TATA’s Taj Hotels seek opportunities in Kenya

TATA’S TAJ HOTELS SEEK OPPORTUNITIES IN KENYA Many in East Africa will associated TATA with trucks, or the conservation fraternity with the company’s past association with the hugely controversial soda ash extraction plant at Lake Natron. In Kenya TATA is represented through several ventures, including a consultancy firm, but was most recently in the press […]

African Development Bank clears loan for Voi – Arusha Highway

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK APPROVES LOAN FOR VOI – ARUSHA HIGHWAY A loan package worth over 232 million US Dollars has been approved by the African Development Bank to help finance the much awaited construction of a new highway, connecting the Kenyan town of Voi – located 100 miles along the Mombasa to Nairobi highway – […]

Kenya’s SafariCom breaks new ground with M-Pesa deal for restaurants

MOBILE MONEY SET TO RIVAL BANK CARDS IN KENYA Kenya’s leading mobile telecommunications company SafariCom has earlier this week thrown the gauntlet to the traditional plastic money companies when it launched a new initiative, which will allow the use of M-Pesa, aka mobile money, to pay for restaurant bills. A source in Nairobi sent the […]

Aride Island goes solar to enhance the ‘green philosophy’

ARIDE ISLAND GOES EXCLUSIVELY SOLAR The Seychelles northernmost granite island, Aride, a nature reserve owned and managed by the Island Conservation Society and dedicated to protect the island’s unique flora and fauna, has earlier this week switched of its diesel powered generator as a new solar system took over. The Seychelles have a policy of […]

Mauritius finally drops the Carnival plus Shopping Fiesta

MAURITIUS TOURISM MINISTER CONFIRMS THE END OF THE CARNIVAL SHOPPING FIESTA The Mauritius Minister for Tourism Michael Sik Yuen confirmed before parliament in Port Louis yesterday what has been rumoured from the grapevine for weeks now, that there will be no repeat of the ill conceived erstwhile rival Carnival then turned into the Shopping Fiesta […]

Serena Hotels in ground breaking training initiative with DEG of Germany

KAMPALA SERENA TO HOST KEY TRAINING INITIATIVE The Kampala Serena Hotel will be East Africa’s leading hospitality group’s second property to host a new training initiative, first rolled out at the Polana Serena in Mozambique, where it was termed a huge success. Serena Hotels and DEG, a German government owned investment development agency, have partnered […]

FastJet forced to drop Zanzibar and Mwanza as flights fail to generate viable loads

FASTJET SUSPENDS ROUTES AS REALITY HITS HOME The question is making the round in Tanzania’s aviation circles if FastJet has bitten off more than it can chew, when news broke that the airline has suspended flights from Kilimanjaro to Mwanza and from Kilimanjaro to Zanzibar. The Zanzibar flights were only launched recently, with full mouthed […]

STA progress impresses financiers

SEYCHELLES TOURISM ACADEMY CONSTRUCTION IMPRESSES FINANCIER DELEGATION A delegation from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, in short BADEA, recently visited the Seychelles to discuss further cooperation and support for investments on the archipelago. Notably, the development bank is financing 80 percent of the projected cost of the modernization and expansion of the […]

Rwanda’s WDA set to partner with Les Roches to establish hospitality training campus

RWANDA’S WDA PLANS JOINT VENTURE WITH SWISS BASED LES ROCHES ISHM A regular source from Kigali has sent information that Rwanda’s Workplace Development Authority has apparently entered into an agreement with Swiss based Les Roches International School of Hotel Management, one of the world’s best reputed hospitality training institutions, to create a training facility, and […]

Ethiopian adds Manila from 18th June

ETHIOPIAN TO ADD MANILA VIA HONG KONG Ethiopian Airlines will from the 18th of June commence flights to Manila, the capital of the Philippines, using, according to information available right now, a B767-300ER aircraft. The destination is due to be served three times a week and flights will route via Hong Kong, which the airline […]

REMA’s CEO bags ‘Forest Hero’ Award from UN

REMA GETS UN RECOGNITION FOR FOREST PROTECTION (REMA file picture) The Director General of the Rwanda Environmental Management Authority, Dr. Rose Mukankomeje, was over the weekend honoured by the United Nations Forum on Forests, which was held in the Turkish commercial capital of Istanbul. Dr. Rose captured the key ‘Forest Heroes’ Award for Africa, in […]

FZS boosts SENAPA anti poaching measures

FRANKFURT ZOO TO BOOST SECURITY IN SERENGETI Information was received from a regular conservation source in Arusha that the Frankfurt Zoological Society, one of Tanzania National Park’s staunchest supporters over the past decades, has set aside fresh funding to boost in particular anti poaching capabilities in the Serengeti National Park. It was this park which […]

Rwanda awards Bugesera airport construction to Chinese state construction firm

CHINESE COMPANY WINS TENDER FOR NEW BUGESERA AIRPORT IN RWANDA News broke a few days ago that Rwanda had finally awarded the contract for the new international airport at Bugesera to the winning bidder, the China State Construction Engineering Corporation. The move was overdue and anxiously awaited by Rwanda’s aviation fraternity, in particular RwandAir, which […]

Nairobi to Nakuru rail link disrupted following flooding in Naivasha area

TORRENTIAL RAINS LEAD TO RAIL SUSPENSION Kenya Railways has yesterday, for the time being at least, suspended train operations between Nairobi and Nakuru after extensive flooding was reported from the Naivasha area in the Rift Valley. Motorists too were warned to be extra careful after the river Malewa burst its banks, threatening to submerge sections […]

