Cathy studied Nature Conservation and completed her degree at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, after which she did her experiential training at AENP. Here she worked closely with South African National Parks (SANParks) Veterinary Wildlife Service Unit which is based in Kimberley. After completing her experiential training year she joined the game capture team on a permanent basis and worked with them for 12 years, capturing and relocating a wide variety of species throughout Southern Africa and Africa.

In 2012 she left SANParks and took up the position of Conservation Manager at the Great Fish River Nature Reserve, managed by the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency. Five years later she returned to SANParks as the Black Rhino Surveillance and Monitoring Co-ordinator for Kruger National Park.

She now heads up conservation in Addo Elephant National Park, home to the “Big 7” – elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion, leopard and the southern right whale and great white shark in the marine section of the park. Addo is the third-largest national park in the country and is comprised of a 182 000ha terrestrial component and 116 000ha Marine Protected Area. It’s been a busy two weeks in the Park for Cathy, who spent her first week participating in her first aerial census as well as being involved in an elephant contraception exercise.

Cathy says the highlight of her career was being awarded the Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa in London in 2016. She was the first South African recipient of the award and the first female to have won it. The Tusk Conservation Award is given to an individual who has been judged to be an emerging leader in conservation in Africa and in recognition of their outstanding contribution and considerable successes in their chosen field. The award was presented to Cathy by Sir David Attenborough. She says meeting him was one of the most memorable experiences of her life.

About her role as Addo’s first female Conservation Manager, Cathy says, “I am looking forward to supporting the Park’s terrestrial and marine conservation efforts and feel incredibly privileged to be a part of such a passionate, dedicated and committed team of rangers.”

Lufthansa passengers can now connect to and from Johannesburg and Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and George via Mango Airlines connections.

Those flying to or from Cape Town International can connect to and from Johannesburg, Durban and Bloemfontein.

Lufthansa Group and South African Airways have had a codeshare agreement since 1996, jointly connecting European destinations with South Africa.

Current codeshare routes include Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, East London, Windhoek, Harare and Mauritius.

The Lufthansa and Mango agreement applies to tickets sold through LH.com and through the GDS.

The addition of a new destination is the result of a collaborative airlift work between the City, Eastern Cape Development Corporation, Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber, Lanseria International Airport and Airports Company South Africa, operated by Mango Airlines to offer travellers an alternative point linking Gauteng province with Nelson Mandela Bay.

The service is expected to capture a mix of visiting family and relatives (VFR), business and leisure traveller originating around the greater Johannesburg, the Gauteng province and beyond. Lanseria International Airport offers a gateway to the North, which covers The Cradle of Humankind and Sun City.

Marelize Labuschagne, acting CEO at Mango Airlines says: “We are very excited to finally launch this route – an enormous amount of work has been done to increase our network out of Lanseria. This additional route is a win for both cities, and Mango is privileged to be a part of boosting local tourism. 

“At a time when our economy needs stimulating Mango has set its sights on unlocking the immense social and economic value that tourism provides.”

Labuschagne adds: “We are expecting that the route will capture a combination of business and leisure travellers originating from the Southern and Northern parts of Johannesburg, the wider Gauteng province and beyond. Port Elizabeth is the gateway to the Garden Route and a highly populated tourist area so we are expecting this to be a popular network choice.”

Economic development, tourism and agriculture executive director at the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, Anele Qaba says: “Access to Nelson Mandela Bay and the cost thereof was identified as barriers to tourism and economic growth within the region. To unlock the full tourism potential air access needed to be prioritised in order to make it easier and more affordable for visitors to explore Nelson Mandela Bay.”

“It is thus with great excitement that the NMB Airlift Steering committee can announce that Mango Airlines has launched a new route from Lanseria International Airport to Port Elizabeth International Airport starting on the 11th of July 2019.”

“With Quarter one of 2019 showing favourable growth on the domestic travel front, the latest Mango route will further enhance our plans to increase domestic travel,” Sthembiso Dlamini, South African Tourism Acting CEO.

“When compared to the period time last year, holidays trips have increased by 60,5% and I am confident that the latest route between Lanseria International Airport and Port Elizabeth Airport will influence these figures positively.”

“This route is a great opportunity to showcase the wonderful tourism experiences and products in the Eastern Cape and Nelson Mandela Bay areas with the region growing as an Ocean Safari destination,” concluded Dlamini.

Originally published by Bizcommunity.

He made the remarks during a visit to Shamwari Private Game Reserve, where he planted an indigenous Outeniqua Yellowwood tree at the new wildlife rehabilitation centre near Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape.

Shamwari’s existing rehabilitation centre is considered as one of the best and most successful in South Africa, so much so that animals from other reserves are sent there for treatment or protection from poaching.

The new, purpose-built facility will expand the capabilities of the rehabilitation team, allowing it to treat and care for more sick and injured animals before releasing them back into the wild.

It will also serve as a conservation education centre where academics, researchers, guests, school groups and members of the community can learn about the practice and benefits of conservation.

