Breaking News – Tourism State Minister loses re-election bid
TOURISM STATE MINISTER LOSES RACE FOR PARLIAMENT Minister of State for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities in the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry Hon. Serapio Rukundo, lost his quest to return to parliament when he was beaten by an independent candidate in his home town of Kabale in South Western Uganda. Rukundo was repeatedly in the news […]
News update – Rwanda gets UN’s Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity ‘stamp of approval’
UN’S GOODWILL AMBASSADOR FOR BIODIVERSITY ‘INSPIRED BY RWANDA’ American actor Edward Norton, currently the UN’s Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity, is presently in Rwanda to get firsthand experience on the legislative and regulatory measures taken to preserve, protect and restore biodiversity. As regularly reported here, Rwanda has an outstanding record in protecting flora and fauna and […]
Breaking News – Seychelles Island Foundation gets EU grant to protect Aldabra / Vallee de Mai
SEYCHELLES ISLAND FOUNDATION GETS EU GRANT TO FIGHT ‘INVASIVE SPECIES’ The European Union has awarded the Seychelles Island Foundation a grant of over 800.000 Euros after approving a project drawn up and designed by SIF recently. The foundation is tasked to look after two crucially important UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the visitor magnet ‘Vallee de […]
News update – Goma volcano heading for another eruption
GOMA VOLCANO SET FOR ANOTHER ERUPTION Previous eruptions in recent times may be dwarfed by the expected next eruption of Mr. Nyiragongo, which towers over the Eastern Congolese city of Goma. 9 years ago, in January 2002, when the region’s most active volcano erupted, the reportedly rather ‘liquid’ lava swiftly covered a sizeable part of […]
Breaking News – Dar’s international airport open again – airlines furious over incident and aviation safety issues
DAR’S JNIA AIRPORT OPEN AGAIN / AIRLINES IN DAR ‘FURIOUS’ OVER INCIDENT A regular aviation source in Dar es Salaam has through third parties passed his own views and that of several of his colleagues, even from other airlines, on the airport closure of Dar’s Julius Nyerere International Airport. He said he had to opt […]
Breaking News – Update – Explosions in Dar es Salaam
UPDATE ON ARMY BASE EXPLOSION NEAR DAR ES SALAAM’S JNIA Information received from Dar at present pegs the death toll ‘near 20’ with reportedly hundreds of people, both from the base as well as from residential areas within a radius of several miles, injured. The hospitals are not confirming details by phone on how many […]
Breaking News – Explosions at Dar es Salaam military base close airport
MAJOR EXPLOSIONS AT DAR ES SALAAM MILITARY BASE CLOSE AIRPORT The international airport in Dar es Salaam was closed last night, when a series of explosions rocked a nearby military base once again, the last such blasts having occurred in 2009. Information, though sketchy, from Dar indicates that as many as several hundred people may […]
Breaking News – RwandAir selects SITA IT-solutions and frequent flyer programme
RWANDAIR SELECTS SITA’S IT SOLUTIONS The Rwandan national airline has entered into a long term arrangement with SITA to provide their new e-Commerce platform for web based transactions and secure payments with credit cards or e-transfers. The system launch date will be sometime in April this year, when other modalities have been resolved and final preparations […]
Breaking News – Kenya Airways gets certification for B737-800 simulator
KENYA AIRWAYS RECEIVES ‘SIMULATOR’ CERTIFICATION ‘The Pride of Africa’ has today started using their own fully certified simulator facility at the ‘Pride Training Centre’ in Embakasi / Nairobi, after receiving the requisite ‘paperwork’ from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and the British CAA. Having certification from Britain too will allow the facility to be used by […]
News update – Fibre optic cable survey underway to connect Seychelles to African mainland
SURVEY SHIP FOR FIBRE OPTIC CABLE LINK TO MAINLAND SETS OUT EGS Explorer left the Victoria port on Mahe yesterday to commence a long distance survey mission, which will end on the African mainland at Dar es Salaam port, aimed at establishing the contours of the seabed along which the fibre optic connection will be laid. […]
