Silence is golden … an alien concept for MTPA’s Mootoosamy
MTPA’S MOOTOOSAMY ATTEMPTS DAMAGE CONTROL (Posted 13th February 2014) Usually reliable and well informed sources in Port Louis have broken the story that the head of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, one Karl Mootoosamy, clearly rattled by both local and international media reports about his continued spat with the Seychelles and the Vanilla Island Organziation, […]
Wolfgang Thome – 2014 Safari Awards Results – No Embargo
News from The Good Safari Guide – The Safari Awards 2014 While front runner Zambia took the lion’s share of this year’s awards, Kenya has, inspite of the challenges the destination faces this year, acquitted herself admirably and bagged a good number of awards. Tanzania is back in the frame too with ‘Best Beach Safari’ […]
Serengeti Highway case decision now rests with judges
EAST AFRICAN COURT OF JUSTICE HEARS FINAL SUBMISSIONS IN SERENGETI HIGHWAY CASE (Posted 13th February 2014) Details have emerged from Arusha, that the East African Court of Justice has earlier this week heard final submissions from the Tanzanian government and the plaintiffs who are seeking to obtain a permanent injunction of the construction of the […]
KTB and KQ target African markets for tourism growth
KENYA TOURISM AND KENYA AIRWAYS PARTNER TO MARKET KENYA IN SOUTH AFRICA (Posted 13th February 2014) The Kenya Tourism Board has confirmed that a joint campaign to market Kenya in South Africa has been launched in close partnership with Kenya Airways. As tourism arrivals from the traditional core markets for in particular the Kenya coast […]
RwandAir introduces dual class turboprop into the East African skies
RWANDAIR’S NEW BOMBARDIER Q400 CABIN NOW COMPLETE (Posted 13th February 2014) The countdown is now truly on as RwandAir is expecting their newest bird, a Bombardier Q400 to arrive in Kigali on the 03rd of March. Latest pictures obtained show the aircraft interior now completely outfitted in the dual class cabin, offering both business and […]
Meet Reunion Tourism at the Paris Golf Show
REUNION TOURISM PROMOTING GOLFING HOLIDAYS (Posted 13th February 2014) The Reunion Tourism office, in short IRT, has confirmed that they will attend the Paris Golf Show from the 14th to 16th of March which will be held at the Parc de Expositions at Porte de Versailles. The world’s leading golfing brands will all be on […]
Dodoma becomes Auric Air’s 19th domestic destination
AURIC AIR ADDS DODOMA TO GROWING DOMESTIC NETWORK (Posted 13th February 2014) Auric Air, one of Tanzania’s leading domestic scheduled and charter airlines, has confirmed that effective 17th February they are adding flights to Tanzania’s formal capital city of Dodoma. Operating from their main hub in Mwanza, the airline now uses a fleet of 8 […]
Nairobi set to host Swahili Fashion Week Kenya from 05th April
SWAHILI FASHION WEEK HEADING TO KENYA (Posted 13th February 2014) East Africa’s most successful fashion festival, the Swahili Fashion Week, is preparing to make a full appearance in Kenya as a mainstream event, starting from the 05th of April this year. Mustafa Hassanali’s erstwhile vision, which resulted in the first Swahili Fashion Week to be […]
BA teams up with Corporate League to raise funds
BRITISH AIRWAYS PARTNERS WITH UGANDA’S CORPORATE LEAGUE FOR CHARITY (Posted 11th February 2014) British Airways Uganda and the Corporate League, a football league for Ugandan teams, have joined hands to raise funds for local charities through a season opening mini tournament which according to a media release just received will become an annual event. The […]
Seychelles arrival numbers keep climbing as January figures show 5 percent plus
SEYCHELLES STARTS 2014 AS 2013 ENDED – WITH A NEW JANUARY ARRIVAL RECORD (Posted 11th February 2014) There was certainly pride in the latest media brief received from Seychelles’ Minister of Tourism and Culture Alain St. Ange, when he shared the January statistics of arrivals and average stay of tourists to the islands. The length […]
