Save the Elephants News
web version | tell a friend | donate Kenya’s Ivory Kingpin Denied Bail Again The rollercoaster courtroom drama of Kenyan ivory kingpin Feisal Ali Mohammed continues. Following his arrest in late 2014 for smuggling 2 tonnes of ivory, last month he was once again granted bail. Amid widespread outrage prosecutors appealed successfully and he remains […]
Africans for Africa – a noble concept but in reality a hurdle race littered with obstacles
IKECHI UKO’S THOUGHTS ON PAN AFRICAN TOURISM COOPERATION (Posted 08th September 2015) When Ikechi Uko travels across Africa, no doubt are the red carpets rolled out, the appointment calendars of ministers and tourism industry leaders cleared and teams assembled to listen to his advice and guidance, him being one of the foremost Pan Africanists of […]
Breaking news as RwandAir signs for two A330 AND confirms order for two B737-800’s
RWANDAIR SIGNS FOR TWO A330 AND ANNOUNCES FIRM ORDER FOR TWO MORE B737-800NG’S (Posted 08th September 2015) (Done Deal! RwandAir CEO John Mirenge shakes hands with Airbus and Rolls Royce representatives after signing the purchase deal for two Airbus A330’s) RwandAir today signed the formal documents for the purchase of two Airbus A330 aircraft, one […]
Air Seychelles announces Entebbe as a codeshare destination
AIR SEYCHELLES ‘SURPRISES’ UGANDAN MARKET WITH CODESHARE FLIGHT VIA ABU DHABI (Posted 08th September 2015) The announcement by Air Seychelles that the airline had signed a codeshare deal with partner Etihad to connect Mahe with Entebbe, via Abu Dhabi, went down like a lead balloon with several travel agents polled by this correspondent. Mr. Roy […]
e-Tourism Frontiers announces dates for 5th Nairobi conference.
FIFTH E-TOURISM EAST AFRICA CONFERENCE TO SHOWCASE THE LATEST ONLINE TRAVEL TRENDS (Posted 08th September 2015) The fifth e-Tourism East Africa Conference was launched earlier today during a media briefing in Nariobi. The two-day conference will take place on the 5th and 6th of October at the InterContinental Hotel in Nairobi. The conference is expected […]
FlyDubai cuts 30 percent on fares for special promotion
(Posted 08th September 2015) flydubai (http://www.flydubai.com today launched its first network-wide sale offering customers 30% off Business and Economy Class fares to Dubai and select destinations beyond (#flydubaiSale). Customers who plan to travel between 01st of October 2015 and 30th of June 2016 and who book before the 20th of September will receive a staggering […]
Rwanda – an African success story
NEW HOTELS SET TO CHANGE THE FACE OF KIGALI’S HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (Posted 08th September 2015) (Billboard outside the site of the hotel) The hospitality deck of cards in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city, is set to be substantially shuffled in 2016, when at least two new internationally branded hotels are expected to open their doors, both […]
IIPT News ahead of the UNWTO General Assembly in Medellin / Colombia
September 2015 Edition University of Medellin to be site of IIPT International Peace Park for UNWTO General Assembly The University Gardens at the University of Medellin has been selected as the site for the IIPT International Peace Park commemorating the UNWTO 21st General Assembly. The Peace Park will be dedicated from 1:00 to 2:00 PM […]
President Kagame’s Kwita Izina address in local vernacular transcribed into English
PRESIDENT PAUL KAGAME’S KWITA IZINA SPEECH (Posted 08th September 2015) Remarks by President Paul Kagame at the 11th KWITA IZINA Kinigi, 5 September 2015 I would like to thank you all for being part of this naming ceremony for baby gorillas. I would also like to congratulate the organizers of this event, namely RDB and […]
How best to embrace and use new technologies? By getting trained!
