News
Cape Town has ushered in the New Year with a sense of expectation as this will be the year in which we host a very important World sporting event: The FIFA World Cup which kicks off on the 11th of June 2010.
With December's 2010 FIFA World Cup ticket draw, floods of enquiries have been and continue to be fielded (it also does not hurt that in the same week that the draw occurred, Cape Town topped the list of British Airways' Top Ten Holiday Destinations for 2010!).
It seems as if every corner of this city is being prepared for it and we are happy to report that much has been done to improve the general infrastructure of our city. More than R 1,5 billion is being spent on the upgrade of roads in Cape Town. The Bus Rapid Transport system is being constructed between the city and the Koeberg area, as well as between Klipfontein and the city. Both will be completed before June. An inner city bus transport system is to be set up which will include the CBD, the Port of Cape Town and the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, as well as all the suburbs of the City Bowl. The project will extend eastwards to include Green Point, Sea Point and Camps Bay and then the Culemborg area, Woodstock, Salt River, Observatory and Mowbray.
It has been reported in the weekend papers that Prince William and Prince Harry are planning to spend 10 days in South Africa in June, and will attend the World Cup, in support of their England team. This will add a welcome royal touch to the world’s top sport event, which is good for marketing South Africa and the event.
Not only will Cape Town receive royalty but the world’s business and political leaders will be coming to the city from 26 - 28 June. This can only mean a fantastic marketing boost for the city. For the first time ever, Time and Fortune magazines will invite the Time 100, Fortune 500 and world leaders to attend a New Global Opportunity conference in Cape Town. Writing about the New Global Opportunity conference, Time managing editor Richard Stengel wrote: “Cape Town, known as ‘The Mother City’ to South Africans, is an exquisitely beautiful place that is in many ways a model for the new Africa: diverse, entrepreneurial, forward-looking. It is one of the hosts of the World Cup … when hundreds of millions of soccer fans will be focused on the planet’s most popular sport. The ‘rainbow nation’, as Archbishop Tutu calls it, has pulled out all the stops to be ready for the big event. I’m looking forward to being in Cape Town for both the Global Forum and the World Cup”.
At Antrim Villa and Bickley House things are as busy as ever. Jonas has been travelling and guiding guests for the past few months around the city and country. We have hosted quite a few production teams with very positive feedback about their stay at our guesthouses. Much is being done to improve the service to guests and to make their stay more comfortable. Another new development is that iPod docking stations are being added to all our rooms.
We are also happy to report that our driver has been delivering guests safely to our doorstep for the past months and it has been a very comfortable and convenient arrangement. Just let us know when you will be arriving and Gabriel will be at the airport waiting for you.
We hope to see you soon!