Breaking News – South Sudan President Salva Kiir launches final construction phase of Juba – Nimule highway
SOUTH SUDAN STARTS TARMACKING OF JUBA – NIMULE HIGHWAY The project to lay tarmac on this crucial highway, linking the South Sudan capital of Juba with the northern Ugandan municipality of Gulu, has been formally launched last week when President Salva Kiir, the US’ Consul General in Juba and contractors’ representatives met for the ceremony. The highway […]
News update – Kigali International Airport gets security boost
ANOTHER AVIATION SECURITY COURSE SEES 22 MORE GRADUATE Information was received from Kigali overnight that another course initiated by the Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority, in conjunction with global body ICAO, has ended with the graduation of all participants. This dedicated security workshop and training session lasted two weeks and was aimed at members of […]
Breaking News – Seychelles invites naval ships to Victoria during ‘Carnival Festival’
CARNIVAL FESTIVAL INVITATION EXTENDED TO NAVAL SHIPS TOO The Seychelles’ first ever ‘Carnival Festival’ due to be held between 04th and 06th of March continues to attract attention from the traditional carnival countries, many of which have committed to send delegations to Mahe, but of late also from another quarter. The coastguard / navy of the […]
Breaking News – History Park planned at/near Olduvai Gorge
HISTORY PARK PLANNED AT OLDUVAI GORGE Major construction can be expected at and near the prehistoric sites of Olduvai Gorge, where the Leakey family made their famous discoveries of early mankind. More recent finds some 40 odd kilometres away in Laetoli include footsteps dated back over 3.5 million years, but those have until now been kept literally […]
Breaking News – Arabian Travel Market to dedicate seperate pavilion to Africa
ARABIAN TRAVEL MARKET DEDICATES PAVILION TO AFRICA The upcoming edition of the Gulf and Arab’s world most important tourism trade fare will have a new feature for its visitors, as an ‘Africa Pavilion’ will be established for exhibitors coming from the continent and aiming to tap into the hugely important expatriate and citizen travel potential from […]
Breaking News – Kenya Airways releases Q3 results (Oct-Dec2010)
KQ’S Q3 OPERATING PERFORMANCE IMPRESSIVELY IMPROVED Kenya Airways has just released its statistics on the current financial year’s 3rd quarter operating performance, covering the period between October and December 2010. Overall capacity provided during the period grew by 5.2 percent, across the network, which broken down by geographical regions translates into the following regionalised growth: […]
More ‘Spotlight’ workshops planned for JNB and CPT
HOUSTON MARKETING OFFERS ‘SPOTLIGHT’ WORKSHOPS IN JNB AND CPT Derek Houston has just announced that he will be holding more ‘Spotlight’ workshops in Johannesburg and Cape Town on 06th and 08th April respectively, during which East African tourism businesses can once again showcase their new products and itineraries to two key South African markets. Derek in an […]
RwandAir projects over 40 percent growth for 2011
RWANDAIR EXPECTS ANOTHER ‘BUMPER YEAR’ Traffic and passenger growth for RwandAir is expected to rise by over 40 percent in 2011 according to a source in Kigali. This quantum leap is attributed to the arrival of new aircraft and the addition of new routes – the first one this year being Brazzaville as of early […]
News update – Kenya Airways maintains Cairo flights as per schedule
KENYA AIRWAYS MAINTAINS CAIRO SCHEDULE The Kenyan national airline has throughout the political crisis in Egypt maintained their flights between Nairobi to Cairo, which operate daily via Khartoum. While Egypt Air, also flying daily to Nairobi, has been scaling back their operations, especially while an extensive curfew was in place in Cairo, it subsequently has rebooked […]
News from the Porini Conservancies in Kenya
For my 100th post this one was meant to be special and indeed it is – read on and enjoy! CONSERVANCY NEWS FROM PORINI The record breaking year in Kenya’s tourism sector has equally benefitted the camps in the conservancies owned by Porini / Gamewatcher Safaris with higher occupancies, and welcome news have been […]