MORE TRAINING FOR HOTEL STAFF TO MAKE THEM ‘E-SAVVY’ (Posted 08th September 2015) Today’s work environment in the hospitality industry is rapidly changing with ever new technologies and of course the latest craze, Apps, coming on the market literally by the day. Original training of hotel staff of course covered plenty of aspects of what […]
More pilgrims expected to flock to Ugandan and Rwandan shrines after Papal visit to Uganda
POPE’S VISIT SET TO USHER IN NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR PILGRIMAGE TOURISM (Posted 07th September 2015) The upcoming Papal visit in November to the Central African Republic, Uganda and Kenya is expected to bring tens of thousands of additional visitors to these countries, especially Uganda and Kenya, where the Catholic Church is hugely influential. In Uganda, […]
Meet the eTN team at the UNWTO Assembly in Medellin / Colombia
Medelin, Colombia SEPTEMBER 12-17 Are you attending the UNWTO General Assembly in Colombia this month? Meet eTurboNews and ICTP Attending from our team are Juergen T Steinmetz, publisher eTN & chairman ICTP email:jts Prof. Geoffrey Lipman, President ICTP, email: gl Dmytro Makarov, eTN Russian Edition email: dm Christian Rosario, photographer From our executive and advisory […]
What tourism future for South Sudan now that the guns have fallen silent?
PEACE DEAL IN SOUTH SUDAN OFFERS FRESH HOPE FOR TOURISM REVIVAL (Posted 07th September 2015) The recently signed peace deal between the Juba regime and the breakaway faction of the SPLM-IO has so far held and the stern warning by South Sudan’s Salva Kiir to his army and militia commanders to strictly observe the ceasefire […]
News from the paradise islands of the Seychelles
Here are some news updates from the Seychelles’ islands and I hope you enjoy reading these updates as much as I do … of course, you may just as well have read some of the news items on my blog already a while ago but hey, never say no to news … NEWS IN BRIEF […]
Conservation is part of life in Rwanda
KWITA IZINA 11 – 30.000 RWANDANS JOIN PRESIDENT KAGAME TO CELEBRATE CONSERVATION (Posted 06th September 2015) (President Paul Kagame arrives in Kinigi for Kwita Izina 11) The largest spectator crowd ever assembled yesterday at the Kwita Izina showground near the headquarters of the Volcanos National Park in Kinigi, joining hundreds of VIP’s and invited guests […]
Burundi’s challenges to prevent tourism from dying
BURUNDI TOURISM IN FREE FALL (Posted 06th September 2015) Recent political unrest in Burundi, caused by the powergrab of regime leader Nkurunziza for what is broadly perceived as an attempt for an illegal third term in office, combined with a strict Visa in Advance policy, has thrown Burundi’s tourism industry into turmoil. Tourism stakeholders from […]
Another rhino baby is born on Uganda’s sole rhino sanctuary
NEW RHINO BABY AT ZIWA A SIGN OF CONTINUED CONSERVATION SUCCESS (Posted 06th September 2015) Good news are coming from Uganda’s sole rhino sanctuary, Ziwa, that yesterday morning another ‘arrival’ was recorded by the sanctuary staff. Nandi, one of the initial females brought to the sanctuary when it was established, gave birth to what appears […]
Remarkable Rwanda – more than ‘just gorillas’ …
NEW CAMP MARKS START OF A NEW PHASE FOR AKAGERA NATIONAL PARK (Posted 03rd September 2015) A recent visit to Rwanda’s only savannah national park revealed some intriguing insights into the results of measures taken over the past few years by the Akagera Management Company. In a unique public private partnership have the Rwanda Development […]
Which city in Africa commands the highest average room rates for hotels? Read on to find out!
