Burundi news update – BTB scoops top price at ITB
BURUNDI SCOOPS TOP PRICE AT ITB The recently concluded International Tourism Bourse in Berlin / Germany saw little Burundi outshine all other African exhibitors, when taking first price for their stand display and presentation at their first appearance. Traditional dancers and a ‘homestead’ setting convinced the judges, and visitors for that matter, that the Burundi exhibition […]
Aviation news update – Kenya Airways share price drops on market fear over escalating fuel cost
KENYA AIRWAYS SHARES HIT BY ESCALATING FUEL COST The predicted fallout from the sharply risen fuel cost for airlines operating in Kenya has driven the share price of Kenya Airways to a two year low, as the value of KQ’s shares has slipped by nearly a third since the beginning of the year. Investors, both […]
Uganda conservation news update – New road, cutting migration trail, to be opposed
ROAD PLANS NEAR KYAMBURA RUN INTO OPPOSITION While not on the scale of the anti Serengeti highway plans at this stage, protests are nevertheless gathering momentum against a planned road cutting across an ancient game migration route. Leading conservation groups in Uganda, and individual conservationists have demanded from government to spare the wildlife migration corridor […]
Japan’s generosity continues in the midst of their own calamity
JAPAN’S GENEROSITY IN TIMES OF INTERNAL DISASTER AND HARDSHIP IS HUMBLING A few weeks ago, it seems ages already, a massive earthquake of 9 on the open ended Richter scale struck off the coast of Japan, causing major damage to the country’ infrastructure, only to be topped by a gigantic tsunami wave, in some areas […]
Aviation news update – Fly540 frequency changes
FLY 540 WILL TEMPORARILY SUSPEND MONDAY MORNING FLIGHT TO ENTEBBE Effective 02nd May, and until 30th June, will Fly 540 suspend their Monday morning flight between Nairobi and Entebbe, while the Tuesday morning flight will route Entebbe – Nairobi – Juba – Nairobi – Entebbe according to a regular source at the airline. Regular travellers on […]
Seychelles news update – Aldabra Atoll gets connected
ALDABRA ATOLL ‘GETS CONNECTED’ The lesser known ‘other’ but nevertheless unique and in fact second to none UNESCO World Heritage Site ‘Aldabra Atoll’ in the Seychelles, managed by the Seychelles Island Foundation, has now been ‘connected’ to allow VOIP calls via Kokonet, a service provider tapping into an existing internet connections to allow voice calls […]
Tanzania news update – Public accounts committee unleashes broadside on tourism sector
PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE LOCKS HORNS WITH TOURISM INDUSTRY Safari lodge and camps, tour and safari operators in Tanzania expressed their concern yesterday when it emerged that the parliamentary public accounts committee had reportedly ‘cancelled’ the current concession and royalty fees charged by TANAPA after claiming that it generated a huge loss for the country and waving […]
Kenya news update – KACC to be involved in hospitalty grading exercise
KENYA’S HOTEL GRADING TO BE ‘EYEBALLED’ BY ANTI CORRUPTION BODY The Kenya Hotels and Restaurant Authority’s unfolding grading exercise, long delayed for lack of funding but now finally confirmed to commence by the end of March, will be subject to oversight by the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission following pending complaints by sections of the hospitality […]
Uganda news update – More woes for Mt. Elgon National Park
MORE ATTACKS ON UWA RANGERS AT MT. ELGON Mt. Elgon National Park remains a hot spot for conservation and the staff of Uganda Wildlife Authority are putting their life on the line day in day out, as the latest news from the East of the country confirm. One ranger was seriously injured in an attack by […]
Breaking News – Uganda’s Central Bank seizes Libyan shares in Tropical Bank
BANK OF UGANDA SEIZES LIBYAN SHARES IN TROPICAL BANK No sooner had the formal announcement been made that Uganda would fully comply with the UN resolution to freeze the assets of Libya’s faltering dictator Gadaffi et al, did the Bank of Uganda react and seized the Libyan shareholding in Tropical Bank. Compelled two weeks ago already to […]
