What the tourist board doesn't tell you

People travelling to South Africa are paying much higher rates for food and accommodation simply for having a British accent. Hotels and restaurants are charging up to four times as much for rooms and meals as soon as they realise the visitor is from Britain, where the pound is very strong against the rand.

At one hotel in Cape Town last month, British visitors were being charged on average £90 a night. When told that I lived in Johannesburg, having moved there from London four years ago, the rate was immediately cut to £25.

The same happens in other parts of Africa such as Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. Hotels there have a sliding rate depending on which country you are from. Local Zimbabweans pay a quarter of the advertised price; South Africans pay half; and Britons the full whack.

How to get round it: lie and say you are an expat who knows the scam.