{pp}Without realizing it, the hospitality industry has allowed a mass of \'Booking Pirates\' to invade, control and charge them for their own Internet bookings. There are a few credible reservation portals on the Internet, but the majority is only there to hijack a guest on his way, searching for accommodation using the Net.

{pp}New World Class Travel site launches to make booking flights and planning holidays in South Africa easier.

This week sees the launch of TravelSupermarket.co.za. The site aims to be the premier first stop for anyone travelling in and around South Africa, and wants to bring flight comparison technology to locals. Instead of having to go to a range of travel agents looking for the best deals, you can now search online and compare dozens of airlines and hundreds of hotels in seconds.

It will also provide quick city guides of the must see and do in each major city. In time we hope to bring you the ability to hire cars and get travel insurance.

{pp}Southern Sun officially launched The InterContinental Sandton Towers Johannesburg on July 1, 2007 as an individual InterContinental branded hotel. This hotel along with the sumptuous new look Sandton Sun and the picturesque Palazzo Montecasino form part of an extensive re-branding and modernisation programme that commenced in 2005, with the ultimate aim of owning brands rather than managing them and investing significantly in modernisation in line with consumer trends.

{pp}Southern Sun officially launched the re-named Palazzo Montecasino on July 1, 2007. This hotel along with the sumptuous new look Sandton Sun and The InterContinental Sandton Towers Johannesburg form part of an extensive re-branding and modernisation programme that commenced in 2005, with the ultimate aim of owning brands rather than managing them and investing significantly in modernisation in line with consumer trends.

{pp}Either through ignorance, stupidity or bloody-mindedness, SA drivers continually ignore the lights and sirens of emergency vehicles. Whilst a minute’s patience would cost most drivers nothing, every minute for an emergency vehicle could mean the difference between life and death.

{pp}South Africa’s best-known Toyota Fortuner is home after a year of non-stop adventure in which it has notched up more than 50 000km in 19 African countries without once missing a beat.The rugged 4x4 Toyota Fortuner 3.0 D-4D turbo-diesel nicknamed ‘Baobab’ – led 40 jubilant survivors in the 2007 Tour d’Afrique bicycle expedition across the official finish line at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront on Saturday, May 12.

{pp}The third edition of the Wacky Wine Weekend in Robertson (June 1-3, 2007) has been a great success; also for Soekershof Walkabout. Overall there were more visitors than last year and, in general, the offered attractions/activities of the different wine cellars improved in comparison with last year.

{pp}When last did you get good service in a South African restaurant? Can you even remember? Perhaps you don't expect it any more but foreign visitors often expect better and seldom get it. And with 2010 around the corner, South Africa's lacklustre attitude to service had better change gear and fast.

Foreign visitors to the Western Cape spent R17.3 billion in one of our most important growth sectors: tourism. But despite the increasing number of hotels and restaurants likely to emerge in the next few years - plans for three more 5* establishments for Cape Town alone are well advanced - service with a smile is hardly the norm.

{pp}Cape Town based digital strategy firm Britefire is rolling out a series of courses to help hotels and tourism operators ramp up their success in online marketing. The courses are being run by Karen Parkin, till recently the project manager behind Marriott International’s phenomenal e-commerce success in globalisation. In less than two years, Marriott went from a minimal online presence to taking more than $10 million dollars a day in online revenues for its 2,800 hotels in 20 countries.

{pp}The use of the Internet by South African tourism businesses is falling far short of the potential that e-marketing offers. Significant numbers of visitors to the country for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ will make use of the internet to reserve accommodation, transport, tours, etc, and should the local market not begin to provide suitable websites a great deal of business could be lost.