Speaker list for AviAssist event in Entebbe out
AVIASSIST PUBLISHES KEY SPEAKER LIST FOR ENTEBBE EVENT (Posted 18th January 2014) The ‘2Gether4Safety’ seminar and expo on the 13th and 14th of March – part of a 10 day series of aviation certification and training workshops by the AviAssist Foundation, will have an impressive list of speakers lined up, according to a media release […]
FastJet eyes Zambia
FASTJET CONFIRMS PLANS TO SET UP NEW BASE IN LUSAKA (Posted 17th January 2014) Following recent intensified press speculation has FastJet now confirmed that it is in discussions with the Zambian government over the establishment of a FastJet airline based in Lusaka. The Zambian economy provides considerable opportunity. Zambia has a population of over 14 […]
KCAA chairman appointment comes under legal threat
KENYA CIVIL AVIATION DRAWN INTO CONTROVERSY OVER CHAIRMAN’S APPOINTMENT (Posted 17th January 2014) The appointment of another loser from the March 2013 general election as chairman of the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority has met with swift opposition and threats by sections of the aviation fraternity to sue government, should the appointment – like several others […]
Bomas of Kenya plans shot down in flames as bureaucrats beat a hasty retreat
TOURISM OFFICIALS EAT HUMBLE PIE OVER PREMATURE ANNOUNCEMENT FOR NEW HOTELS (Posted 17th January 2014) Tourism ministry officials were again left with egg all over their faces after it became clear that their announcement of ‘imminent plans’ to build several hotels and leisure facilities at the site of the Bomas of Kenya in the Langata […]
Kenya Airways introduces new Commercial Director
KENYA AIRWAYS APPOINTS NEW COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR (Posted 17TH January 2014) Kenya Airways’ prolonged search for a replacement of Mohan Chandra has been concluded as the airline announced the appointment of Mr. Gerard Clark as their new Commercial Director. Gerard, on his LinkedIn page, describes his own professional experience as follows: Spanning 25+ years, expertise across […]
Catching up with Amadeus East Africa’s Juan Torres
AMADEUS EAST AFRICA – DRIVEN BY INNOVATION AND DRIVING INNOVATION (Posted 17th January 2014) (Juan Torres of Amadeus East Africa) Readers of this publication have, going by the feedback constantly received, a healthy appetite if not outright fascination with the latest technological developments which have over recent years reshaped the way for instance airlines and […]
AVIASSIST ready to accredit aviation media for Entebbe event
AVIASSIST ANNOUNCES MEDIA ACCREDITATION CRITERIA FOR ENTEBBE WORKSHOPS (Posted 17th January 2014) The AVIASSIST Foundation, which will be holding a series of certification workshops in Entebbe / Uganda between the 10th and 21st of March this year, has late yesterday made available their media accreditation policy for this and other of their events in a […]
Hilton opens their third property in the Seychelles
DOUBLETREE BY HILTON OPENS IN SEYCHELLES (Posted 17th January 2014) With the opening of the DoubleTree by Hilton Allamanda Resort and Spa on the Seychelles’ main island of Mahe has Hilton become the international hotel group with the most resorts on the archipelago, now numbering three in total. Described as a four star resort with […]
South Sudan tourism – a big victim of the civil war
SOUTH SUDAN TOURISM PROSPECTS ALL BUT DEAD (Posted 16th January 2014) South Sudan’s fledgling tourism industry – most travellers to Juba and beyond are traders, business men, NGO personnel and political ‘tourists’ but only a few hundred thought to have come to South Sudan for safaris – has been described as ‘dead in the Nile […]
Night travel ban for busses in Kenya strands hundreds on Mombasa bound train
TRAIN DERAILMENT STRANDS HUNDREDS OUTSIDE MOMBASA (Posted 16th January 2014) Kenya’s ill thought out directive, banning busses from travelling at night, which has brought misery to tens of thousands of travelers not only in Kenya but from across the region, who use busses to get to Kenya overnight and arrive at their destination in the […]
