SA tourism industry ready to welcome back international travellers

[Lisbeth]

I have my doubts. They are proceeding too quickly and very far from the normal trials for a vaccine. But if it works so much better for everybody

[Mel]

I also find it confusing, to say the least, that a vaccine is supposed to be marketable with a year or a bit more while normally the development from start to finish would take years and years.

[ExFmem]

We had to cancel our 2020 trip that began with 8 days at Uri!!! Just pure luck that 5 days became available to add to our existing 3. Was really bummed out about it.

Even now, not sure whether to reserve dates for next year or not. Too many variables, but if one waits too long, there's little to nothing special available.

Good luck all!

[Mel]

We had to cancel our 2020 trip that began with 8 days at Uri!!! Just pure luck that 5 days became available to add to our existing 3. Was really bummed out about it.

Partners in pain then. We had a whopping 10 nights at Uri that we couldn't make use of - a similar lucky grab as yours.

[Lisbeth]

Two SA airports – and Port Elizabeth – just got official new names

Business Insider SA | Feb 23, 2021, 05:52 PM

• The names of the airports in East London, and the Nelson Mandela Bay city formerly known as Port Elizabeth, officially changed on Tuesday.

• Uitenhage, King William’s Town, and Maclear all have new names too.

Name changes saw new impetus in the Eastern Cape in 2020, but not all the now-official names are without controversy.

Two secondary airports – and one fairly big city – have official new names from Tuesday.

Arts and culture minister Nathi Mthethwa recognised the new names by publication in the Government Gazette, alongside a handful of registrations of existing geographic names, and some spelling corrections.

All the newly-names places are in the Eastern Cape, which saw a surge in interest in renaming in 2020.

The major new names are:

• Port Elizabeth airport is now Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport

• East London airport is now the King Phalo Airport

• Port Elizabeth itself is now Gqeberha

• Uitenhage is now Kariega

• King William’s Town is now Qonce

• Maclear is now Nqanqarhu

The plan to name the airport in East London after King Phalo drew criticism from a group of traditional leaders. They said it should be named after Chief Pato of AmaGqunukhwebe instead, because, they claimed, the land on which the airport is situated falls under the land of Pato, and not Phalo of AmaXhosa.

Renaming Port Elizabeth, which falls within the Nelson Mandela Bay metro and is often referred to as such, also met some initial opposition when it was proposed in 2020.

(Compiled by Phillip de Wet)

[Lisbeth]

Certainly the above will be a big help to make tourists even more confused

Could someone tell me why the airport, if there is only one, of a city must have a different name than that of the city

[Alf]

Just another way to create the opportunity to steal money

[Richprins]

It diverts attention from failings, Lis!

[Lisbeth]

[Klipspringer]

Could someone tell me why the airport, if there is only one, of a city must have a different name than that of the city

I think one should do soon a second round of re-naming and name some after women