Hotel and restaurant news

Travellers concerned with the treatment of the natural environment are a fast-growing market according to experts in environmental tourism. The environmentally-aware traveller represents one of the fastest growing niche markets in the tourism, travel and leisure sectors today and this discerning market is set to become one of the key income generators ...

Where? Ouro Preto, about 210 miles north of Rio de Janeiro and 97 miles southeast of Belo Horizonte. Why? This is where you'll see some of the best examples of baroque architecture in Brazil. It's also the best place to see the work of legendary Brazilian artist Aleijadinho. The surrounding mountains, the geometric rows of whitewashed buildings, the cobblestone streets and red-tile roofs that climb the hillsides, ...

South African Tourism’s (SAT) Touch Table, a first in interactive travel and tourism trade communication, has won two awards at the 33rd annual Loerie Awards - a Silver Loerie in the category of ‘Internet, Mobile and Interactive Communication: Applications and Interactive Tools’ and a Loerie Craft Certificate in the category of ‘Internet, Mobile and Interactive Communication: Digital Crafts’. The Touch Table offers eight interactive hubs, allowing ...

A new warning has been issued about the possibility of more job losses in the hotel industry. This time it comes from Marius Earle, the group operations director of Three Cities Hospitality which manages and markets hotels all over Southern Africa Africa. He says: “Hospitality groups will have to employ methods to streamline operations due to the current financial strain and uncertainty facing many establishments in the ...

Backpacks, back pockets, and open purses are easy targets for pick-pockets. Keeping your passport and funds secure in a money belt may save your vacation from an unfortunate run-in with a talented thief, but the traditional rogue-blocker is not your only option. Travelers posting in our Forums recently sounded off on the value of money belts, the alternatives that have worked for them, and their ...

TheatreLondon Road, National Theatre: Olivier, South Bank, SE1, to 6 Sep, nationaltheatre.org.uk Return of Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork's hugely original musical play set around the real murder of five prostitutes in Ipswich. The Bruce Lacey Experience, Camden Arts Centre, NW3, to 16 Sep, camdenartscentre.org The eccentric artist and Goon Show veteran – whose robotic sculptures were a 1960s fixture – is ripe for rediscovery. Create 2012: ...

Having undergone extensive refurbishment, Franschhoek’s Haute Cabriere Cellar Restaurant has re-opened this weekend under management of the von Arnim family with new head chef Ryan Shell at the helm. Shell, who is 28, has taken over in time for the spring and summer season at the beginning of September. Having completed his final term as a lecturer at the Prue Leith Chef’s Academy, Ryan has relocated ...

Four young KwaZulu-Natal entrepreneurs will earn a healthy boost for their businesses soon thanks to the South African Breweries Limited (SAB) KickStart Entrepreneurial Development Programme. About R380 000 in grants, mentorship and training is up for grabs in the KZN contest. Nationally the amount tops the R3-million mark. More than 1 500 entries have been received from candidates throughout the country. Thirteen finalists have been chosen in ...

The Doodle Bar, Battersea Behind Foster & Partners' glossy offices on the banks of the Thames, a creative community has quietly taken over the warehouses between Battersea Bridge and Albert Bridge. To find the studios where fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and architect Will Alsop are based, you have to go down a dark alley and through a car park, guided by a neon sign cryptically ...

Theatre1936, Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadler's Wells, EC1, to 5 Aug, sadlerswells.com Tom McNab's play asks whether a boycott of the Berlin games of 1936 might have changed the course of history. Edvard Munch, Tate Modern, South Bank, SE1, to 14 Oct, tate.org.uk Munch's mobid maidens, vampire lovers and screams of despair are ghoulishly compelling. Pertaining To Things Natural, Chelsea Physic Garden, SW3, to 31 Oct, chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk The ...

Everything about today fills me with a sense of dread. I am a poor swimmer, I have no upper body strength and I am afraid of heights. Yet here I am, sitting in a car park in Beadnell bay waiting for Kevin Anderson. He's going to teach me how to kitesurf. I've only seen kitesurfing once. It was in Brighton and a muscular James Bond type ...

The Don Group Limited, a company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, said in a statement released on 6 October 2011 that due to the depressed economic conditions and plummeting profits, it had turned three hotels into residences and had to retrench a number of staff. The report follows: “Trading conditions in the hotel and leisure industry have been depressed in the last two years. The ...

