Category: Uncategorized

UNWTO’s Dr. Taleb Rifai among the ‘namers’ of Kwita Izina 2013

UNWTO’S DR. TALEB RIFAI NAMES GORILLA BABY AT KWITA IZINA FESTIVAL (Posted 23rd June 2013) (Dr. Taleb Rifai seen here emerging from the traditional homestead at the Kinigi Kwita Izina showground after being dressed in a traditional ceremonial Rwandan outfit – picture by W. Thome) The Secretary General of the UN World Tourism Organization, Dr. […]

Kibeho welcomes first ever Indian pilgrims to Rwanda

RELIGIOUS ‘CIRCUIT’ IN KIBEHO WELCOMES FIRST PILGRIMS FROM INDIA (Posted 23rd June 2013) (Image taken from www.inhisname.com) Only days ago was it reported here that the Rwanda Development Board’s Tourism and Conservation Department had launched a new religious tourism product for visits to Kibeho, that a first ever group of Indian pilgrims from Goa came […]

RDB reveals new tourism attractions ahead of Kwita Izina

RWANDA TOURISM DIVERSIFIES MORE WITH THE OPENING OF NEW ATTRACTIONS (Posted 22nd June 2013) Rwanda has for a long time been considered primarily as a destination for gorilla tracking, and indeed, even today, gorilla tracking is the single most important tourism activity visitors come here for to experience. The tourism planners at the Rwanda Development […]

Kampala troubles dismay Uganda’s tourism stakeholders

TOURISM STAKEHOLDERS EXPRESS DISMAY OVER KAMPALA TROUBLES (Posted 22nd June 2013) Some of the Ugandan tourism stakeholders presently in Rwanda for the annual Kwita Izina Festival of the Gorillas, have left no doubt about their frustration over the international media picking up about the clashes in Kampala over the past days, which in the words […]

Change has come to Kwita Izina

CHANGE HAS COME TO KWITA IZINA 2013 (Posted 21st June 2013) Those who came to Rwanda to help celebrate the annual Festival of the Gorillas, the now in its 9th year Kwita Izina and expected to sing from the same hymn sheet as in past years, were in for a major surprise when they received […]

The dirty politics of Genocide justice

THE DIRTY POLITICS OF GENOCIDE JUSTICE (Posted 20th June 2013) For those who followed the trials in Arusha at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, some mindboggling decisions on appeal may come back to the forefront of their memories, when news confirmed overnight broke that the President of the Appeals Chamber, one Theodor Meron, found […]

Ol Pejeta’s ‘Mt. Kenya Wildlife Estate’ completes first home

MOUNT KENYA WILDLIFE ESTATE GETS READY TO SHOWCASE FIRST COMPLETE HOME (Posted 20th June 2013) Ol Pejeta is arguably Kenya’s most complete and easiest to access wildlife conservancy, where game and cattle live side by side on the sprawling 90.000+ acres estate. Home to the highest concentration of the Eastern Black Rhino in the entire […]

KTF statement on attempted ‘budget robbery’ minces no words

KTF SPEAKS OUT ON ATTEMPT TO ROB KENYA’S TOURISM SECTOR THROUGH BUDGET CUTS (Posted 19th June 2013) The Chairperson of the Kenya Tourism Federation, Mrs. Lucy Karume, too wasted no time to go on record and condemn the attempts by the parliamentary budget and appropriations committee to rob the tourism sector blind by diverting half […]

Air Seychelles partner Etihad wins top awards for best first class services

AIR SEYCHELLES PARTNER ETIHAD CAPTURES KEY SKYTRAX AWARDS AT PARIS AIRSHOW (Posted 19th June 2013) Etihad Airways, which holds a 40 percent stake in Air Seychelles, has yesterday reclaimed the trophy of ‘Best First Class’ for the fourth year running, but also added two more, ‘Best First Class Seat’ and ‘Best First Class Catering’ to […]

