Travel Africa’s ‘SHAMWARI’ News is out … enjoy reading yet more about Africa

Jambo! Welcome to another issue of our e-newsletter, Shamwari, for readers of Travel Africa magazine. The Autumn edition of Travel Africa is going to print very soon! Here’s a preview of what’s included in this issue: • Your essential guide to Victoria Falls and Livingstone • All the things you can do in Kenya’s Laikipia […]

Chefs Delight Awards 2015 / 2016 – testing culinary skills

Later this morning will ‘Go Places’ hold a media briefing at the Louis Leakey Auditorium of the National Museum in Nairobi to outline the details of this year’s edition. The Chefs Delight 2015-2016 Chapter will include 100 establishments based in Nairobi and will run from September 2015 to January 2016. This allows for the opportunity […]

Update from the UNWTO’s 21st General Assembly in Medellin / Colombia

The 21st UNWTO General Assembly kicks of in Medellín, Colombia The 21st UNWTO General Assembly kicked off last night with a celebration of Colombia’s diverse gastronomic and musical richness. Read more >> Education in focus ahead of the Assembly Improving the tourism sector’s ability to nurture young talent was in focus at the UNWTO Forum […]

The Harare International Carnival 2015 – alive, kicking and definitely taking place

HARARE’S INTERNATIONAL CARNIVAL – ALIVE, KICKING AND DEFINITELY TAKING PLACE (Posted 14th September 2015) Last weekend saw the programme and surrounding events published for the upcoming Harare International Carnival, firmly putting to rest speculation that the event was not taking place. The initial dates had to be changed to accommodate Zimbabwe’s participation in the UNWTO’s […]

No 509 Wildlife Trade News: 14th September 2015

Another dose of bad news about poaching, wildlife and environmental crimes … Please note: For newsletter subscription and circulation details see message at the end of this newsletter. in the spotlight today …………………… Clinging to her dying mother, baby orangutan in UK charity’s ‘most harrowing rescue ever’: British vets wade into the Indonesian jungle in […]

Tanzania’s top tier aviation – drowning in red figures

PRECISION AIR SUFFERS SIGNIFICANT LOSSES (Posted 14th September 2015) Similar to major shareholder Kenya Airways has Tanzania’s Precision Air also suffered major losses in the just ended financial year 2014/15. If details from Tanzania are to be believed, sent in by a regular aviation source from another local airline, have the losses reached a staggering […]

Kenyan SGR rail project ahead of schedule

PACE OF RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION BRINGS FORWARD OPERATIONAL DATE TO MID 2017 (Posted 14th September 2015) Going by the rapid advance of the construction of Kenya’s new Standard Gauge Railway, which will connect the port of Mombasa with Nairobi and eventually on to Uganda, have operation dates been revised to mid 2017, almost a year ahead […]

UNWTO Executive Committee – here we come

ZAMBIA GETS ELECTED TO THE UNWTO EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (Posted 14th September 2015) The ongoing 21st General Assembly of the UN’s World Tourism Organization, in short UNWTO, has seen Zambia elected for the first time to the Executive Committee, to the delight of the Zambian delegation present and those at home, when the news reached Lusaka […]

UNWTO offers streaming content from the 21st General Assembly

Live streaming from the 21st UNWTO General Assembly We are pleased to announce that several of the 21st UNWTO General Assembly events being held in Medellín, Colombia, will be live streamed on the official website: Full streaming schedule below (in Medellín local time (GMT -5)): Sunday 13 September 20:00 WELCOME CEREMONY & DINNER Monday 14 […]

More trophies for Qatar Airways for exceptional service delivery

BUSINESS TRAVELLER ASIA MAGAZINE NAMES QATAR AIRWAYS ONCE MORE AS LEADING AIRLINE FOR AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST (Posted 13th September 2015) The Business Traveller Asia / Pacific Awards last weekend in Hong Kong confirmed that Qatar Airways once again, for the sixth time running, has captured the coveted best airline award for Africa and […]

Education and training the key for the future of tourism

Improving the tourism sector’s ability to nurture young talent was in focus at the UNWTO Forum on Talent Development in Tourism: Investing in Youth, which gathered in Medellín, Colombia, ahead of the 21st UNWTO General Assembly. As a labour intensive sector, tourism’s capacity to attract, retain and develop human capital is essential to its competitiveness. […]

No 508 Wildlife Trade News: 12th September 2015

That regular dose of bad news about poaching, wildlife and environmental crimes … the never ending story … in the spotlight today …………………… TOGO: Video: Inside the Largest Ivory Seizure in West Africa http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/11/video-inside-the-largest-ivory-seizure-in-west-africa/ No 508 Wildlife Trade News: 12th September 2015 MALAYSIA: We all have role to play in fighting illegal trade (NA Comment: […]

Lamu News … from Forodhani House …

Dear Friends, Lamu Lovers and Travel Colleagues, Summer holidays finished, we are all Back to School now :-). Thought you would appreciate getting some informations about the next events that will take place in the coming months here in Lamu, about our rates, special offers and last update on availabilities too if you would wish […]

News from Lake Mburo National Park …

Rothschild’s Giraffe now in Lake Mburo National Park Say hello to our very tall friends!! The giraffe are out and freely roaming the Park now. Recently all 15 newly introduced endangered Rothschild’s giraffe have been seen together. They are nearly always seen either on Research, Kazuma or Zebra track not far from Mihingo Lodge. It’s […]