Minister Hanekom says Shamwari’s 25-year conservation programme is an example of how tourism can fund projects to restore and protect the country’s indigenous fauna and flora, attract international investment and provide economic opportunities for rural communities.

Owners, the Investment Corporation Dubai, is investing US$25 million to upgrade Shamwari. In the first phase, two lodges, the flagship Eagles Crag and Riverdene Family Lodge, have been extensively refurbished.

The next phase includes building the new rehabilitation centre, renovating the historic manor house, Long Lee Manor, and extensively re-building the contiguous accommodation to provide 18 luxury suites. A new premium, luxury tented camp is under construction.

CEO, Joe Cloete, says the investment is critical to ensure Shamwari remains one of the world’s premier wildlife experiences and can continue attracting revenue to fund its conservation programmes, with all their linked benefits.

Independent research conducted on socio-economic impacts has shown that compared to agriculture, wildlife conservation increases the benefits for local communities by 10% in terms of income and skills development.
The upgrade project includes new menus at the lodges. All the ingredients are procured from local suppliers. Chefs, kitchen and hospitality staff have all received extensive training.

“Globally, eco- and experiential tourism is growing. With our abundant game reserves, natural beauty, modern infrastructure, good air access and favourable exchange rate, South Africa is ideally positioned to compete and develop this market,” says Minister Hanekom.

“Successfully doing so brings not only the obvious economic gains but creates a virtuous cycle which encourages further investment in conservation of our natural heritage and making the destination even more attractive,” adds Hanekom.

The rankings are based on an analysis of more than 800 000 individual trips booked on Travelstart.co.za since the start of 2017.

Top 5 International Destinations 2018

1. Harare (Zimbabwe)
2. London (UK)
3. Windhoek (Namibia)
4. Mauritius
5. New York City (U.S.A.)

For the first time, Harare tops the list of most popular international destinations for flights originating in South Africa in 2018. While the top spots were always held by London (2014 and 2017) and Windhoek (2015 and 2016), Harare’s breakout growth this year may be a result of the changing political climate in Zimbabwe.

London remains an important tourism and business air route for South Africans and has seen increased capacity with British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and SAA offering direct flights between Heathrow Airport and South Africa. From October 2018, BA will launch direct flights between Durban and London marking the first time three of South Africa’s largest airports are served with non-stop connections to Heathrow at the same time.

Despite being a long-haul destination (16 hours one way from Johannesburg), New York City has become a top five contender for the first time in 2018 moving past Dubai which is operated by Emirates direct from Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban daily.

Top 5 Domestic Destinations 2018

1. Cape Town
2. Johannesburg (O.R. Tambo Airport)
3. Durban
4. Johannesburg (Lanseria Airport)
5. Port Elizabeth

Since 2014, there has been little movement in the domestic category with Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban maintaining their first, second and third place rankings respectively for the past 4 years. In 2017, George Airport (GRJ) exited the top 10 domestic destinations list after appearing consecutively in 2015 and 2016.

Lanseria, South Africa’s fourth largest airport by passenger numbers, has moved up the rankings in the past two years owing to increased capacity and a runaway upgrade in 2013. South Africa’s dominant low-cost carriers, Mango Airlines, kulula and FlySafair, operate flights to Lanseria. kulula initiated its Lanseria operations in 2006, Mango followed in 2010 and FlySafair in 2016. In May, Lanseria announced plans to double its passenger numbers to more than 4 million within the next six years.

Routes on the Rise

Flights to London Heathrow from Johannesburg increased by 88% between 2014 and 2017 and regional destinations such as Windhoek and Harare increased by 51% and 118% respectively.

International routes between Cape Town and the UK and Namibia have seen noticeable increases since 2014.

CPT – LHR bookings increased by 62% between 2014 and 2017
CPT – WDH bookings increased by 107% between 2014 and 2017
CPT – WVB bookings increased by 219% between 2014 and 2017

As Durban’s King Shaka Airport has attracted more international carriers, outbound passenger numbers have increased with Dubai (+273%) and London (+118%) showing the most growth between 2014 and 2017.

Slightly over half of these were international tourists – 158 162 (52%), with 146 091 South Africans (47%) while 1 257 visitors from SADC countries made up the minority. Dissected into day/overnight visitors, 82% or 250 232 were day visitors, while the remaining 18%, or 55 278 were overnight guests.

The majority of South African visitors to Addo Elephant National Park originated from the Eastern Cape – 101 374 which represents 69% of the total, followed by 21% or 30 448 from the Western Cape.

Germany, Netherlands and United Kingdom were the Park’s top three overseas markets, which represented 87 146 (55%), 15 391 (10%) and 8 361 (5%) of the international market respectively.

Addo Elephant National Park Manager, Nick de Goede, says “We are elated with these statistics. Not only does it tell us that the Park is a destination of choice for so many people, but that confidence both in the area and in the country is also picking up.”