A survey of prices of international grade hotels in selected major African cities was recently produced by hospitality research firm STR Global (https://www.strglobal.com), ahead of the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) (http://www.Africa-Conference.com), which this year is once again taking place at the end of September. The surprise results revealed that Addis Ababa is the most […]
Reunion – where outdoor activities come to life as a way of life
REUNION GETS READY FOR FOURTH ‘PANDATHLON’ (Posted 05th September 2015) Reunion’s town of St. Philip this year hosts the fourth edition of ‘Pandathlon’ on September 13th. This event, dedicated to lovers of nature walker, intends to raise their awareness of environmental protection in an original way to contribute to the preservation and conservation of the […]
Congo Airways expected to fill the gap left by Korongo’s liquidation
CONGO AIRWAYS SET FOR LAUNCH (Posted 05th September 2015) A new national airline is set to soon take to the skies over the Democratic Republic of Congo, using Airbus A320-200 equipment. The first of these birds arrived in fact on the 30th of July in Kinshasa, named ‘Patrice Emery Lumumba’. The initial launch date of […]
Shareholders put Korongo into liquidation following extraordinary general meeting
KORONGO THROWS IN THE TOWEL DUE TO ADVERSE OPERATING CONDITIONS (Posted 05th September 2015) Damage caused to the Korongo Boeing B737 in August, when loose tarmac slaps hit the stabilizers of the aircraft as it sped down the runway for takeoff, has as previously explained been more serious than initially thought. Repairs of the damaged […]
Dreamliner eight and nine – not just yet …
DELAYS ANNOUNCED IN DELIVERY DATES FOR KQ’S REMAINING B787 DREAMLINERS (Posted 04th September 2015) As Kenya Airways’ management continues to be subjected to a flurry of character attacks on the social media, often by individuals blissfully blind to the many complexities of managing an airline, has it now been confirmed that the delivery dates for […]
Aviation safety – one area where training, training and more training is the key
AVI ASSIST SET TO OFFER IATA DANGEROUS GOODS TRAINING FOR AVIATION STAFF (Posted 04th September 2015) Safety in African aviation is not something easily taken for granted and with the average rate of aviation incidents still way above global average is it all but clear that more needs to be done to improve safety standards. […]
Lillian Gaitho’s focus this Friday – a new App making a traveler’s life easier
Want to book a room, a vacation package, anything really on the menu served by Jovago.com? Here comes a new mobile App, further strengthening the new trends in the booking market. And with these thoughts, happy TGIF … Jovago Launches Mobile App, Releases Info graphics on Mobile Use in the Region Africa’s N°1 Hotel Booking […]
ATA event coming up
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: September 24, 2015 is ATA’s 10th Annual Presidential Forum on Tourism 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, […]
Kwita Izina is about conservation, but also about partying and celebrating
If ever there was a need to invite anyone to come to Rwanda for Kwita Izina, here is another reason, the Crazy Night of the Gorillas, aka the After Party. Once all the naming is over and the echo of the speeches has ebbed away, will it be the sound of local music and the […]
Focus on tourism and conservation – this week in Rwanda
IT IS ALL ABOUT CONSERVATION THIS WEEK IN RWANDA (Posted 03rd September 2015) The opening last night of a photo exhibition at Rwanda’s national library in Kigali followed an event earlier in the day when a new public library was commissioned in Bisate, located not too far from Musanze, Rwanda’s springboard to the Parc de […]
Politicians blamed for resurgent land troubles over Mt. Elgon National Park boundaries
ELECTION MODE BLAMED FOR RENEWED TROUBLES OVER MT. ELGON PARK BOUNDARIES (Posted 03rd September 2015) A regular source close to the Uganda Wildlife Authority has blamed power-greedy politicians, seeking to impress voters living along the park boundaries of Mt. Elgon National Park, for unscrupulously inciting their constituents to start another round of troubles over land […]
Using wet-leased aircraft to beat the EU blacklist is a smart move
EC AIR EXPANDS FLEET WITH ANOTHER BOEING B737-700NG (Posted 03rd September 2015) EC Air, host of the 2015 AFRAA Annual General Assembly in November, has taken delivery of another B737 on wetlease from Belgium’s JetairFly, joining two B737 sisterships already on the airline’s fleet. The additional aircraft will according to information received operated on domestic […]