Another South Sudan airline halts operations due to lack of US Dollars

BANKRUPT REGIME THE BANE OF BUSINESS (Posted 12th September 2015) After causing the collapse of Kenya’s Jetlink, when the regime halted the repatriation of over 2.5 million US Dollars in ticket sales to Nairobi, causing the airline to drown in debt, has the regime’s broad failure to create an enabling economic environment now claimed another […]

Aviation training – the key to safe operations

Sofema Aviation Services to deliver Regulatory Training Courses – Kenya, October 2015 Sofema Aviation Services (SAS) has built up a strong reputation for practical and effective regulatory training, across a broad range of subjects. We continue to remain, one of the most proactive organisations dedicated to supporting our clients to Raise a fundamental awareness of […]

The Seychelles’ marketing juggernaut waltzes on and on

SEYCHELLES’ UNITED MARKETING FRONT YIELDS PHENOMENAL RESULTS (Posted 12th September 2015) In a modification of the united we stand and divided we fall does ‘United we grow and divided we don’t’ come to mind when seeing the phenomenal success of Seychelles’ tourism promotion over the first eight months of the year. Instead of levelling off […]

‘Pay to Stay’ now available for Kenya Airways’s premium lounges

KENYA AIRWAYS OPENS LOUNGES IN ‘PAY TO STAY’ INITIATIVE (Posted 12th September 2015) Kenya Airways has with immediate effect changed the rules to access their premier lounges at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Entitled travelers now have the option to bring a paying guest along to wait for their flight departure, as long as certain conditionalities […]

Kenya’s middle segment in the hospitality industry set for major growth

KENYA HOTELGROUP ‘PRIDE INN’ SHOWS MARKET CONFIDENCE WITH BIG BUCKS INVESTMENT (Posted 11th September 2015) One of Kenya’s emerging home grown hotel brands, the three star ranked Pride Inn group, clearly has confidence in the country’s tourism future as it announced a 3.2 billion Kenya Shillings investment package yesterday. The company has a hotel operating […]

The Likoni ferry crossing, one of Mombasa’s eternal traffic bottlenecks

MOMBASA COMMUTERS BRACE FOR FRESH FERRY DELAYS (Posted 11th September 2015) The announcement yesterday by the Kenya Ferry Services that one of the big four ferries will be withdrawn for at least a month for maintenance – in the past were such timeframes often substantially overdrawn – has sent shivers down the spines of regular […]

New airport set to open up Kenya’s north

ISIOLO’S NEW AIRPORT – A SPRINGBOARD TO KENYA’S NORTH (Posted 11th September 2015) Progress is reported from one of Kenya’s new aviation facilities, the Isiolo Airport, long seen as a sort of a white elephant but coming into its own now. Tourists flying to some of the northern parks and game reserves near Isiolo have […]

Global tourism movements continue to grow in 2015 too

The latest UNWTO report, released just before the organization’s bi-annual global assembly in Medellin / Colombia, shows sustained growth in travel even for 2015, when several negative factors could have impacted on the rise in travelers numbers. Sadly does Africa buck the upwards trend with a reported downturn by 6 percent of arrivals into the […]

President Kenyatta’s intervention restores Visa on arrival facility for Kenya

KENYA’S PRESIDENT UHURU KENYATTA EXTENDS VISA ON ARRIVAL FACILITY (Posted 11th September 2015) Relentless lobbying by Kenya’s tourism industry and equally relentless digs by the travel media over Kenya’s decision to only permit online e-Visa applications have yesterday shown the best result yet when President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that the parallel system of on arrival […]

Last call to attend ATA’s 10th Presidential Forum in New York on September 24th

WHO’S ATTENDING: ATA’s 10th Annual Presidential Forum on Tourism September 24, 2015 View this email in your browser ATA’s 10th Annual Presidential Forum on Tourism takes place on Thursday, September 24, 2015 on the occasion of the United Nations General Assembly meetings. This high-profile event, which is co-hosted by New York University-Africa House, brings together […]

Ol Pejeta launches new state of the art website

The Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Nanyuki has often been described by me as the most complete wilderness experience one can have just three hours by road from the capital Nairobi. The big five, the largest number of Eastern Black rhinos, the home of the last surviving Northern White rhinos in the wild, lion tracking, a […]

Combining the Oktoberfest with the Smart Airports Conference? Now there is a thought!

4 weeks to go. Register now for SMART Airports Conferences 2015 Forward to a friend View in your browser 4 weeks to go Register now for SMART Airports Conferences 2015 BOOK NOW Limited spaces available IATA expert opinion piece: Jurgen Renner, IATA Consulting’s leading expert for airport development will be presenting on Day 2, Airport […]

Electricity for Ssese’s largest island seen as game changer for hospitality businesses

UGANDA GETS FIRST HYBRID SOLAR POWER STATION ON MAIN SSESE ISLAND OF BUGALA (Posted 10th September 2015) Residents on Bugala Island can now officially enjoy unlimited power supply following the launch of a hybrid solar thermal power plant constructed by Kalangala Infrastructure Services, in short called KIS. The company was contracted by the government of […]

Seychelles’ Tourism Minister at IIPT Peace Park dedication in Medellin

Seychelles Tourism Minister St.Ange amongst chosen Tourism Personalities to mark IIPT International Peace Park in Colombia (Posted 10th September 2015) The University Gardens at the University of Medellin has been selected as the site for the IIPT (International Institute for Peace through Tourism) International Peace Park commemorating the UNWTO 21st General Assembly. The Peace Park […]