Who are the villains in Tanzania’s never ending poaching business
CONSERVATIONISTS TELL TANZANIA TO STOP MOUTHING OFF AND INSTEAD FIGHT POACHING FOR REAL (Posted 12th February 2014) ‘The shame has come home to roost’ wrote a regular conservation source from Arusha, when it became known that a hugely damaging media report in the UK blamed Tanzania’s massive poaching records squarely on the failures of the […]
Tsavo / Mkomanzi elephant census shows significant decrease in numbers
TSAVO / MKOMANZI ELEPHANT CENSUS CONFIRMS A LOSS OF 1.500 ELEPHANT SINCE 2011 (Posted 11th February 2014) Information has come to light, following the conclusion of the recent transboundary elephant population survey covering the Tsavo and Mkomanzi national parks in Kenya and Tanzania, that compared with the last census in 2011, the returns showed some […]
It is all about Creole cuisine as top French food critic visits Reunion
FRENCH FOOD CRITIC PLANS VISIT TO REUNION TO SAMPLE CREOLE CREATIONS (Posted 11th February 2014) Gilles Pudlowski, a famous French food critic and writer for Le Point, Version Femina and Cuisines and Wines of France, will be visiting Ile de la Reunion, the French Indian Ocean island from 25th to 28th of February. He is […]
RwandAir to resume Juba flights on 01st March
RWANDAIR SET FOR RESUMPTION OF JUBA SERVICES EFFECTIVE 01ST MARCH (Posted 11th February 2014) RwandAir has just announced that their Juba services, suspended since the outbreak of hostilities between the two opposing sides in South Sudan, will resume their full schedule between Kigali and Juba as of 01st of March. The airline will from that […]
IRT names new tourism ambassador
REUNION TOURISM NAMES GEORGE COLSON TOURISM AMBASSADOR (Posted 11th February 2014) The Chairman of the National Union of Travel Agents, George Colson, was last weekend named Ile de la Reunion’s Tourism Ambassador, in recognition of his work to promote this French Indian Ocean island. SNAV just concluded its 7th meeting on La Reunion with over […]
It’s Jazz time in Dubai
EMIRATES REELS IN VISITORS WITH FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES (Posted 11th February 2014) Yesterday it was the announcement that Emirates, Dubai’s award winning airline, was the main sponsor of the ‘Festival of Literature’ and today more news emerged that the airline will be the main sponsor of the ‘Dubai Jazz Festival – a Unique Take on Jazz, […]
Want to name a new born rhino – ask Angie!
KEEN TO NAME A YOUNG BORN RHINO – ZIWA GOT THE ANSWER FOR YOU (Posted 11th February 2014) A couple, wishing to remain anonymous but whose contribution to the rhino conservation nevertheless needs a mention and a standing ovation, has named the third of Kori’s calves Waribe – meaning ‘Unite’ or ‘Coming together’ in Alur, […]
BusiWeek’s Asiimwe appointed new UTB boss
UGANDA TOURISM BOARD GETS NEW BOSS (Posted 10th February 2014) Cuthbert Baguma will be succeeded at the helm of the Uganda Tourism Board by Mr. Stephen Asiimwe, who was appointed as CEO of Tourism Uganda last week and introduced by the Minister for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities Maria Mutagamba. Joining UTB from the private sector, […]
New railway line seeks to take 250 acres out of Tsavo national park
NEW RAILWAYS’ HUNGER FOR LAND TRIGGERS CONSERVATION CONCERNS (Posted 10th February 2014) Emerging news of gazette notices about compulsory acquisition of land for the construction of the new standard gauge railway between Mombasa and Nairobi, affecting land inside the Tsavo National Park to the tune of over 250 acres, has triggered the alarm bells among […]
Seychelles undeterred by latest snub from Mauritius
MAURITIUS SNUBS SEYCHELLES AGAIN (Posted 10th February 2014) A regular source from Port Louis described the latest spat between Mauritius and the Seychelles as a diplomatic form of one island giving the other the proverbial finger, when it became known that the Mauritius Minister for Culture M. Choonee had earlier on confirmed that there will […]
