As South Africa prepares to welcome the world to her shores, scores of people are gripped in the Football Fever Mania. Corporate companies have embraced the world’s greatest show and have shown support by purchasing football merchandise. On the 11 June 2010, all eyes will be on Soccer City, as the initial game between South Africa and Mexico will herald the opening of the games. If you are not a soccer fan, then you may just convert, as the hard to ignore enthusiasm ripples across the country!

For the duration of the World Cup Fifa and Fifa’s Rule will precede over South Africa and the main roads from airports to stadiums are out of bounds for locals. You cannot put up adverts, trade or even cough without a Fifa license. Nobody will be able to trade anywhere near the stadiums and other “controlled access sites” or “exclusion zones” listed below.

1. PRINCIPAL PUBLIC ROADS
1.1 FROM LANSERIA AIRPORT TO SOCCER CITY

• R512- N14 on ramp
• N1 South – Rand show Road – Golden Highway- stadium precinct

1.2 FROM LANSERIA AIRPORT TO ELLISPARK

• R512 – N14 on ramp
• From Abel and Joe Slovo Roads to Ellispark stadium

1.3. FROM ORTIA TO ELLISPARK

• Off ramp from M2 west – Joe Slovo Drive
• Joe Slovo – Curry – Ellispark stadium

1.4. FROM ORTIA TO SOCCER CITY

• Off ramp from M1 South- Nasrec road
• Nasrec Road – Soccer City stadium.

2. CONTROLLED ACCESS SITES

2.1. Innes Free Park (FIFA Fan Park)

• Area bordered by Kathrine Street and Grayston drive
• Area bordered by Grayston Drive and M1 North off ramp and M1 North on ramp
• Portion of M1 North passing along Innes Free park

2. 2. Elka Stadium (FIFA Fan Park)

• Area bordered by Vundla Street
• Area bordered by Gumede Street
• Area bordered by Lefatola Street

2.3. Mary Fitzgerald Square (Artists of Africa)

• Area bordered by Bree Street at Henry Nxumalo and Meraim Makeba Street
• Area bordered Jeppe Street at Henry Nxumalo and Meriam makeba Street

2.4. Park Station (Train station)

• Area bordered by Rissik Street at Wolmarans street and De Viliers
• Area bordered by Wandaras Street at Wollmarans and De Villiers

2.5. Gautrain Station/ FIFA Accommodation venues

• Area bordered by West Street
• Area bordered Rivonia Street
• Area bordered by Maude Street
• Area bordered by 5th Street

2.6. No.3 Square Alexandra (Football for Hope)

• Area bordered by London Road at 12th Avenue and 13th Avenue

2.7. International Broadcasting Centre

Included in Exclusion zone at Soccer City

3. EXCLUSION ZONES

3.1 Ellispark Stadium

• Area bordered by Betrams Road at Charlton Terrace and Voorhout streets
• Area bordered by Simmert Street at Charlton Terrace and Voorhout streets

3.2 Soccer City stadium and IBC
• Area bordered by Nasrec Road
• Area bordered by portion of Soweto Highway
• Area bordered by portion of Golden High way
• Area bordered by Randshow road

The Volcanic Ash that shrouded the skies for almost seven days caused major disruptions to airline schedules and left many clients in disarray. It was another ‘gentle’ night at the volcano under Eyjafjallajokull in South Iceland, according to nearby emergency services. A small increase in the flow of the Markarfljott River at around 01.00 brought some ice down from the glacier, but the river returned to normal by this morning.

Meteorologists are predicting that ash fall for days on end, mostly stay on the glacier and in the area to the west of it.

Scientists flew over the volcano and confirmed that the ash emissions appeared to have calmed down since the day the skies became a hazard to followings. Only one of the three craters is still active and there is no flowing lava. Volcanic activity has been closely monitored by scientists. Ongoing chaos from the Icelandic volcano ash isn’t just affecting travelers; it’s also having a huge impact on air cargo carrying necessary supplies. The ripple effect of this global disruption has traveled so far that even Kenya is feeling the effects, losing as much as R5 million a day as its flower industry stagnates.