The Good Safari Guide News & Special Offers
The UCOTA Newsletter, re-published here yesterday, got a lot of positive feedback from readers, many asking for more such detailed ‘in country’ information. Today I am happy to share with you the latest from The Good Safari Guide and I am sure there will be plenty of more select ‘shares’ to come. Enjoy! The Good […]
Another rhino baby ‘arrives’ on Ziwa
RHINO NUMBER 14 ARRIVES AT ZIWA – THE NATURAL WAY (Posted 15th January 2014) Being currently the Acting Chairman of the Rhino Fund Uganda – my successor in office Dirk Ten Brink left Uganda for good last year prompting me to step up once again and walk the talk of conservation commitment – it is […]
Bangkok flight date changes free of charge says Kenya Airways
KENYA AIRWAYS WAVES CHARGES FOR BANGKOK FLIGHT CHANGES (Posted 15th January 2014) The ongoing political turmoil in Bangkok, Thailand’s capital city, is not only costing that country very dearly in terms of loss of tourist arrivals, trade and commerce but has also now affected airlines flying there. Kenya Airways has now taken the reluctance of […]
Africa Travel Week seminar comes to Kampala
REED EXHIBITIONS SET TO UPDATE UGANDA’S TOURISM SECTOR ON WTM AFRICA (Posted 15th January 2014) Derek Houston, the Africa Representative of Reed Exhibitions, is set to introduce the concept of the Africa Travel Week, which includes among other components the World Travel Market Africa, held in Cape Town between 28th April and 03rd of May […]
Sheraton Kampala change of guard this Thursday
SHERATON KAMPALA BIDS FAREWELL TO CHRIS POLLARD AND WELCOMES IAN DUNCAN (Posted 15th January 2014) (Ian Duncan, the new General Manager of the Sheraton Kampala Hotel) When Chris Pollard arrived at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel, a long agenda of ‘things to do’ awaited him and as coincidences play out, I was one of the first […]
Seychelles among the Lonely Planet’s top ten for 2014
LONELY PLANET PICKS SEYCHELLES AS ONE OF THEIR TOP TEN FOR 2014 (Posted 15th January 2014) The Seychelles, for long a dream destination and associated with the rich and famous and the who is who in sports, show biz and politics, has just earned the seal of approval from the Lonely Planet Guides, when it […]
UCOTA January 2014 Monthly E-Newsletter
The successful reproduction here of informative newsletters and media releases continues in the new year, starting off with the UCOTA news from Uganda, which offer valuable insight into the grassroots of tourism in our country, where UCOTA has for a very long time been the advocate of communities and champion of grass root participation in […]
FastJet sets new passenger and revenue records in December
HOLIDAY SEASON BRINGS FASTJET NEW PASSENGER AND REVENUE RECORD (Posted 15th January 2014) FastJet’s passenger statistics and information provided on revenues achieved shows a new record for December last year, just 13 months into the operations of the startup airline. 37.458 passengers flew with the airline driving the loadfactor to an average 71 percent for […]
Arusha incident report sheds light on crew’s actions
REPORT ABOUT ETHIOPIAN’S ARUSHA MISHAP NOW AVAILABLE (Posted 14th January 2014) Just received from a regular reader of my blog, and I do acknowledge Mr. Richard Gomes’ as the source of this information, the findings shown below refer to the Arusha incident of Ethiopian Airlines’. The information is relayed here without any alterations or additional […]
France meets Kenya at the Nairobi Serena’s Mandhari Restaurant
THE BEST OF FRANCE COMES TO THE BEST IN NAIROBI (Posted 14th January 2014) Aficionados of fine cuisine, especially French cuisine, have much to look forward to in Nairobi, as the Nairobi Serena Hotel will feature the Michelin star rated chef Arnaud Fayne from the highly acclaimed Auberge du Jeu de Paume at their Mandhari […]
ATTA’s annual ‘Winter Networking Event’ set for February 06th