Aviation news update – Ethiopian secures a further 40 MIO USD loan for ordered B777’s
ETHIOPIAN SECURES ADDITIONAL FINANCING FOR B777’S It was learned overnight that Ethiopian Airlines has been given approval by the African Development Bank for a co-syndicated secondary loan of 40 million US Dollars, towards the five Boeing B777-200LR, which from part of an extensive order for newer and additional aircraft. ET has been at the forefront […]
Aviation breaking news – Precision Air’s complaint against tender award for airport handling succeeds
PRECISION AIR’S COMPLAINT OVER AWARD OF AIRPORT HANDLING LICENCE SUCCEEDS Information was received from Dar es Salaam, that following a formal complaint by Precision Air Ground Handling Services and one other bidder, the Tanzania Airport Authority was instructed by the Public Procurement Authority of Tanzania to cancel the award they made and in addition pay […]
Breaking News – Uganda to finally freeze Libyan / Gadaffi assets
LIBYAN ASSETS IN UGANDA TO BE FROZEN AFTER ALL Uganda has late yesterday confirmed that in compliance with relevant UN resolutions the assets of Col. Gadaffi, his close cronies and in fact of Libya herself in the country will be frozen. It was also confirmed that Uganda’s Ambassador to the UN has formally asked for guidance […]
Aviation breaking news – Kenya considering additional tax on air fares to finance health budget
KENYA TALKING OF NEW TAX ON AIRFARES WHILE UK DELAYS FOR 4 YEARS News have emerged from Nairobi overnight that the Kenyan government plans another financial assault on air passengers, seeking to introduce a tax ‘to pay for HIV treatment’. The health ministry, responsible for this planned air travel tax atrocity, claims that donor funding […]
Rivertrees Country Inn to close in April for annual ‘spring cleaning’
RIVERTREES TO CLOSE FOR ANNUAL SPRUCE UP One of this correspondent’s favourite places when staying in Arusha, the Rivertrees Inn located on the Usa River between the international airport and Arusha itself, will be taking its annual break as of the beginning of April and will reopen by mid May once again. During that period of […]
Breaking news story – Seychelles gets tasked to make Gabon’s tourism industry a reality
SEYCHELLES TOURIST BOARD TO CONSULT FOR GABON Impressed by the sterling performance of the Seychelles tourism industry and the concerted efforts of private and public sector to sell ‘Brand Seychelles’ around the world, the Gabon government recently invited the STB Chief Executive Alain St. Ange to Libreville to discuss closer cooperation between the two African […]
Breaking News – Kenya announces date for annual tourism awards
KENYA’S TOURISM AWARDS SET FOR JUNE 23RD Information was received overnight that Kenya’s tourism sector is planning to hold an award ceremony for leading tourism enterprises but also for the media covering tourism events and developments. The industry category will see as many as 7 awards being given while there will be three for journalists. […]
More squabbles over fallen tourism rankings
UGANDA’S FALLEN RANKINGS LEAD TO MORE SQUABBLES When news broke yesterday that Rwanda’s tourism sector’s competitiveness had risen to now top their standing within the East African Community, more squabbles were reported from within the sector in the New Vision of today. Predictably, as was the case with the previous CEO of the Uganda Tourist […]
Aviation news update – Kenya Airways going ‘greener’
KENYA AIRWAYS TURNS GREENER Passengers flying with the ‘Pride of Africa’ can now make individual contributions towards carbon emission offsets by using the IATA Carbon Offset Calculator to establish the ‘value’ of their ‘pollution’, KQ’s latest effort to go greener in their operations. The voluntary contributions made by passengers are then passed on from the […]
Aviation breaking news – RwandAir signs IFE Services for inflight entertainment
RWANDAIR’S NEW B737-800 TO FEATURE INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT Information was received this morning that RwandAir has signed up for the installation of inflight entertainment for their two new B737-800, which will be delivered in July and September this year. The system will permit travellers flying with the new Boeings to watch the latest Hollywood blockbuster films, classic […]