We all know the Icelandic volcano eruption caused air travel to come to a screeching halt, affecting millions of passenger around the world. But this major travel disruption had far-reaching effects across the globe on every industry imaginable. The International Air Traffic Association has reported an estimated 1 billion rand travel loss daily. As the world looks on we can only hope that the forces of Nature will be kind and keep the volumes of smoke deep in the belly of the volcano and not send a volume of chaos into the airways.

South Africa is in mourning and shock as one the South African premier luxury trains, derailed leaving three passengers dead. As South Africa welcomed the 50 days to the World Cup kick- off, news off the horror crash rippled over the airwaves. Rovos Rail, owner Rohan Vos was clearly devastated at the accident and acted swiftly to ensure all passengers were best assisted.

The train was en route from Cape Town to Capital Park station in Pretoria carrying mostly foreign tourists. It had stopped outside Pretoria for a routine change from an electric to a steam locomotive.
The train started moving downhill after the electric locomotive was uncoupled, but before the steam locomotive was attached. Several coaches derailed, falling on their sides across the tracks. The Railway Safety Regular said it was investigating possible brake failure as the cause of the crash. Further investigations are underway and we will keep you posted.

The newly constructed King Shaka International Airport in Durban has past its first test with flying colours ahead of its opening at the end of the month. A new international airport, the King Shaka, is being built to allow direct flights from abroad rather than via Johannesburg. Also known as La Mercy, after the name of the nearest town 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of the city, it should be completed by May, a month before the World Cup kicks off, and will replace the existing Durban Airport, which will be closed.

The King Shaka International Airport was named after the famous Zulu warrior king.  This is because Durban, South Africa’s third largest city is located in the heart of the Zulu lands.

The King Shaka International Airport will integrate both passengers and freight. This will subsequently eliminate any operational and logistic constraints experienced at the old Durban International Airport.

The passenger terminal at the King Shaka International Airport will have around 18 passenger aircraft stands and a size of 19,500m², which will cater for both domestic and international travel (six million a year).  The initial capacity of King Shaka International Airport will allow for 7.5 million passengers on an annual basis with opportunities for future expansion, should it be required.

The runway of the King Shaka International Airport will be 3,7km long in order to accommodate the latest New-Generation Large Aircraft (NGLA) which includes the A380 Airbus, with expansion options.  The passenger terminal at King Shaka International Airport will have greatly expanded retail concession opportunities.

The King Shaka International Airport will also boast facilities for police, military, VIP, general aviation and aircraft maintenance operations.

King Shaka International Airport

He has been tagged as an Eccentric wanderlust with an appetite for the unusual.  You never thought Richard Branson would be likened to Captain Kirk from Star Trek but yes, it’s very possible that the Virgin boss will now enter an entirely new frontier in space with his new VSS Enterprise.

Far and Few were surprised, because it’s been said that whatever Sir Richard has set his mind to do, will be done.. This marks the beginning of Virgin Galactic, and we will soon see a slew of space tourists being blasted out to orbit for a mere fee of $200,000. The final fare and inaugural launch date has yet to be set but it’s been said that there are already 300 eager space tourists, including pop superstar Justin Timberlake and scientist extraordinaire Stephen Hawking. The fee includes thorough training before space tourists can appreciate viewing the Earth from orbit. At this very moment, the first spaceport is being constructed in New Mexico. Watch this space for more details.

If you are a frequent traveler, you may be one of those people who consider hotels in different corners of the globe as their home away from home. As a patron, you can ask hotels for a bigger room or extra amenities which can make your stay more comfortable. If your request is within the margin of sensibility, hotels are always eager to review.

A room with a better view or maybe a room with some extra space where you do more work is always a great treat from the hotel management.

Do you really need to have a magic hat and pull out a trick so the front desk or the hotel manager will nod to your request? Not really but you just cannot call them up and ask for an upgrade. You need to inject a bit of finesse and flexibility so you can negotiate for a better deal, a good room upgrade, and other wonderful extras.