ATTA PREPARES FOR ‘WINTER NETWORKING EVENT’ (Posted 14th January 2014) The Africa Travel and Tourism Association, in short ATTA, is getting ready for their annual ‘Winter Networking Event’ which will take place during the Destination Travel Show in London on February 06th, starting at 18.00 hrs or half an hour after the end of business […]
Air Seychelles and Vanilla Island Organisation ink partnership deal
AIR SEYCHELLES SIGNS COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH THE VANILLA ISLANDS (Posted 13th January 2014) Air Seychelles announced earlier today that they have signed a wide reaching partnership and cooperation agreement with the Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands Organization. The deal was signed as a large delegation from the fellow Vanilla Island La Reunion was in the Seychelles […]
30th of March is RwandAir’s D-Day for Douala flights
RWANDAIR ANNOUNCES THE LAUNCH OF DOUALA FLIGHTS ON 30TH MARCH (Posted 13th January 2014) RwandAir has just confirmed that Douala, the airline’s 16th destination overall and 5th in West Africa, will see the launch flight take off from Kigali on March 30th. The aircraft used on the route will be a CRJ900NextGen, featuring 7 seats […]
KWS hikes park entrance fees driving the cost of safaris up even more
KWS RAISES PARK ENTRANCE FEES AMID CONCERNS OF FUELING FURTHER DOWNTURN (Posted 13th January 2014) A section of tourism stakeholders has condemned the rise in park entrance fees, as just gazetted retrospectively to 23rd December 2013, as the wrong message and the wrong move at a time when tourism is in a state of decline. […]
Uganda ponders new wildlife law as elephant poaching numbers drop to 11 last year
UGANDA’S CABINET PONDERING NEW WILDLIFE BILL AS ELEPHANT POACHING DROPS (Posted 13th January 2014) Uganda, unlike most of her East African neighbours, has a success story to tell when it comes to protecting the elephant which are found in several of the 10 national parks across the country. According to recent comments made by Charles […]
Constance Lemuria joins elite global hotel ranks
CONSTANCE LEMURIA JOINS THE ELITE ‘CLUB’ OF THE WORLD’S LEADING HOTELS (Posted 12th January 2014) Praslin’s – arguably – best resort, the Constance Lemuria, has just passed the audit for admission to one of the world’s finest and most exclusive ‘clubs’, the Leading Hotels of the World. After scoring over 88 percent affirmative ‘ticks’ in […]
Zanzibar celebrates Revolution Day
ZANZIBAR COMMEMORATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE REVOLUTION (Posted 12th January 2014) Zanzibar today, Sunday 12th January, celebrates the Golden Jubilee of the revolution which 50 years ago overthrew the Sultan’s government, after Britain had finally agreed to independence a few weeks earlier on 10th December 1963. The Omani Sultans had for over150 years maintained their […]
Routes Africa 2014 heads to Victoria Falls
ROUTES LOOKING FORWARD TO 2014 EVENTS AFTER RECORD BREAKING YEAR 2013 (Posted 11th January 2014) Routes, the global network of conferences for the aviation industry, is looking back at an extraordinary year when at all their key events new attendance records were established. Over 5,600 delegates attended the six forums that Routes organised around the […]
30 percent drop in crime rate good for Seychelles tourism
DROPPING CRIME RATE GOOD NEWS FOR SEYCHELLES TOURISM (Posted 10th January 2014) Seychelles’ Minister for Home Affairs and Transport, Joel Morgan, earlier this week, on the occasion of honouring long serving police officers and recognizing their often challenging work, revealed a significant drop in crimes recorded in 2013 when he reportedly said: ‘By being pro-active, […]
Diani’s Kongo Mosque regatta on for Saturday
KONGO MOSQUE REGATTA READY TO SAIL (Posted 10th January 2014) Tomorrow, Saturday 11th January is D-Day for the Kongo Mosque Regatta, which is held in conjunction with the South Coast Community Eco Tourism Association. The event promises a fun day out at the beach, or for sailors on the ocean, as the ‘arrival’ of the […]