Weekly News Roundup from Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean region, Fourth edition March 2011
TOURISM, AVIATION AND CONSERVATION NEWS from the Eastern African and Indian Ocean region A weekly roundup of reports, travel stories and opinions by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang H. Thome Get daily breaking news updates via Twitter @whthome or on my blog: www.wolfganghthome.wordpress.com Fourth edition March 2011 Uganda News NO INJUNCTION ON MUSEUM CASE BUT HEARING […]
Kenya’s hospitality grading / classification now starts by end March
NEW GRADING OF HOSPITALITY BUSINESSES TO START BY END MARCH The Kenyan ministry of tourism has yesterday advertised in the main print media their intent to commence a major grading / classification exercise across the country, using the East African Community guidelines now in place to review the results of previous exercises done under local […]
Rwanda tops East Africa’s tourism rankings
RWANDA TOPS EAST AFRICAN TOURISM DESTINATIONS The latest Word Economic Forum Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report has just put Rwanda ahead of her neighbours in the East African Community, reaching the best marks. This is a glowing endorsement of the Rwandan government’s policies towards tourism and conservation with lip service being overtaken by action and […]
Uganda Museum saga – no in junction but early hearing
NO INJUNCTION ON MUSEUM CASE BUT HEARING SET FOR THURSDAY The High Court in Kampala declined to grant an injunction which several building conservation and heritage societies had sought, to stop government from interfering with the integrity of the Uganda Museum. The judge however advised the petitioners that a hearing of the main case […]
Aviation breaking news – Another Congo air crash kills at least 14
ANOTHER ANTONOV CRASH IN CONGO KILLS 14 The series of air accidents in Congo simply does not seem to end, when yet another Soviet era Antonov crashed yesterday in Point Noire / Congo, reportedly killing a crew of four, five passengers and several people on the ground as the plane hit a residential area. Congo has one […]
Aviation news update – Tanzania’s transport minister blasts Air Tanzania management
POLITICAL ANGER ADDS TO ATCL WOES The recently reported failure of Air Tanzania to secure a leased plane to maintain operations while their Bombardier turboprop Q300 was first grounded for quite a while and then flown to South Africa for heavy maintenance, has now also caused repercussions from the political side of things. The transport […]
Kenya’s Lake Naivasha Country Club set to ‘shine again’
LAKE NAIVASHA COUNTRY CLUB COMPLETING LONG OVERDUE UPGRADE The ‘Lake Naivasha Hotel’ as this correspondent remembers the lake side resort from his early days in Kenya, has a long history going back into the early first half of the last century, when the palatial homestead at the shores of Lake Naivasha originally opened as a ‘guest house’ […]
Elephant goes ‘window shopping’ in Katunguru
LONE ELEPHANT ‘SETTLES’ IN KATUNGURU Tourists and Ugandan travellers alike are reportedly now able to ‘greet’ a lone elephant who has made it a habit to come out of Queen Elizabeth National Park and take strolls through Katunguru, a village located at the Kazinga Channel bridge and the turn off into the park’s Mweya Safari […]
Uganda gets more hydro power
MORE HYDRO POWER COMES ON LINE A ‘mini hydro electric plant’, feeding some 6.6MW into the national grid, has been commissioned over the weekend, when the Sri Lankan owned Ishasha Eco-Power ended its test phase and started commercial power generation. Located near Kanungu, the main township in that part of the country and not far from the […]
Seychelles Tourist Board appoints more ‘tourism ambassadors’
MORE TOURISM AMBASSADORS TO ‘SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF SEYCHELLES’ Last week did the Seychelles Tourist Board announce the appointment of 10 more tourism ambassadors in diverse countries, aimed to promote tourism to the archipelago and be the ‘link’ between the local travel trade and the home islands. This innovative and unique initiative now has first […]