Emirates ‘Literature Festival’ set for InterContinental Dubai Festival City
EMIRATES ANNOUNCES ‘FESTIVAL OF LITERATURE’ FOR MARCH (Posted 10th February 2014) The InterContinental Hotel Dubai Festival City will be the venue for the upcoming Emirates’s Festival of Literature, which will take place in four weeks time from 04th to 08th or March. Patron of the annual event, which has grown in leaps and bounds in […]
RwandAir signs maintenance agreements for new aircraft
A LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES AT RWANDAIR (Posted 09th February 2014) When on the 03rd of March RwandAir’s latest acquisition, a Bombardier Q400 dual class turboprop aircraft will join the fleet in Kigali, a new technical support agreement will just have come into effect, which the airline signed a few weeks ago with Ethiopian Airlines […]
IATA renews U7’s IOSA Certification
AIR UGANDA RECEIVES THUMBS UP BY IATA AS IOSA CERTIFICATION RENEWED (Posted 09th February 2014) According to information received has Air Uganda recently completed their latest IATA safety audit, resulting in a two year renewal of their IOSA Certification. The IATA Operational Safety Audit is presently the non plus ultra for airlines to show full […]
Seychelles ‘Garden of Eden’ – or rather Eden Island
EDEN ISLAND’S SUCCESS IS THE SEYCHELLES’ SUCCESS TOO (Posted 08th February 2014) Eden Island, manmade though by first time visitors often mistaken as a ‘real island’ continues to be the success story it was intended to become, when the idea was first launched a few years ago. Now largely complete, with shopping, offices, apartments, condominiums, […]
Ethiopian eyeing the B777X – seeks to launch another partner airline in Kinshasa
ETHIOPIAN PONDERING NEXT MOVE ON SINGLE AND TWIN AISLE AIRCRAFT ORDERS (Posted 08th February 2014) More B787 Dreamliners, if only they could get them, a keen interest in Boeing’s latest bird, the B777X and up to 20 single aisle orders within a few months, the message could not have been clearer by Ethiopian Airlines that […]
Conservation Action Trust South Africa speaks out on the rhino controversy
Written by Don Pinnock, this is an article worth sharing. Horn of contention Rhino economics is a hotly contested field, but a new international research report says that those who wish to open trade in horn could be leading rhinos to destruction. By Don Pinnock. Rhinos have horns that are useful to rhinos alone. As […]
Reunion hosts SNAV Tourism Conference
7TH SNAV MEETING IN PROGRESS ON THE ILE DE LA REUNION (Posted 08th February 2014) For the past three days, and until tomorrow, Sunday 09th of February, will over 300 delegates, who have assembled on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion, discuss all matters related to tourism, a backbone of the island’s economy. The […]
Sauti Za Busara 2014 – Five Days and counting
SAUTI ZA BUSARA – FIVE DAYS TO GO (Posted 08th February 2014) When a reader wrote to me after my last article about Sauti Za Busara and said ‘You make too much hype about that concert’ I responded ‘There cannot be enough hype about what has become Africa’s foremost festival of music, performing arts and […]
Burundi Tourism Minister quits
Three Burundi Minsters quit coalition bringing government to verge of collapse(Posted 07th February 2014) Victoire Ndikumana, Minister of Posts, Commerce, Industry and Tourism resigned from government on Wednesday only one day after Communal Development Minister Jean-Claude Ndihokubwayo and Information, Communication, Telecommunications and Parliament Relations Minister Leocadie Nihazi had quit their ministerial posts. The resignation of […]
Kenya / Tanzania joint elephant census underway
TSAVO / MKOMANZI WILDLIFE CENSUS TO COST 22 MILLION KENYA SHILLINGS (Posted 07th February 2014) An elephant population survey is now underway in the transboundary ecosystem of Tsavo West National Park, the Taita Hills Game Reserve and the Mkomanzi National Park across the border in Tanzania. This survey also affirms to ongoing close partnership and […]
