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TBAC South Africa is an amenities manufacturing company based in South Africa. Through their relentless focus on customer service and quality products, they have secured contracts with many of Africa’s largest hotel groups and amenity distributors. If you’re looking to stand out, their in-house design team will create a product to your exact specifications.
Celebrate Mother’s Day this weekend
Groot Op Die Gras’ on Saturday 11 May 2019
Gates open at 10:00. Bring the whole family and experience a day out in the Pretoria National Botanical Garden. View more information.
Tranquil ‘Momcation’ #TheShonaWay at Nt’shonalanga Valley Resort and Spa
Valid from 01.05.2019 till 31.05.2019. For bookings or more information, call us on 012 650 2012 or 072 386 2611 or email enquiries@shonalanga.co.za. View more information.
Prima Lux enterprises offer a Mother’s Day gift pack that anyone presenting a Mother’s Day Special (accommodation, event and/or meal) can include in their own offering. View more information.
Mother’s Day buffet lunch in the bush at Mongena Private Game Lodge
Spoil the mother in your life with a delectable Mother’s Day buffet at Mongena Tshukudu lapa whilst being entertained by Adlib live musicians. Free gift for all mothers; R450 per adult, R200 per child 6-11 yrs and R80 for 2-5 yrs. Space limited. Booking essential. View more information.
Spoil mom at The Blades this Mother’s Day
Join us for a delectable lunch and special treats for mom. View more information.
Mother’s Day lunch at Court Classique Suite Hotel
Honor the mother of the family with a delicious Mother’s Day lunch at Court Classique Suite Hotel and get a complimentary glass of bubbly. View more information.
Lunch, spa treatment and gift pack at Graceland Conferencing & Lifestyle Centre
Show her just how much she means to you this Mother’s Day by taking her to Graceland Conferencing & Lifestyle Centre unforgettable treats. View more information.
Tshwane museums collaborate to celebrate International Museum Day on 18 May 2019
Every year since 1977, International Council of Museums (ICOM) has organised International Museum Day (IMD), which represents a unique moment for the international museum community. On this day, participating museums plan creative events and activities related to the International Museum Day theme, engage with the public and highlight the importance of the role of museums as institutions that serve society and its development. International Museum Day 2019 will focus on the new role of museums as active participants in their communities under the theme “Museums as Cultural Hubs: The future of tradition”.
The museums in Tshwane have planned a week-long programme from 16-25 May 2019 that includes free entry to all museums over this period. There will be a coordinated dialogue between youth and adults on this year’s theme “Museums as Cultural Hubs: The Future of Tradition” on Friday, 17 May 2019 at DITSONG: National Museum of Cultural History in Tshwane from 10:00 – 12:00.
We encourage schools and the public to take this opportunity to visit our museums. Please note that entrance fees are still applicable at some museums so please confirm before your visit. The museums have also developed special programmes for this period but prior booking is essential.
The following museums and institutions are participating in International Museum Week:
Museums:
- The City of Tshwane Museums including the Pretoria Art Museum, Melrose House and Fort Klapperkop.
- DITSONG: Museums of South Africa including the National Museum of Natural History, National Museum of Cultural History, National Museum of Military History, Kruger Museum, Pioneer Museum, Sammy Marks Museum, Tswaing Meteorite Crater and Willem Prinsloo Agricultural Museum.
- Voortrekker: Monument and Nature Reserve
- Freedom Park
- Geoscience Museum
- South African Police Services Museum
- South African Post Office Museum
- University of Pretoria Museums
- Veterinary Historical Society of South Africa
- South African Mint
Institutions
- International Council of Museums (ICOM)
- International Council of Museums (ICOM) – South Africa
- South African Museums Association
- South African Heritage Resources Agency
- National Heritage Council
- Gauteng Department of Education
- Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation
- Tshwane Tourism Association
- Capital Collective
Enquiries:
Lemohang Zincume, lemohang@ditsong.org.za, 076 418 8324.
Lizette Jansen, snrtoerisme@vtm.org.za, 074 255 8078.
Naomi Madima, NaomiMadima@freedompark.co.za, 060 961 3851.
Attractions Management Programme – 18 to 20 August 2019
The Institute for Attractions Managers is IAAPA’s premier management development programme. It is a 2-5-day course which gives attendees detailed training in attractions management. Taking place in South Africa (Cape Town) from 18 to 20 August 2019 this intensive course gives attendees detailed training in attractions management featuring hands-on instruction and case studies.
Industry leaders will immerse your staff in five core topics and provide a closer look at how these issues are managed in the attractions industry:
- Attractions Finance: Capital, expense and revenue budgeting, and other financial tools
- Attractions Marketing: The role of public relations, media relations, advertising, group sales, and marketing
- Attractions Leadership: Successful human resources development strategies to motivate a team
- Attractions Operations and Safety: Industry regulation, facility best practices, and crisis management awareness
- Attractions Revenue Operations: The role and importance of food and beverage, merchandise, and games.
View more information.