“By putting best practices in place on the conservation front, we are able to provide top quality game viewing and a myriad of other activities all centred on our core function of nature conservation. The amount of day visitors, who made up 82% of our visitors over the past 12 months, tells us that the majority of people passing through our gates do so to enjoy the Park’s fauna and flora,” de Goede continues.

There are a number of activities guests to Addo Elephant National Park, just outside Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, can participate in. These include self-drive game viewing, guided game drives, bird viewing, walks and hikes, horse trails and a 4×4 trail. For others wanting to spend more time in the Park by overnighting, an array of accommodation options varying from camping and caravanning, to chalets, rondawels, tented camps to more luxurious four-star options is available.

Meanwhile, Mountain Zebra National Park welcomed over 30 000 visitors through its gates over the past financial year. The increase from 27 965 to 31 210 visitors between 1 April and 31 March over the previous year accounted for a 10% increase in guests to the Park.

A total of just over 81%, or 25 302 of these were South African. Dissected into provinces, visitors from the Eastern Cape made up the majority – 65% or 16 411, followed by the Western Cape’s 4 013 or 16%.

There was a slight difference between the numbers of visitors who went into the Park only for day visits compared to those who chose to stay overnight. Overnight guests accounted for 53% of the total visitors – 16 563, while the remaining 14 647 came in as day visitors.

Mountain Zebra’s top three overseas markets last financial year were Germany, Netherlands and France. They represented 44%, 11% and 7% of the international market respectively.

Park Manager, Roland Januarie, says they are excited to see an increase in the popularity of the Park, especially among South Africans.“One of the stand-out qualities which makes Mountain Zebra unique is our cheetah tracking activity, during which guests get to experience getting close to these unique creatures on foot, in their natural habitat. The smaller size of the Park and the variety and number of species almost always guarantees good sightings, coupled with our magnificent views, also gives us an edge.”

He added that the park’s accommodation offering product was expanded last year, adding an additional eight units to the rest camp. The six cottages and two four-star rock chalets were added to the Park’s existing family cottages, which now provides guests with a variety of options from which to choose. Added to these the park will also have camping and caravan sites in the rest camp and the Doornhoek guesthouse and two mountain cottages inside the game area.

The Park, located just outside the town of Cradock in the Eastern Cape, offers visitors a number of activities to choose from. These range from self-drive game viewing, to guided game drives, cheetah tracking, a visit to San cave paintings and a number of walks and hikes.

The new flights will be served by one of the airline’ recently acquired 74 seat Embraer E170 aircraft, with flights departing from OR Tambo International Airport at 18h10 arriving at Port Elizabeth International Airport at 19h40, Monday to Friday and Sundays. The return flight departs Port Elizabeth at 06h45 arriving at Johannesburg at 08h15, enabling Eastern Cape resident business travellers to maximize their business time in Johannesburg and return to the Eastern Cape on the same day, and facilitating onward connectivity to multiple domestic, regional and international destinations. On Saturdays, the flight departs Port Elizabeth at 08h00 arriving at Johannesburg at 09h30.

The cabin layout features two plus two abreast seating, with large eye-level windows allowing in lots of natural light and ample overhead bin space to accommodate carryon items. Every seat offers either a window or an aisle option. The E170 E-jets are configured with 6 business and 68 economy class seats. Airlink will make use of air-bridges at OR Tambo to facilitate quick and convenient boarding, adding to the enhanced passenger experience.

Benefits for Airlink travellers include Voyager Miles and convenient seamless connections with SAA and its partner flights.

The aircraft are scheduled to enter the airline’s service in late March and late April this year, and will see FlySafair’s total number of B737 800s grow to five, bringing the fleet total to 14 aircraft.

FlySafair is one of several low cost carriers operating in South Africa, including Mango, Kulula and FastJet, which began operating locally late in 2017.

“It’s imperative that we pursue an aggressive growth strategy to ensure that we keep our cost per seat as low as possible by finding economies of scale,” said Kirby Gordon, head of sales and distribution at FlySafair.

The first of the new aircraft, which has already been loaded on to the airline’s schedule, will contribute to an increase in FlySafair’s capacity on the Johannesburg/Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg/East London and Johannesburg/Cape Town routes, as well as the Johannesburg/Durban route on weekends.

This will see the airline’s overall capacity increase by just over 25,000 seats this coming July.

The airline will increase services on the Lanseria to George and Johannesburg to East London routes to daily over the period.There will also be additional flights on the Johannesburg and George as well as Johannesburg to Cape Town, Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth, Cape Town to East London, Cape Town to Port Elizabeth as well as between Cape Town and Durban.

Last year the airline increased services to 1 404 flights last December and this year it will see an increase to 1 600 flights for December.

In addition to increasing frequencies, FlySafair will also adding aircraft to its fleet. The carrier recently acquired two additional Boeing 737-400s and will take delivery of a third Boeing 737-400 before the end of the year. This will bring FlySafair’s fleet to 11 aircraft, making it the second largest low-cost carrier in SA in terms of aircraft.