prices for them has been discounted drastically from $1450 to $950 - thats about a 35% saving - good news :-))

-------------------------------------------------
Ok, thats the seating arrangements, now to the ways you can watch the matches -

1. The Big 5 Series - this is the utter cream-of-the-cream product - watch a staggering 36 matches. This is designed for groups of 15 to 32 seats in one go & totals 850 tickets. This being the largest single ticket allocation, with SO many matches means that it is rather costly - are you ready for the price??? $1.5million, yes you read that right $1.5million - for a Private Suite. Phew-y that is quite abit of cash :-)))

Moving on swiftly :-)))

2. Gauteng Series - watch ALL the matches in the 3 stadiums in Jo'burg and Pretoria - 21 matches in total, 550 tickets for 15 to 32 seats. Private Suite is a total price of $962,500, Shared Suite is $31,500 x minimum of 4 ticket packages = $126,000.

3. Venue Series - watch ALL the matches at ONE stadium. As there are 10 stadium & each one has different quantities of matches being played, then this means that there are loads of options, but let's just explain one so you understand the logistics & pricing.

Let's say you wished to watch all the matches in Durban which will host 7 matches & you wanted a Executive seating package - then that would be 7 matches priced at $9,800 each, with a minimum of 4 tickets purchased = 4 x $9,800 = $39,200.

4. Final Round Series - there are 3 options here -

This product is ONLY available at an Executive Hospitality level, which means a minimum of 4 tickets must be purchased.

4.1. Series 4 - watch 4 matches - Round 16, 1/4 final, Semi final & Final, going via PE, Cape Town, Ellis Park & Soccer City. Cost - $14,000 x 4 tickets = $56,000.

4.2. Series 3 - watch Cape Town & Durban Semi-Finals & Final at Soccer City. Cost - $15,000 x 4 tickets = $60,000.

4.3. Series 2 - watch Cape Town OR Durban Semi & then the Final at Soccer City. Cost - $12,000 x 4 tickets = $48,000.

5. Team Specific Series - Follow your team from venue to venue, with 2 available products -

5.1. - Team Specific Series 3 - watch JUST the first 3 Group matches of your team - OR -

5.2. - Team Specific Series 7 - watch ALL 7 matches played by your team and if they are knocked out at any stage then you watch the Round 16 & Semi at Cape Town, before going to the Final at Soccer City, Jo'burg.

Costs -
Series 3 - minimum of 4 Executive tickets x $4,500 = $18,000.
Series 7 - minimum of 4 Executive tickets x $17,500 = $70,000.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Other info -

To allow you to not be constantly packing & unpacking your suitcase, how about staying in one accommodation place in one city & get flown to each match in the morning & flown back again that evening? I quite like that idea :-))

Oh & on the accommodation side of things - get this - FIFA has taken EVERY room in EVERY 5 star hotel in Cape Town - that is not only a huge amount of people staying in absolute luxury, but a city where all the partying will be done by the rich & famous (it would appear)!!!

So forget 5 star hotels in Cape Town, if you were on the look out for that - because it will not be available. (Other Accommodation suggestions are mentioned below).

Large Fan Parks outside each stadium will allow those without tickets to watch each game at that venue on enormous TV screens, with many additional facilities.

FIFA has commissioned exclusively 32 jumbo jets from Emirates.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To the nitty-gritty - PAYMENT conditions & rules -

Yes all this gorgeous luxury & enjoying yourself has to be paid for & FIFA is being VERY stringent in it's conditions - here's how it works -

Apply for tickets, with the Application process taking about 10 to 20 days - so as to make sure that Terrorists, Ticket Touts, Soccer hooligans & many other undesirables are not allowed to purchase tickets.

Then an acceptance letter is sent out - 30% deposit MUST be paid within 30 days.

Then another 30% is due before 30th June 2009,

and the final 40% is due before 30th November 2009.