It’s a First at 012central
City Property’s goal has always been to showcase and rejuvenate the city centre. 012central’s Helen Joseph Street refurb is doing just that. Contractors are on schedule and work will be completed by end-June 2019. Thank you for your patience during this time, we promise the new look will be worth the wait.
We’re proud to bring you the fifth edition of It’s a First at 012central on 6 June 2019. The first Thursday of every month sees our creative community coming together, showcasing their talents and sharing knowledge on art, poetry and music. Entrance is free but we’d like to encourage donations towards the artists who will be performing.
Join us for an evening of music and entertainment, comedy, art and food stalls. See you there!
View more information.
At last the all new and improved ultimate #pretoriabucketlist is live
News from 3 @ Marion Guest House – The ultimate #pretoriabucketlist was created in 2015 to give locals and visitors to Pretoria a reliable and up to date resource of the best experiences to have during their time in the capital city. Since then they have directed thousands of visitors to some of our city’s most celebrated restaurants, attractions and events.
They have walked the miles, tested the menus and tried the cocktails, all so you can enjoy the best of the best in your own time and with absolute peace of mind.
Also, for the first time in three years, the bucket list is signing up extra experiences that every visitor to Tshwane has to explore. Restaurants, accommodation establishments and attractions can contact them at info@pretoriabucketlist.co.za to be considered.
Mongena Private Game Lodge welcomes its new Executive Chef
Mongena Private Game Lodge welcomes its new Executive Chef to the bush. Francois Faure originally hails from Cape Town and brings with him 16 years of experience of which 8 years were international exposure on Regent cruise liners. We look forward to exciting new menus and more amazing taste experiences at the well known Kingfisher Restaurant overlooking the small dam at the main lodge.
Newest addition to cheetah family at Dinokeng
Our newest addition to the Dinokeng Game Reserve cheetah family is the 4-year-old male from Gondwana Game Reserve. He was transported from the Western Cape on 26 February 2019.
When he was caught at Gondwana, the vet noticed an abscess on his left cheek. On the 12th of March 2019, a dental specialist vet from Onderstepoort removed his two 4th premolars (carnassial teeth) on both sides which was causing the abscess.
On the 26th of March 2019 he was released from the holding boma he was kept in. His movements will be monitored closely. Welcome home Gondwana.
Even more exciting cheetah news is that our female cheetah recently gave birth to 6 cubs.
Jack Lugg Retrospective Exhibition at the Pretoria Art Museum
The Jack Lugg Retrospective Exhibition will be on show at the Pretoria Art Museum till 23 June 2019.
The exhibition comprises works that span seven decades from the 1950s, when Lugg’s professional career began. All the artworks on display will be for sale. A coffee-table book, The House that Jack Built, has recently been completed and copies of this sumptuous showcase of his work will be on sale.
Jack Lugg (1924-2013) was head of the East London Technical College School of Art for 35 years, from 1953. He was also a prolific painter, sculptor and graphic artist who exhibited widely. Born in Pretoria, Lugg’s love of African art was first inculcated in him as a schoolboy when he studied under Walter Battiss at Pretoria Boys’ High. On returning home from World War II, Jack Lugg studied art at the Durban Technical College, where he won a scholarship to further his studies in London, and later in Paris. Back home in South Africa, he combined what he had learnt from his exposure to the latest developments in Western art with the inspiration generated by living in Africa. This was particularly so when he settled in East London, in the heartland of the Xhosa people.
He left an indelible mark on the art world in South Africa. Many students who went on to have stellar careers passed through his hands – including Norman Catherine and cartoonists Tony Grogan and the late Derek Bauer.
The exhibition is inspired by the biography, The House that Jack Built.
Sandy Shoolman, writing in the Dec 2017/Jan 2018 edition of Art Times, says: “The House that Jack Built is a magnificent and highly informative biography of Jack Lugg, influential South African artist and educator. This substantial and entertaining art book is unique in many ways. It is a touching tribute to a man who made an enormous impact on many lives. It is a valuable historical record of seven decades of exceptional art production by a seminal South African artist in a changing international landscape. It is an inspiring record of the versatile career of an artist and educator. Above all, it is the fascinating life story of a man with formidable talent, extraordinary tenacity, creativity, and captivating wit.”
For enquiries, please contact Dirk Oegema on dirko2@tshwane.gov.za.
SA sees decline in business performance 2018 – by Kerry Hayes, Tourism update
But it’s not all doom and gloom.
The Tourism Business Index’s (TBI) latest results reveal that 2018 has been the worst year for business performance in South Africa since the inception of the index in 2010.
An initiative of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA), the TBI provides an indication of the current and likely future performance of businesses operating within the tourism sector in South Africa every year – and forecasts indicate a continued bleak outlook for the first half of 2019.
According to the report, the performance expectation for the last half of 2018 for the tourism industry was 59.2 against an index of 100 (the level at which normal performance is calibrated). However, the sector experienced an actual business performance index of 69.0 – lower than the overall 72.4 forecast for the period January to June 2019.
