Dateline Indaba

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

Two factors count in the Cape Winelands and Western Cape’s favour at the annual Tourism and Travel Indaba currently being held in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal: firstly, ample wine is on offer for tasting, and secondly, direct access to the Œbraai¹ restaurant behind the Cape pavilion!

Since there’s more khaki being worn here than there was during the second Anglo Boer war, meat grilled over an open fire is de rigeur. (You’d think all the hairy-legged safari operators and game lodge types would have had enough of braaied meat, but patently not!)

The Cape Winelands and Western Cape has a large presence ­ an entire pavilion devoted to tourism and travel in the province ­ and while things were relatively quiet initially, as word spread about the wine tastings, so the foot traffic and noise level rose. The whole point of the event is networking and marketing ­and that’s being done in abundance. Foreign journalists, tour operators and travel agents are unanimous in appreciating the benefits of the southern tip of Africa.
People are moving and shaking. Talk among the media and delegates are about whether the beach party is going to be as much fun as in previous years, although there are others who have cracked the nod for a trip to Stanger/KwaDukuza aboard Rovos Rail’s ultra-luxe choo-chooŠ And in the midst of all this frenetic activity, the wine folks are doing what they do best ­ pouring wine and extolling the merits of the Cape Winelands.