If Application paperwork is presented after 1st July 2009, then 60% deposit is payable within 30 days & the remaining 40% before 30th November 2009.

ANY deviation from these payment terms & your application is thrown out - with a cheeky sub-clause stating that we might not get our deposits refunded ever.

Our Hospitality tickets will be issued in January 2010, 3 months ahead of the "normal" tickets.

Percy Tours is insisting with the Ticket Issuing company in Cape Town that Percy Tours will personally collect these tickets IN PERSON & no 3rd party is to handle our tickets.

Lost tickets are just like lost tickets to any concert - NO re-printed tickets, NO refund, NO entry to the venue - so NO fun basically :-(((

Each ticket will have on it - ID details, embossed, freud counter-strips & many other completely individualised & personalised details of EACH person / company that purchased the ticket. Therefore completely stopping Ticket Touts, or anyone selling-on tickets, or stolen tickets being used by the wrong person/s.

Plus FIFA will be strictly enforcing a policy of NO selling-on-for-profit for any tickets purchased. Minimal Booking Arrangement & Management fees are allowed at a very small add-on price.

ALL prices quoted above are the cheapest you will obtain & are the very same prices across the entire planet that FIFA has set in place & every official ticket issuing agent will quote you that exact same price, as we are all going straight to the official Ticketing company. Plus there will only be ONE totally official company in each geographically region issuing tickets.

So ladies & gents these are the rules of engagement & we had better play by their rules as they hold all the cards - or should that be TICKETS :-)))

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Percy Tours ideas and logistics (and big advantage to YOU) -

Personally we are up for the Executive packages. Obviously we can arrange ANYTHING you want, but so as to save you all a huge amount of time, hassle, heart-ache, stress and to obtain guaranteed tickets, Percy Tours will apply for all our required tickets in one go & "bundle" our ticket applications together.

"Bundling" tickets together helps YOU because there are bound to be people who will want quantities that are not divisible by 4. So let's say you want only 2 or 5 or 7 tickets etc.... Percy Tours will collect together all these odd numbers together & apply for all these tickets for you in one collective organised group. Meaning everyone gets exactly what they want :-)))

What also will occur is that Percy Tours will have all our seats together in one specially allocated area, so we all know where we are sitting for meals & the matches in the stadiums.

Just to give you a small understanding of the logistics from our side - we are currently sitting on over 35 enquiries from around the world, totalling over 470 people (currently), wishing for us to assist them with their ticketing, transportation, tours, accommodation & activity requirements. Now i would be a fool to dream that all these existing 470 people will finally book with us, but we also have to consider that these are the very organised ones and Percy Tours is bound to obtain many more enquiries as the clock starts to tick down to match day & if I were realistically modest I would guess we could be looking at about 1,500 people possibly wanting our help.

Percy Tours will also be booking all your Accommodation & Activities that you wish to do between soccer games.

Accommodation - we deal with every conceivable type of accommodation establishment, from - Backpacker Hostels, B&Bs, Guest Houses, Lodges, Wine Farms, Game Parks, City apartments, Beach side Chalets to Penthouse Mansions, 1 star to 5 star Hotels & everything in-between.......

Please inform us of your budget per person per night & your desired type of accommodation in which location & we will research, arrange & book it all for you too :-))))

Activities - Not only will all the football keep you very busy, but South Africa is an adventure play-ground offering 100's of diverse activities too. Please check out our websites "What to See and Do" page, where at the bottom of the page is a Clickable link to a comprehensive page of 300 different things to do -

http://www.percytours.com/what-to-see.html

Many Thanks everyone and chat to you very soon to discuss your desired wishes and requirements.

Percy - Percy Tours 

www.percytours.com

Designer Tours (& transfers) of Hermanus, Cape Town and the whole Western Cape region.

Copyrighted by Percy Tours C.C. South Africa.
Please ask our permission before you copy any or all of the information in this Blog - we thank you every much :-))