News update – Air Seychelles staff excel in studies, get Presidential recognition
AIR SEYCHELLES PRASLIN STATION MANAGER GETS PRESIDENTIAL RECOGNITION Last week’s graduation ceremony of the Seychelles Institute of Management saw two staff of Air Seychelles – attending courses to advance their academic credentials and pave the way for career advances – excel at the very highest level. The airline’s station manager in Praslin Norbert Lepathy in fact received […]
Kenya Wildlife Service faces changes, restructuring under new draft bill
KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE HEADING FOR BREAKUP? The new proposed revision of the Wildlife Act, under which the KWS presently operates, foresees a major if not massive change in the way the organization is set up and works. Information from Nairobi speaks of as many as six different organizations which need creating and setting up, should […]
Rwanda bags ‘Wanderlust Travel Award’
WANDERLUST TRAVEL AWARDS PUT RWANDA ON TOP Rwanda came out on ‘top of Africa’ as THE emerging destination of the year, according to the just published results of the British ‘Wanderlust Travel Awards’. Thousands of readers of the magazine participated in the polling, putting Rwanda not just on top of the African rankings but also into […]
Breaking News – Rufiji River’s ‘Stiegler’s Gorge’ under threat from power station?
STIEGLER’S GORGE OF THE RUFIJI RIVER/SELOUS UNDER THREAT? While the controversy over the planned Serengeti highway continues unabated – especially in the light of Tanzania’s government decision to go ahead by hook or crook – another potential nail in Tanzania’s conservation coffin is gradually emerging in the public domain. Regular and reliable sources in Dar and […]
Rwanda’s forests – an asset for tourism
RWANDA TURNS FORESTS INTO TOURISM ASSETS ‘The land of a thousand hills’ as Rwanda is known by her friends from near and far, has in recent years enjoyed a boom in tourism arrivals, and before becoming a victim of its own success with only one major tourism product on offer, acted quickly and decisively to […]
News update – Kisumu airport construction work to end by May
KISUMU AIRPORT WORK TO END BY MAY The Kenya Airports Authority has provided information this week that rehabilitation, expansion and modernization work at the airport of Kisumu – Kenya’s lakeside city – will be completed by May or latest June this year. At that time the new expanded terminal building will become operational, designed to […]
News update – TANESCO under fire from hospitality businesses
HOSPITALITY SECTOR BLASTS POWER COMPANY The present increased ‘load-shedding’ in Tanzania has been blamed by sections of the country’s hospitality sector on ‘lack of forward planning’ and ‘excessive bureaucracy’. ‘The dwindling reserves in our hydro power dams was known for a while and overdue repairs and lack of maintenance causes turbines to break down which […]
Breaking News – Traffic data of Tanzanian government study leaked
STOP THE SERENGETI HIGHWAY FACEBOOK PAGE SHOCKS PUBLIC WITH TRAFFIC DATA In a not entirely surprising development earlier this week has the global conservation fraternity thrown its weight behind the ‘Stop the Serengeti Highway’ movement, when sources clearly opposed to the project in Dar es Salaam and Arusha made one of the Tanzanian government’s environmental impact […]
Breaking News – Air Seychelles gets UK MoD contract for Falklands renewed
AIR SEYCHELLES RETAINS UK MOD CONTRACT ‘Outstanding performance’ was according to a regular source one of the main factors for the Ministry of Defence in Britain to renew the contract for Air Seychelles to operate regular personnel charters and supply flights from Brize Norton air force base in the UK to the Falklands’ Mt. Pleasant […]
Breaking News – East African military stand by force to conduct exercises in South Sudan
EASTERN AFRICAN STAND BY FORCE TO EXERCISE IN SOUTH SUDAN Information was just received that the Eastern African Stand By Force has agreed to hold an exercise later in the year in South Sudan, most likely soon after the Independence has become a reality. Key member states of the group are of course also members […]
