We were a bit peeved that we did not even get a mention, but nevermind that. We are proud that our overland tour division put the entire package and itinerary together for this group of South American football fans.

Compiling an overland tour to fit in a team’s fixtures all over the country AND including a dozen or so of South Africa’s top tourist highlights is no mean feat. Good work Tania and your team!

Bueno Chile!
Bueno Football!
Bueno Overland Style!

Check out some of photos, videos, comments and general banter from the streets of Cape Town on the OverlandingAfrica.com Facebook Fan page.

Bafana Bafana young fan

(Thanks  to Tania and your team for sharing these greats pics and videos.)

Find out more about OverlandingAfrica.com.

You will be responsible for the effective roll-out of 2 major projects in 2010/2011, as well as enhancements to existing websites, CMS’s and back-office systems.

The projects for 2010/2011 require a high-degree of integration with 3rd party travel applications and social media websites/API’s.

Read more / apply

Contact – andre [at] discoverafrica.com

Cape Town Stadium - panoramic

A group tour of Cape Town's Soccer Stadium which will host 8 games at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals

The FINAL COUNTDOWN !!!

A vital part of the preparations... mowing the lawn!

Charl Pauw (former SABC news reporter) chats to Ray Gamble - Project Director of the Cape Town World Cup Stadium construction project

Fianl touches are discussed

The new Cape Town Stadium with Signal Hill in the background

View all photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/drezilla/sets/72157622855350827/show/

The new stadium is built on the site of the old Green Point Stadium.

Cape Town Stadium will host 8 matches in the FIFA World Cup finals in 2010. The matches will take place between 11 June and 11 July - and includes 1 Quarter-final and Semi-final game, in soccer’s greatest event on the planet!

• 4×4 Consultant
• Vehicle Rental Consultant

Discover Africa Group brands

With a proven track record of developing beautiful and effective brand-centric web presences, HelloComputer fulfilled the primary objective of re-positioning and re-designing the holding company’s corporate identity to reflect the new company name and its core characteristics:

• Professional
• Friendly
• Tech savvy
• Passionate about travel
• Passionate about Africa

“Our aim was to build the identity into a more sophisticated and recognizable one, whilst creating space for future additions and scalability” says Mark Tomlinson, Creative Director at HelloComputer.

“We opted for a strong and simple logo and typeface. By combining the iconic shape of Africa with an upward arrow element, we’ve represented both the ‘online-nature’ of the travel company and the passion that the Discover Africa guys have for Africa as a premier worldwide travel destination.”

Another challenge was to re-brand the various entities which make up the Discover Africa Group.

Andre Van Kets, Discover Africa Group Director was clearly pleased with the outcome: “HelloComputer retained key elements of each of the existing brands; a colour, a portion of the logo, or both. We especially like the edgy – yet subtle – Web2.0 design style applied to the logos. The end result is a consolidated set of brands that carry a common thread, yet allows each to remain distinct.”

Visit the websites: Drive South Africa, Overlanding Africa, Discover Africa.

What do you think of the new branding? We’d love to hear your comments.

Here’s our response:

1. There are no tigers in Africa

Whilst our original name is quirky, and a play on a popular South African expression, the simple truth is that there are no tigers in Africa.

2. We now cover all of Africa.

When we started out in 2002, we only covered Southern Africa. We now cover all of Africa.

3. All divisions consolidated under one umbrella

The new name reflects the “group-nature” of our company. Whilst all divisions/websites run fairly autonomously, we wanted the name to reflect that the our various divisions belong to something bigger.

4. DiscoverAfrica.com

The acquisition of the new domain name DiscoverAfrica.com towards the end of 2008 was a catalyst for the group’s name to become “Discover Africa Group”

What else has changed?

The most notable change is the new branding and corporate identity for the “umbrella company” and its various divisions. The new branding is currently being rolled out across all websites within the group.

Discover Africa Group's new branding

So, apart from the name and branding changes (which we’re very excited about!) it’s business as usual at Discover Africa Group. We continue to offer:

1. Professional and friendly service

2. Wide range of Africa travel options - vehicle hire, hotels, accommodation, day tours, luxury safaris, package tours, tailor-made holidays, overland tours and budget safaris

3. Efficient back-office systems

4. Same shareholding, directors and management team

It’s a interesting incite to daily life here at Discover Africa Group. Enjoy…

Subject: Our Eco Friendly Office

Morning all,

So, summer is coming and as most of you know, that means this office gets hot! A couple of things to take note of this summer please….

