If you weren’t able to make it to Decorex Cape Town this year, there are more design expos on the way, showcasing South Africa’s talented designers and filling you in on the latest trends.

Running from 21 to 23 May, the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg will host a brand new design event known as Grand Designs Live South Africa. Grand Designs, a hit television show in the UK, informs audiences about home renovation and design solutions. Based on the multi-award winning UK consumer event, Grand Designs Live will combine cutting-edge design products, interactivity and an eco-friendly message. Grand Designs Live aims to be South Africa’s top design and home show. Visitors to the event will be provided with ideas to help them create their dream home.

If you missed Decorex in Durban and Cape Town, you can still catch the event in Johannesburg later this year. From Thursday 5 August to Monday 9 August in the Gallagher Estate in Midrand, the multi-award winning show, now in its 12th year, displays the latest trends in everything design and décor related.

Decorex will be back in the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) again next year as well as the Design Indaba Expo, which will hit the Mother City between Friday 25 February and Sunday 27 February. The Design Indaba Expo brings together more than 260 exhibitions displaying the latest in advertising, architecture, craft, décor, film, fashion, graphic design, interior design, jewellery, new media, publishing, product design and visual media. All products are original, contemporary and innovative, and manufactured in South Africa. There will be much to do and much to see, including fashion shows, a short-film festival, a Design Indaba Kids Workshop, a designer bar, designer food and daily Pecha Kucha presentations. The Expo runs alongside the Design Indaba Conference which has been going since 1995.

View the talent South Africa has to offer and learn about new trends at these interesting and exciting design expos. Join in on the fun and satisfy your curiosity!

Cape Town’s International Convention Centre was the place to be this week, for anyone involved or interested in South Africa’s hospitality and catering industries. Run by Specialised Exhibitions, HOSTEX visited Cape Town for its eighth time since its establishment 24 years ago. The exhibition is held in Johannesburg every other year.

HOSTEX is the largest and longest-running exhibition of its kind in Africa and attracts high-level buyers and representatives from the catering, conference, restaurant and hotel industries. Anyone is welcome to view the latest showcase of market trends, products and services.

Visitors to 2010’s HOSTEX browsed a wide range of products and services, including bedding, furniture, kitchenware, beverages and foodstuff, among hordes of other interesting goods. Even colourful balloons and an on-site massage parlour had a place in the exhibition. Over 6 000 visitors, excluding students, flocked to HOSTEX Cape and were entertained by 220 different exhibitions. Endorsed by the South African Chefs Association, HOSTEX has been picking up in popularity over the years and visitors have come to expect to see certain products while also being introduced to new and exciting additions.

Visitors could leave the exhibition with satisfied tummies. Foods and drinks were available to sample and those who found themselves at the right place at the right time, could receive various giveaways. Over at the Global Pizza Challenge, audience members tasted the mouth-watering, original pizzas that were being created by some of South Africa’s top pizza chefs. 70 individual chefs applied with their recipes which were judged by internationally accredited judges. Applications were narrowed down to 30 contestants who were invited to take part in South Africa’s second Global Pizza Challenge, held at HOSTEX. The only rules given to chefs were that the pizzas had to be made from dough and have a tomato base, which meant there was a lot of room for creativity. One chef produced a chocolate soufflé pizza and another made his pizza out of smoked flour! The winner of the South African competition will be flown to Melbourne, Australia, where he or she will compete in the Global Finals.

A few metres away, more voices boomed on loudspeakers at the SA Chefs Pavilion, drawing visitors to this hub of activity with competitions such as the Student Skills Challenge, the McCain Tribute to Good Taste and a Restaurant Showcase Challenge, where audience members could get an inside look at what goes on inside the kitchen of some of Cape Town’s most popular restaurants.

Nearby, the HomeGrown SME Village showcased proudly South African goods and services. One such service was the Khayelitsha Cookie Company (KCC) which has been running for four years. While it is the end result that attracts customers to their business, the KCC does a lot more than just producing delicious treats. It’s the people behind the nutty fridge brownies and shortbread biscuits that make up the success of the company. The employees are all previously unemployed women from Khayelitsha who were hired by KCC without any skills. Focusing on employing single moms, the cookie company trains their employees and provides them with skills, creating a form of sustainable job creation. KCC is a non-government organisation currently not making any profit, so strong is their desire to give back to the community. Employees receive 30% shares in the company’s income, which will rise to 50% as soon as the company has paid off their funds, which comes close to R2 million. Employees are also given money for transport to and from the factory. Originally in Khayelitsha itself, the factory had to move to Maitland when they encountered problems receiving supplies. The Khayelitsha Cookie Company believes that their employees’ quality of life and self-esteem has improved since they have become a part of the company and thus they hope to expand to other parts of South Africa.

A large variety of products and services came together at HOSTEX this year and attracted visitors from diverse backgrounds, each with different interests. Members of the hospitality and catering industries who missed out this year, can become a part of this event next year in Johannesburg, or can wait for 2012, when HOSTEX will be back in Cape Town and filling out the International Convention Centre with curious, chattering crowds all over again.

