Kate

Further to the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa that South Africa’s international borders will be reopened from 1 October 2020, Singapore Airlines will be restarting our passenger flights between Singapore and Johannesburg from 14 October 2020. Flight Number Day of Operation Departure Time Arrival Time SQ 478 Wednesday 01h30 06h10 SQ 479 Thursday 13h45 06h10 +1 The first flight will take off from Singapore at 01h30 and arrive in Johannesburg at 06h10...

At a time when many hotels and other hospitality businesses have been facing and dealing with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 epidemic, as The Capital Hotels and Apartments we have maintained our focus on our entrepreneurial founding principles and refusal to accept the status quo – with operations continuing to run at close to full capacity for much...

Proflight Zambia will launch four-times-a-week passenger flights to Johannesburg, from Zambia’s Lusaka capital from 1 October. The airline will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, with the addition of twice-weekly cargo flights departing from Lusaka on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Proflight becomes the first in Zambia to ferry passengers and cargo to The City of Gold under the ‘new normal’. The...

Emirates will resume flights to the region next month. Johannesburg, Cape Town and Harare (Zimbabwe) will come on line on 1 October. Mauritius will follow on 3 October, and Durban on 4 October. The addition of these five points will expand the Emirates’ global network to 92 destinations, as the airline gradually resumes its operations while prioritising the safety of...

Radisson Hotel Group has launched its new Hybrid Solutions incorporating Hybrid Rooms and Hybrid Meetings. Radisson Hotel Group’s Hybrid Meetings combine the best of meeting in person and virtually, offering a reliable image, sound and video conferencing system, dual screens, wireless presentation clicker, high-speed internet connection, and more. As the world continues to adapt to “new normals” and ongoing travel...

Travelport, a leading technology company serving the global travel industry, has appointed Jennifer Catto as its new Chief Marketing Officer. Jennifer is an award-winning marketing executive with two decades of leadership experience at both fast-growth and established companies. Most recently, she held the role of Chief Marketing Officer of Telaria, a data-driven software platform designed to monetize and manage premium video...

The hospitality and tourism industry in sub-Saharan Africa must adopt a new “adapt and innovate” modus operandi to meet the challenges produced by the COVID-19 pandemic if it is to help prevent further contraction of severely impacted economies in the region, says Mark Havercroft, Regional Director Africa for the International hotel group Minor Hotels. While the opening of international borders...

Comair passed another significant waypoint en route to returning to the skies when the vast majority of creditors and shareholders voted to adopt the business rescue plan last week. In terms of the business rescue plan the preferred investment consortium, comprising a number of former Comair board members and executives, will invest fresh equity of R500 million in return for...

Tobie van Schalkwyk has been appointed as the new Director of Operations and Complex General at Emnotweni Casino. Originally from Bray, a small town in the Kalahari on the Botswana border, Tobie’s career has taken him to some interesting places in South Africa. Once he had completed his Internal Auditing studies at what was then Free State Technicon (now Central...

175 days since the country’s lockdown began, the decision by government to move the country to Alert Level 1 as of 20 September 2020 at midnight, has been welcomed by The Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA). President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the gradual and cautious resumption of international travel for both business and leisure purposes and the reopening of...

Emirates touched down in Zambia on 4 September for the first time since March, as the airline resumed operations to Lusaka. Emirates will operate two flights a week to and from Lusaka, on Fridays and Sundays, bringing its global network to over 80 cities. Flight EK 713 is operated with a Boeing 777-300ER. The return flight, EK 714 departs Lusaka at...

One industry in particular has the power and potential to reignite South Africa’s ailing economy, but to do so it’s going to need more than support from South Africans, and government giving the green light for reopening borders. The recent announcement indicating a 51% decline in South Africa’s GDP during Q2, puts a spotlight on swift measures that will need to be...