RDB’s Rwigamba takes over chair of GVTC

RICA RWIGAMBA TAKES OVER CHAIR OF GVTC RDB’s Head of Tourism and Conservation Rica Rwigamba has yesterday taken over as Chairperson of the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration, which brings together Rwanda, Uganda and the Congo DR for the purpose of conservation and management of the mountain gorilla populations and their habitat. Rica is starting her […]

Serena continues to invest in the face of lower profits

SERENA CONTINUE TO INVEST INSPITE OF LOWERED PROFITS Serena Hotels, East Africa’s predominant market leader in the hospitality industry, has once again bucked the trend, when continuing to invest significant funds in the upgrading of selected properties. Reports from Nairobi tell the story that the company’s 2012 year on year profits have reduced by some […]

Air Seychelles signs codeshare deal to Dublin

AIR SEYCHELLES ADDS DUBLIN TO CODE SHARE DESTINATIONS Information just received from the Seychelles confirms the latest grapevine talk, that Air Seychelles has signed up to another codeshare agreement with Etihad, partner of the Seychellois national airline and a 40 percent shareholder in it, to offer seamless connections to the Irish capital city of Dublin. […]

Bukoba Airport set for finishing touches of modernization programme

BUKOBA AIRPORT MODERNIZATION ON COURSE FOR MAY OPENING A regular aviation source in Dar es Salaam has confirmed that the airport of Tanzania’s Lake Victoria township of Bukoba, located on the western shores of the lake, and administrative capital of the Kagera region of the country, will see the new facilities officially launched by the […]

New bat species found in South Sudan

NEW BAT SPECIES FOUND IN SOUTH SUDAN EXCITES CONSERVATION FRATERNITY   Information was received from a source in Juba, the capital of South Sudan that a new bat species was discovered recently in the country and was subsequently named ‘Niumbaha Superba’. Similar to a bat discovered in 1939 in the then Belgian Congo, now the […]

Kenya Airways introduces first owned B737-300C aircraft to the public

KENYA AIRWAYS INTRODUCES FIRST OWNED FREIGHTER TO THE PUBLIC Kenya Airways yesterday introduced the media, cargo partners and the general public to their first fully owned B737-300 freighter aircraft, which was converted over the past few months from a passenger version to a cargo plane, the first of four such planned conversions. Registered as 5Y-KQC […]

Kenya set to host World Travel Awards for Africa in October

KENYA TOURISM BOARD CONFIRMS HOSTING OF WTA AWARD CEREMONY No sooner had the former tourism minister Mwazo left Utalii House did the Kenya Tourism Board confirm that the country has been selected to host the World Tourism Award Ceremony for Africa this coming October, aka the Oscars of Tourism. A gala of major proportions is […]

Uganda doing much better than WEF rankings suggest say tourism stakeholders

UGANDA’S TOURISM INDUSTRY REJECTS WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM RANKINGS ‘Uganda has improved in many spheres, that’s why it has continued to receive global recognitions. Infrastructure and security have all improved so I don’t know what they are talking about’ said Mr. Cuthbert Baguma, CEO of the Tourism Uganda, aka Uganda Tourism Board, when the results of […]

FlyDubai confirms April 21st as date for inaugural flight to Juba

FLY DUBAI SET FOR APRIL 21ST INAUGURAL FLIGHT TO JUBA As reported here in February in a breaking news article, Fly Dubai will commence flights to Juba from the 21st of April. Initially will the Dubai based LCC fly four times a week, using their workhorse B737-800 for the service, though it is expected that […]

Vietnamese national arrested at JKIA with nearly 34 Kg’s of blood ivory

KENYA NABBS MORE BLOOD IVORY SMUGGLERS AS 1.000 MORE RANGERS JOIN KWS A Vietnamese national was arrested earlier in the week at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, when he was found with nearly 34 kilogrammes of carved and cut up ivory. Reports from Nairobi speak of almost 500 pieces of ivory, painted brown to look […]

Kenya’s new government set to boost tourism and tackle poaching

KENYA’S TOURISM AND CONSERVATION MENTIONED IN INAUGURAL SPEECHES History came home to roost yesterday when at 12.35 local time Uhuru Kenyatta, son of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s founding father, was sworn in as the country’s fourth President. He has now returned to the place of his youth where he spent his early years as a […]

Ethiopian delays South America flights to July

ETHIOPIAN DELAYS SOUTH AMERICA FLIGHTS ONCE AGAIN As with other delays in commencing flights has Ethiopian Airlines now conceded that their planned flights to Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo will be pushed back by at least another month. This development is likely caused by the lack of available aircraft while the airline’s prized B787 […]

Murchisons Falls NP golf course project – not again surely …

CONTROVERSIAL GOLF COURSE PROJECT BACK IN THE NEWS  When presiding over the passing out of over 400 new Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers last week, President Museveni again let fly over his disappointment, if not outright anger, for having been defied in the past by UWA, NEAM and the conservation fraternity at large, to give permission […]

Travelport sets up shop directly in Nairobi

TRAVELPORT SETS UP DIRECT OFFICES IN KENYA Travelport Africa has announced that they will commence direct operations in Kenya and have appointed Mr. Rajab Itambo as General Manager Kenya. He joins the company from Kenya Airways where he has been working on the Travelport assignment since 2008. The past partnership with Kenya Airways, which had […]