This poor performance has been attributed to a lack of demand from domestic and overseas leisure tourists, as well as a lack of domestic business tourism.
Country and investment buoyancy – be it from a business or leisure perspective – is very much confidence-based, which is a big driver in the demand-supply dynamic. And with the TBI being a perception-based index, says Rudi van der Vyver, CEO of the South African Association for the Conference Industry (SAACI) – and despite the leisure sector recovering well from issues such as the Cape Town drought, etc. these still plague the conferencing sector which is working on recovery.
The two sectors are linked, says Van der Vyver, with business tourism often triggering leisure tourism as delegates are exposed to the country pre- and post-event, leading to a conversion into later leisure tourism.
“So we need to up marketing spend to market our country as a business events and travelling destination. There is much residual spend around business travel – for example, when big events take place such as the Mining Indaba, or Decorex, business delegates see the potential for investment, either direct or indirect. So, there is massive potential in terms of GDP spin-off if you have a larger focus on business events. This naturally, organically drives more leisure tourism.
“Marketing South Africa as a business events country is not as effective as it could be,” says Van der Vyver. However, the business events space has got a stronger voice in the greater industry. “We now have more direct input into marketing strategy with SA Tourism, so part of our recommendations to them is to diversify the marketing strategy: not just focus on big leisure travel shows, but also the low-hanging fruit directly linked to source markets for business trade shows.”
Yet not all is doom and gloom. Van der Vyver says the current outlook for business tourism and events has seen a 55.8% increase in forward bookings from China – which is one of SA’s biggest business source markets.
“These forward booking figures are encouraging, but we can’t sit back and think business will just come to us,” he says. “We need to put work into proactive communication, destination marketing, and not be reactive. Let’s not leave it to the international media to report what’s happening – let’s proactively take a stance to make things happen for our industry, and collaboratively work towards turning the TBI figures around.”
To do this, Van der Vyver says, we need to get more events to SA, in any way, shape or form – and work on attracting corporate investment that will result in residual spend.
Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of the TBCSA, says the tourism industry as a whole has the potential to grow at a faster pace than its current performance. “The tourism sector’s below-par performance mirrors the general downward tendency in business performance across all industry sectors. For example, both the SAACI Business Confidence Index and the RMB/BER Business Confidence Index, showed a decline in their last reporting periods. We, at the TBCSA, are hopeful that once the elections are done and dusted, positive sentiment will return to the South African economy and our sector in particular.”
International Hotel School trainee programme
The International Hotel School was established in 1994 to meet the shortage of educated and trained individuals for a service driven industry. It now offers a range on nationally registered and internationally recognized diplomas and certificates across all sectors of the hospitality industry. It has grown into four campuses with a national traineeship programme and an online learning platform.
93% of our students are employed upon graduation international hotel school is internationally recognized as a leading provider of quality hospitality and culinary education with over 5000 alumni, our graduates are job ready and in demand worldwide.
Employer benefits if you take in an International Hotel School trainee
- The SA Government has an Employment Tax Incentive known as ETI. The benefit for you as a property is that you will have the opportunity to claim up to R1000 per month for each trainee you take on. The ETI has been extended to 2029.
- BBBEE-employers have the opportunity to claim the money stipend amount as a contribution to their skills scorecard under category B. if the employer chooses to pay the tuition component for the trainee, the employer would have the to claim the combination of the tuition amount and stipend under the same category. This option is not mandatory but a choice to the employer.
- The property will gain financial benefit due to the salary structure, for the salary structure presents itself to the property in the form of a financial gain.
- The property has the opportunity to select prospective trainees that have gone through a pre-screening process, ensuring a specific calibre of trainee appointment.
- The opportunity to guide and coach the trainee according to the ethos of the property.
- The property will benefit from the knowledge the student gains through their academic studies. Correct process and procedures, cost saving, superior guest relations, etc.
- Onsite visits are scheduled are scheduled by a facilitator to provide the student and property with support.
- The trainee pays their own studies, or as per point 2 above, the property has an option to pay for the trainee studies (not mandatory).
View more information.
Rietvlei Nature Reserve has re-opened chalets
Rietvlei Nature Reserve has recently re-opened the well renovated chalets facing the Rietvlei Dam, the self-catering fully furnished chalets sleep 6 people. The reserve boasts the big 4 including lion, cheetah, white rhino and buffalo.
Activities at the dam include freshwater fishing which is allowed at the northern and western shores and a variety of non-motorised water sports on the north-western shore. Guided one- and two-day hiking and horse trails can be arranged as well as guided game drives through the reserve.
View more information.
Recommended reading
Premier Hotels snaps up Faircity
10 April 2019, Tourism Update
Impact of modern technology on tourism
15 April 2019, Tourism Review
Business lobby to challenge proposed law to regulate Airbnb
22 April 2019, Business Day
Voortrekker Monument Newsletter
April 2019
Upcoming industry conferences, exhibitions and events
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