Traveling with your kids is always a challenge. There are few ideas for all parents that are planning a trip on an airplane with their children. First you need to research what are the flight opportunities and options for the kids, offered by the flight companies. Always check whether there is a child area in the planes, as well as children special menu.

There are companies, which are offering everything that your child might need.  Cathay Pacific, Etihad, Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic Airways are in my opinion very “child friendly”. The Airlines have amusements such as coloring books, puzzles, games and meal time treats for your little ones. A bored child in a confined space for a long haul flight can cause the most sedate of parents to have an emotional meltdown. Infants are also a concern of several airlines and if you are planning a trip, plan well and advise your agent to request a bassinette seat. Airline staff are in most instances very accommodating and enthusiastic to aid with requests. Newer aircrafts even come equipped with bathrooms with baby changing facilities.

Travel
I love to travel, and when I travel the mindset is one of awareness and respect of this new environment that, I am about engage. A  significant reason urging us to spend time, money and energy for traveling is curiosity. We travel to know more, we travel to meet new people, and we travel to understand cultures, to conduct business meetings and bridge the gap of communication for achieving all these goals you must have the right behavior and ask the right questions.

Asking the right questions is by far your most important task as a professional business traveler / tourist. Know and understand your rights as a traveler, and make your journey that much more interesting. The more questions you ask, the more travel wise you become. Always urge yourself to become affiliated with your end destination, take the time to have a brief overview of the country’s customs and culture. If in doubt always refer to your friendly travel professional to guide you the proper literature that may ease those nagging questions that threaten to burn a hole a back of your head.  On that note let the travel Myth buster wave her magic wand and wish those myths away.

Travel Myths
Although we can’t tell for certain whether the Ness monster lurks in the waters of Scotland, there are some myths about which our team of travel gurus is suitably enlightened. A number of prevalent tall tales, which relate to everything from transportation expenses to health to hotels, have confused thousands of travelers as the stories circulate like stale cabin air on blogs and boards. Want the truth? We’ve created a list of common travel yarns and broken down which “facts” are really fictions.

Weekend stays are more expensive than weekday stays.
Most travelers are working zombies with jobs during the week, which makes weekend travel precious and pricey, thanks to a universal surge of travelers on Saturdays and Sundays. But, contrary to popular belief, weekend lodging is not always more expensive than a weekday stay. Although B&B’s and hotels that see a lot of leisure travelers may have higher weekend rates, hotels that cater largely to business travelers often offer good weekend discounts, as business travel guests proliferate during the week and weekends are less busy at these hotels.

Cruises will make you fat.
Many active travelers think of cruises as floating fat machines. They assume that cruising involves huge buffets and hours of sedentary activity on beaches and lounge chairs. While this may be true on some ships, a recent trend in the industry has brought healthy eating and exercise to the forefront of the cruising lifestyle.

Slimming innovations in the cruise world include low-calorie menu options, sushi bars, upgraded gyms and ultra-active excursions. Celebrity Cruises has free-standing Spa Cafes that dish up delicious low-cal treats like crunchy raw veggies and sushi. Disney Cruise Line offers outdoor dance parties to get the whole family up and moving. And Carnival Cruises has special spa cabins that include unlimited access to gym and spa facilities (at a price, of course). Plus, smaller cruise lines like the Starlight Sinfonia Cruises offer regional cuisine and unique active excursions and the all night dance parties are a definite yes to burn away those extra calories

The Bottom Line: The cruise industry has moved toward health and wellness in recent years. Cruising won’t make you fat – that is, unless you choose to actually eat all you can eat at the buffet.

Recirculated cabin air on planes will make you sick.
Some planes recirculate cabin air through a ventilation system instead of pumping in fresh air (the former is cheaper than the latter), and many travelers fear that recirculated air will make them sick. However, a study conducted by the US University , which involved over 1,000 passengers, revealed that recirculated cabin air does not increase passengers’ risk of catching colds.