1.    We have windows! It is not necessary to run the air conditioner when it is fairly cool and/or breezy outside. I have asked Aisha to open the windows first thing in the morning (7am). YOU are responsible for closing the windows next to you and if you are the last person to leave at night, please quickly check that all windows are closed. If you find any open you can ‘fine’ the person who should have closed it if you like ? I find chocolate works for me….  ;)

2.    Use the fans that are scattered around the office – but TURN THEM OFF when you leave please.

3.    Partly closing the blinds during the day will help keep the office cooler – and no, it does not make your screen hard to see.

4.    Closing the bathroom door after you stops the heat generated from the kitchen downstairs blowing in to our office. Their extractor fans pump hot air into that area behind our wall and you may remember last year it was like standing in front of a hair dryer while you were washing your hands. ?

5.    To prevent last year’s ‘performance’ regarding the air conditioner I will be getting a instruction manual from the manufacturer and setting the air con up so that it works automatically. In theory it will then come on and switch off at a specific time each day and run at a specified temperature. So no fights! ?

If you have any other ideas about office recycling, ‘lowering our footprint’ or being eco friendly please email me directl

Thanks!

Tania Wheeler
General Manager
OverlandingAfrica.com

–

What initiatives do you take in your office to remain “eco friendly”?

1. Silicon Cape

The Silicon Cape initiative, hosted at the Rotunda in Camps Bay, Cape Town saw more than 500 of Cape Town’s top tech-savvy minds gather for the launch of an initiative that aims to create a hub of technology, innovation and investment in Cape Town – similar to San Francisco’ Silicon Valley.

Speakers included entrepreneurs and Silicon Cape founders Justin Stanford and Vinny Lingham amongst other entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Dr. Mamphela Ramphela and Western Cape premier Helen Zille also addressed the audience.

Silicon Cape vision: The Silicon Cape vision is of an ecosystem in the Western Cape of South Africa, that serves to attract and bring together local and foreign investors, the brightest technical talent, and the most promising entrepreneurs, to foster the creation and growth of world-class IP start-up companies in an environment that competes with other similar hubs around the world against the backdrop of one of the most beautiful settings and pleasant places to live, work and play on the globe.

Read more at the official Silicon Cape website.

2. Cape Town Tourism

The other event I attended was the Cape Town Tourism AGM held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The event was hosted by popular radio DJ Nigel Pearce. The formalities were handled swiftly.

Cape Town Tourism’s CEO Mariette du Toit-Helbold unveiled the tourism body’s strategy for the coming year and the greater vision for 2020.

Head of Tourism Barcelona, Pere Duran, was the keynote speaker. He shared many interesting facts, statistics and insight into the effect of a major event like the Olympic Games or Soccer World Cup can have on a city.

Cape Town Tourism’s 2020 vision: To double the economic impact of tourism on the city by 2020.

Visit Cape Town Tourism website for stories and photos of the event.

Cape Town Tourism + Cape Town Technology = Our Passion

As an online travel company based in Cape Town, we find ourselves at the intersection of these 2 inspiring initiatives/organisations.

We are extremely passionate about tourism and technology. We believe that Cape Town is very fortunate to have such passionate people spearheading these key aspects of our city and our countries’ economy.

The big question is: Can these 2 industries (independently or together!) fill the very big shoes of South Africa’s current “bread-winners”. It is vital that government, business and the average man on the street support both industries. Because – once all the gold, diamonds, coal and platinum run out – what is going to bring in the Dollars and Euros?

Did anyone else attend either or both events?

We would love to hear your views or comments…

The website will be the online home for the group of companies that fall under the Discover Africa Group umbrella:

• Discover Africa.com
• Drive South Africa
• Overlanding Africa.com

We will use this website as a platform to share our ideas on the Africa travel industry and keep you updated on all happenings at the Discover Africa Group (”DAG”).

In the next few weeks you can expect to hear more about the transition from “Easy Tiger Tourism” to “Discover Africa Group”:

• Why the name change?
• A closer look at our new brand/corporate identity
• The direction in which DAG will be moving

If you have any questions or comments please leave a comment, or contact us directly.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Until later…

Yours in travel,
Andre Van Kets & Steve Conradie
Directors
Discover Africa Group