CambridgeshireFrom punting on the river, exploring the grand university colleges and picnicking in the parks to dancing to live music at night, Cambridge gets a first for its attractions. This summer, there's a Sculpture Promenade and Han China exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum (fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk) and sports-related exhibitions and events at the Cambridge and County Folk Museum (folkmuseum.org.uk). The new Varsity Hotel (01223 306030, thevarsityhotel.co.uk, doubles from ...

Set to open in November the Park Inn by Radisson Cape Town Foreshore will be the second Park Inn by Radisson to open in South Africa. While some will say that Cape Town needs another hotel like a fish needs a bicycle, the developers believe the position, accessibility, branding and target market of the hotel will ensure success. Andrew McLachlan, the Rezidor hotel group’s vice-president, business development, ...

by Michelle Delio Want to meet the muses? Or perhaps you'd rather crack codes, act like a kid, travel back in time, have a serious adult conversation, solve a mystery, or learn to fly on a broomstick? If your answer to any or all of the above is yes, take a literary tour and live inside your favorite book for a while. There are plenty of tours ...

Baking and craft workshops at Little SalkeldThe first thing children will notice about The Watermill at Little Salkeld are the candy-pink walls. The second might be the chickens foraging for spilt grain by the entrance to this restored working mill. Adults will be drawn by the smell of baking bread into the child-friendly cafe, which serves wholesome lunches made from the Watermill's own stoneground flours ...

I'd start my perfect day with a bowl of muesli, eaten in my swimming costume, ready for a gentle swim at the Golden Lane leisure centre, a small, quiet pool near the Barbican . Next I'd walk up City Road to two art galleries: the Parasol Unit (parasol-unit.org) and Victoria Miro, (victoria-miro.com) both in beautifully converted old buildings on Wharf Road. I really like the ...

The recent deadly crash of a commercial airliner in Sao Paulo sent the already reeling Brazilian airline industry deeper into crisis. On Saturday, it received a further scare when a radar failure in the Amazon region caused some 20 international flights to be diverted back to the U.S. and elsewhere, stranding and delaying thousands. Tuesday's TAM Airlines crash killed more than 190 people -- the deadliest ...

South African Tourism (SAT), Sports and Recreation SA and Thebe Exhibitions & Project Group (TEPG) have announced that Durban has been awarded the hosting of the Sports and Events Tourism Exchange (SETE) in 2012. “The city of Durban will be an excellent host for the Sports and Events Tourism Exchange. Durban recently hosted the International Olympic Committee (IOC) session and in 2010 it was a host ...

Between penny-pinching in a tight economy and airlines' new luggage restrictions, only so many treats for those at home are likely to make it back in your suitcase. But no need to nix the knickknacks-buying easy-to-pack gifts on the cheap in these top destination cities is surprisingly doable. New York Best for Kids Need to bring back a baby gift? A tiny, "I Love NY" onesie (about ...

Fodor's Copy Chief Linda Schmidt (along with husband and husky) spent much of August driving from New Jersey to Choteau, Montana, and back. Linda then returned to the Rocky Mountain Front for the month of November to work as the cook at the Seven Lazy P guest ranch outside of Choteau, on the eastern side of the Rockies about 80 miles northwest of Great Falls. Why ...

The Cape Town and Western Cape Convention Bureau has once again received the international hallmark of excellence, following the annual BestCities external audit. An external audit of service standards is a requirement for certification as a member of the BestCities Global Alliance. Martin Ledger, an auditor from Lloyd’s Registered Quality Assurance (LRQA), said in his assessment that: “The Cape Town Bureau meets the requirements of the ...

International tourist arrivals are estimated to have grown by 4,5% in the first half of 2011, consolidating the 6,6% increase registered in 2010. Between January and June of this year, the total number of arrivals reached 440-million, 19-million more than in the same period of 2010. “The sustained growth registered in tourism demand in such challenging times clearly makes the case for the sector and reinforces ...

The Greenhouse Restaurant at The Cellars-Hohenort Hotel in Constantia was the venue yesterday for a lunch where group executive chef Peter Tempelhoff presented a range of dishes from his menus to a gathering of prominent foodwriters. Liz McGrath, owner of The Collection by Liz McGrath, hosted the lunch with her granddaughter Marina Smithers, who is responsible for the group’s PR, and CEO Tony Romer-Lee on a ...