Emirates claims ‘World’s Best Airline’ at Skytrax’s Paris Airshow ceremony

EMIRATES TAKES COVETED ‘WORLD’S BEST AIRLINE’ SKYTRAX AWARD AT PARIS AIRSHOW (Posted 19th June 2013) Emirates’ media team was quick out of the blocks to capitalize on the airline bagging the most coveted of Skytrax awards, the one for ‘World’s Best Airline’ at the Paris Airshow yesterday, where a grand award ceremony was held. Skytrax […]

Arusha under siege as tourists are kept safe in their hotels

ARUSHA TURNED INTO GHOST TOWN AS POLICE TEARGAS PROTESTS AGAINST BOMBING (Posted 19th June 2013) East Africa’s safari capital, aka the city of Arusha, found itself under siege yesterday, as police battled with protestors, saturating the streets with teargas. Tourists were kept in their hotels by concerned staff and managers, who were worried that should […]

Kenya’s tourism arrivals drop by 20 percent in Nairobi for first four months

ELECTION JITTERS COST KENYA’S TOURISM DEARLY (Posted 18th June 2013) Figures have just become available, showing the widely expected drop in tourism arrivals between January and April this year, largely attributed to the oftentimes grotesque if not outright venemous anti travel advisories issued by certain countries, which were known to have an added agenda vis […]

Rwanda set to launch religious tourism component this week

RDB GETS READY TO LAUNCH RELIGIOUS TOURISM CIRCUIT IN KIBEHO THIS WEEK (Posted 18th June 2013) The Tourism and Conservation Department of the Rwanda Development Board will according to an insider’s story, this week launch the country’s first religious tourism product, focusing on the Kibeho area in Southern Rwanda. On the 28th of November 1981 […]

Tourism benefits reach rural communities in Rwanda

NYUNGWE WOMEN’S COOPERATIVE BENEFITS FROM TOURISM INCOME (Posted 17th June 2013) The Rwanda Development Board’s Tourism and Conservation Department, led by Ms. Rica Rwigamba, is the country’s custodian body to not just promote the country abroad but also manage the country’s three national parks and tourism attractions and conserve the precious wildlife, foremost of course […]

FastJet gets international route rights from Dar

FASTJET MANAGEMENT LAMENTS ‘FALSE STARTS’ (Posted 17th June 2013) FastJet’s management, while announcing that the airline has been granted international route rights as a designated carrier between Dar es Salaam to Johannesburg, Kigali and Lusaka, lamented that ‘We have spent so much time lobbying to make this happen and had so many false starts’ claiming […]

Rwanda meets Ghana as RwandAir launches Accra flights

RWANDAIR LAUNCHES ACCRA AMID NEWS OF ABIDJAN COMING SOON (Posted 16th June 2013) When Martin Luther King delivered his ‘I had a dream’ speech few of today’s RwandAir managers and staff were born, and yet, it was clearly similar, albeit business focused dreams which inspired the way Rwanda’s national airline grew in recent years. ‘Once […]

Nairobi commuters get WIFI in public service vehicles

NAIROBI COMMUTERS GET WIFI IN THEIR MATATUS (Posted 15th June 2013) Kenya’s leading mobile company, Safaricom, has yesterday launched another innovation, when they introduced WIFI for commuters in their ‘matatus’, a widely used form of transport by Kenyans not owning cars or not wanting to sit in the notorious traffic jams wasting their own petrol. […]

Air Uganda sets date for Mogadishu flights

AIR UGANDA SETS DATE FOR LAUNCH OF MOGADISHU FLIGHTS (Posted 15th June 2013) Air Uganda, the Pearl of Africa’s quasi national airline, has just announced the launch date for their latest destination, Mogadishu in Somalia. Starting on 08th of July, U7 will fly initially three times a week nonstop between Entebbe and Mogadishu, offering government […]

