Wow, this another great accolade for Cape Town coming , as it does, on top of being nominated by Tripadvisor as best city in the world to visit. If all of the people of South Africa vote for Table Mountain as one of the 7 Natural wonders it will make 2011 a year to remember for our great city.
Good Job Cape Towm Metro police. it is great to hear that such a firm stand is being taken at the outset. We already have enough people wishing to find evidence of crime and lack of security for the World Cup, and we certainly do not need to allow this kind of hooligan to be the first to create adverse press. we are sure that all will join in praying for peace and harmony during the tournament and that we will leave a lasting impression to the world.
Getting the banks to just post the option to download this software once one logs in to a secure site, must be the worst possible way to promote it. My immediate reaction was to exit the bank website.
Surely a bank wishing to get its clients to download the software should have communicated its support beforehand to all of its customers? They shoud know how suspicious an unsolicited offer of a software downlaod on a secure website will seem.
Reputable accommodation establishments, such as ours, particularly in the non hotel sector, will always provide prospective visitors with the terms and conditions of booking on the website. With international feedback sites such as Tripadvisor available, any guests who feel cheated can leave very visible feedback. It would be foolish indeed for any accommodation establishment to engage in sharp practice which could damage their reputation on the Internet, as it will soon become known.
Thanks for sharing this information Muzi. This is a certainly step in the right direction by SA Tourism. China is poised to be the greatest economic superpower in the world and they have been active in development and investment in Africa for quite some time. This is a huge untapped market, with great potential for the tourist industry in South Africa, and we should develop it as the people in China become more affluent. Now- how are we going to advertise on the Internet in China in a language that they understand??
Having access to Paypal will be good news for small businesses; especially those who are in the holiday accommodation business who may wish to advertise their accommodation and take bookings from overseas visitors to South Africa.
I have used Paypal with great atisfaction for years - overseas credit card- and have used it to remit money ; to accept bookings from overseas for our self catering accommodation, and to purchase a wide variety of gooods from Ebay , paying by Paypal.
The restrictions on the use of PayPal by the reserve bank are similar to those for credit cards
I was even refunded by Paypal when a seller did not comply with the terms of a sale..
Well, this is just a view. Latest estimates of vistors are sure down from 300,000 to around 150,000. I am convinced that the feared accommodation shortage will not occur. Domestic tourism to Cape Town in June/July is always slow due to the weather, and the World Cup will give us in the Western Cape a welcome boost, but there will be ample acommodation available for domestic tourists.
This is cetainly good news for small business owners. When I first started my Guest House business, the banks scared me off from overseas bookings because of the high costs of cerdit card facilities. Fortunately there are now more viable alternatives. I have used Paypal for 6 years or more; even before they would accept SA credit card payments, and I have never had any problem. Paypal will really make overseas bookings accessible for the small accommodation business owner.
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