This is definitely a worth while article to look through for all Guest House owners wishing to rent their properties during the South African 2010 World Cup.

The following information was sent to us from Deborah at Get Smarter.

"What to do if your accommodation establishment is not registered with MATCH for the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup?"

Extract from article - "If the accommodation you will be renting out does not meet the requirements set out by MATCH, or you are not happy with the terms and conditions set out by Match, this will not necessarily stop you from selling your rooms to supporters during this period; you simply choose not to do so through MATCH."

This is just a small extract from a very interesting article.

For more information please visit www.getsmarter.co.za or contact Deborah on (021) 685 4775 or via email on deborah@getsmarter.co.za

Keep an eye on this space for more information.

The GHASA team

Hi All. The New Year has gotten off with a flying start. I am sure that everybody is excited about 2010, big and exciting things are expected here in South Africa this year. I found a wonderful write up on the South African Tourism website, www.southafrica.net and I thought that I would pass this along, to start the New Year just remembering what an amazing country we live in.

The natural World Heritage Sites in South Africa have been shaped by forces we barely understand. But we can admire their wondrous handiwork – a vast estuarine system, a rich legacy of plant life, a gallery of sculpture man cannot imitate, and a natural disaster of a magnitude hard to conceptualise.

Fynbos, part of South Africa's floral heritage

© South African Tourism
DID YOU KNOW?
....the force of impact of the Vredefort meteorite forced gold to the earh's surface?
South Africa's four natural heritage sites each foreground the planet's natural elements - water, air, earth and fire - in some way.

The iSimangaliso Wetland Park may feature a surprising range of habitats and eco-systems, but the overpowering theme here is water. Trailing up 280 km of KwaZulu-Natal coastline, it includes Africa's largest estuary at Lake St Lucia, a 60 km-long river mouth parallel to the coast yet separated by forested sand dunes. Drawn to this water world are hundreds of bird species and some interesting amphibians, while in the wild Indian Ocean waters off shore, the passing sea traffic includes whales and sharks.

Air or, more precisely wind, has been a force in the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park, shaping the spectacular mountain scenery. Carving breathtaking precipices and soaring peaks, the wind has left South Africa with a natural world heritage site not only for the eyes to marvel at, but to challenge the body with rock climbing, abseiling and hiking. In the winter, when snow dusts these wind-hewn monuments, the stunning visual effect is doubled.

In the Cape Floral Region, a South African natural heritage site that stretches from the Peninsula to the Eastern Cape, Mother Earth has given birth to a plant life so rich, it includes 3% of all the species to found in the world. A good share can only be seen in this corner of the globe.

In the formation of the fourth Natural World Heritage Site in South Africa, the Vredefort Dome that traverses the Free State and North West border, fire played a key role. This vast crater was shaped billions of years ago, when a meteorite the size of Table Mountains slammed into the earth. As it passed through the earth's atmosphere it heated up enormously, crashing to earth as a blazing fireball.

Keep an eye out for what we can find next week. The GHASA team.

Hi, its been a while, the festive seasons really keeping me busy. However I have some interesting answers regarding the 2010 FIFA world cup. You can refer to "DISCOVER THE WORLD WITH TOP PLACES- www.topplaces.co.za" for more information.

What to do with your kids?
Apparently it has been legislated that schools will be closed over a 4 week period during the FIFA SOCCER WORLD CUP 2010 (tm).

The Cost of Flying
Its going to be expensive - a return ticket from Cape Town to Johannesburg will cost you anything up to R10 000! Flights will be operating 24 hours as due to lack of accommodation in match cities, fans will fly in and out before and after games. Expect noise, congestions and traffic at airports. Top Places has allocation on hundreds of flights during the World Cup Period.

Food Shortages
Fresh veggies and fruit will be scarce, if not unavailable, during this time. For the World Cup in Germany, they had to import them.

Traffic
Traffic will increase by about 30% at the times of the games as fans go to the grounds or FANPARKS (games start at 13.30, 16.00 and 2030 hrs. ) and matches are announced on December 4th. This is obviously the best time to fly - whilst matches are on! Road areas around stadiums will be closed off.

Schedule of Key Dates during 2010

School Holidays: 27 Mar - 11 Apr /10 June - 11 July
Cape Argus Cycle Race: 14 March
Comrades Marathon: 30 May
Two Oceans Marathon: 03 Apr
Durban July: 03 Jul
Grahamstown Festival: 20 Jun - 08 July
World Cup: 11 Jun - 11 Jul

Media Groups arrive from 25 April and depart two weeks after
Teams arrive around 03 May
Supporters arrive around 06 June until departure after post tours
FIFA Staff arrive around 01 May until 2 weeks after WC.

Public Holidays around WC
Human Rights Day: 21 March
Public Holiday: 22 March
Good Friday: 02 April
Family Day: 05 April
Freedom Day: 27 Apr
Workers Day: 01 May
Youth Day: 16 June

I hope this info helped to clear up a few of your unanswered questions, some more interesting facts to follow soon!

Cheers