Kenya Airways announces 7.9 billion KShs loss, says recovery well underway

KENYA AIRWAYS PRESENTS FULL YEAR RESULTS (Posted 14th June 2013) Kenya Airways’ Board of Directors and top management yesterday morning presented their annual results to shareholders, invited guests and media representatives at the InterContinental Hotel in Nairobi. Seen in isolation the balance sheet presented would indeed make grim reading, showing a loss of some Kenya […]

Golden Mile project in Beau Vallon Bay area on course

BEAU VALLON’S ‘GOLDEN MILE’ TAKES FURTHER SHAPE (Posted 14th June 2013) Plans to transform a key seafront section of Beau Vallon Bay, one of Mahe’s prized beach resort areas, into what has initially been called ‘The Golden Mile’ have made further progress according to a regular source from Mahe, following another stakeholder meeting during the […]

Uganda’s tourism stakeholders ‘disappointed’ by budget proposals

Uganda’s who is who in the tourism and hospitality industry have left little doubt what they thought of the budget proposals made yesterday, when Finance Minister Maria Kiwanuka presented the 2013/14 budget estimates to parliament. Understandably concerned to remain anonymous, several regular sources let fly over what they unanimously termed ‘a lot of hogwash and […]

Ethiopia ratifies new Nile Treaty

ETHIOPIA IGNORES WAR THREATS FROM EGYPT TO RATIFY NILE TREATY (Posted 14th June 2013) The longstanding row over the use of the Nile waters, for which the dictates of the 1929 and 1959 treaties between Britain and Egypt were shoved down the throats of the Nile basin countries on independence, resulted last year in the […]

Kenya Tourism Federation loses UNWTO affiliate status

KTF LOSES UNWTO AFFILIATE STATUS (Posted 14th June 2013) Kenya’s tourism association apex body, the Kenya Tourism Federation, has lost their status as an UNWTO affiliate body, reportedly as a result of a back log of dues accrued over the past two years. KTF is the tourism industry’s primary focal point for government, bringing together […]

Uganda brings back VAT on hotel accommodation

BUDGET RESTORES VAT ON HOTEL ACCOMMODATION (Posted 14th June 2013) The budget announcement yesterday afternoon, made by Uganda’s Finance Minister Maria Kiwanuka, that the VAT exemption for hotel accommodation will be withdrawn, has sent shockwaves down the spines of the hospitality industry. VAT in Uganda presently stands at 18 percent and if the proposal is […]

More lip service today for Uganda’s tourism sector?

Taken from today’s New Vision ahead of the reading of the annual budget later this Thursday, 13th June. What will it bring for Tourism? Expectations are high by stakeholders but reality speaks a different language, always has when it comes to our sector. Watch this space tomorrow to learn if there is any windfall or […]

Umubano Hotel in Kigali set for 10 Million US Dollar overhaul

UMUBANO HOTEL’S LIBYAN OWNERS COMMIT 10 MILLION DOLLARS TO REFURBISHMENT (Posted 13th June 2013) Agreement has at last been reached between the Rwandan government and the Libyan co-owners of the Umubano Hotel, in which the two parties hold a 60 / 40 share distribution. When it was acquired by Gadaffi Libya, it was first managed […]

Kenya Airways’ full year results expected on Friday

KENYA AIRWAYS PREPARES TO ANNOUNCE FULL YEAR RESULTS ON FRIDAY (Posted 13th June 2013) Friday this week will be D-Day for Kenya Airways as the company prepares to release the annual results for the financial year 2012/13, which closed on 31st March. Considering that the half year results were written already in red ink, the […]

ATCNews: 

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang H. Thome is the founder and publisher of ATCNews, Eastern Africa’s leading aviation, tourism and conservation news blog of its kind. Wolfgang has nearly 50 years of experience in the tourism, aviation and conservation fields in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, covering all aspects of safari-, hotel- and air-operations. 

The Managing Editor of ATCNews is Mrs. Esther C. Goossens.

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