However, the study also showed that air travelers do catch more colds than the average person — 19 percent of passengers who flew on the planes with recirculated air caught colds and 21 percent of passengers on planes that use fresh air got sick, compared with three percent of non-travelers. Dry air and a proliferation of germs in a small space are probably what cause passengers to get sick, so using a hand sanitizer, taking vitamins and drinking plenty of fluids while onboard is a good idea.

The Bottom Line: Recirculated cabin air does not make passengers sick, although those who fly are more likely to catch a cold than those who don’t.
Any Comments , and tips that you may like to share , please let us know

Whilst the idea of doing one’s own travel bookings on –line and thus avoiding the cost of a travel agent’s fee, sounds attractive, a recent research study carried out in the U.S. shows that travelers are losing interest in internet travel sites, and are reverting back to the tried and tested method of using the services of a travel agent.

The reason?  On-line bookings, both local and international, have apparently for some time now been the choice of a wide segment of the traveling population.  However, it is quite evident that travelers are now realizing that booking on-line poses its own set of problems.

For instance, what if things go wrong?  Professionals, it now seems, have opted to rather pay to enjoy the back-up of communication with an experienced travel consultant, especially one with whom they have a good working relationship, someone who understands their personal needs and requirements, as opposed to the impersonal silence of an internet site, which cannot be on hand when something goes wrong.

When travelers are certain that they are going to travel on a specific airline to visit family or friends, booking on-line can still be viewed as an option.  However, when it comes to a traveler embarking on a business trip, or a traveler who will be accompanied by his family. the entire picture changes, and the value of the services offered by a travel agent far exceeds the cost of a travel service fee.  For instance:

• the travel agent offers a back-up service which includes an after hour service in the event that a flight/s need to be cancelled at the last minute;
• in the event that a flight is cancelled, the agent will, on behalf of the traveler, claim back from the airline the maximum amount allowed;
• The traveler is assisted with both visa and passport applications/updates, a time-consuming and tricky task for any traveler attempting to obtain these documents without assistance.
• Changes in flights can be accommodated if circumstances necessitate this, and so we can go on and on – the list is endless.

In addition, the travel agent offers certain other privileges not mentioned above, and it is a known fact that when you pay for something, you feel more in control of the situation.  As far as I’m concerned, I wouldn’t want anything free of charge, because we all know that when something is “free” there has to be a catch somewhere.  We also know that in this less than perfect world, everyone pays for what he/she gets.  And a transparent travel agency declaring the cost upfront, offers the traveler the psychological back-up of peace of mind, whilst making him/her feel special!

I would appreciate your views on my bold statements above.

In today’s economic climate, travel has become so prohibitively expensive that most people, unless they happen to be one of the fortunate few who own their own personal holiday properties scattered over the country or even abroad, find it unaffordable to explore our own superb country, let alone the world.

Voila Travel is of the opinion that for most busy executives and workers in all spheres, people who live hectic and stress-filled day-to-day lives, holidays and short break-aways are no longer simply necessary for mere enjoyment and relaxation, but have become an essential and vital component to a healthy life-style.

Long three-week plus vacations are really fantastic if you are one of the fortunate few mentioned above, but in present times, short breaks are the answer for busy executives and employees in all spheres, and very cost effective when planned in advance.

We would therefore appreciate your personal comments on the following:

• Do you believe that travel is restricted basically because of the costs involved, or
• Because people are unaware of the unlimited possibilities available to South Africans.
• And if you are a Loyalty Club member, and they offer travel as one of their components, to what extent do you successfully participate?
• The latest trend in travel is that you spend time with your immediate family, and then break away with your good friends and get involved in adventurous activities already included in your holiday itinerary.  Is this your idea of a dream holiday?  We would be interested to know.  And if it is not your idea of a dream holiday, please let us have your personal ideas on what you consider would constitute a dream holiday, as we would like to utilize this information constructively in our travel planning for 2010.

Please address your comments/views to mj@voilatravel.co.za.   We look forward to hearing from you!