Houston Marketing’s Spotlight Travel Workshops come to Nairobi
HOUSTON MARKETING BRINGS SPOTLIGHT TRAVEL WORKSHOP TO NAIROBI Derek Houston of Houston Marketing has just announced the date for his upcoming Spotlight Travel Workshop in Nairobi, now set for the 07th of June. Location will be the Southern Sun Mayfair Hotel and is targeting the outbound market from Kenya, growing significantly year after year as […]
Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority to hold licensing meeting in May
CIVIL AVIATION LICENSING MEETING SET FOR MAY The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authoritys licensing committee will meet in May to consider a number of new and renewal applications, aimed to add extra capacity into the market and uphold competition. According to data availed by a regular source in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania presently has nearly 60 […]
UTB comes under harsh criticism from President Museveni
PRESIDENT BLASTS TOURISM BOARD President Museveni used a meeting held at State House Entebbe earlier in the week to discuss his presidential tourism initiative to lay heavily into the strategy and mindset of the Uganda Tourism Board, which he accused of making mistakes, claiming it lacks seriousness and originality. UNDP has been searching for a […]
Air Seychelles to operate their first A320 and A330 flights in May
AIR SEYCHELLES BENEFITS FROM ETIHAD LINK The linkage between Air Seychelles and Abu Dhabis national airline Etihad is starting to bear fruits as from the beginning of May new, initially wet-leased aircraft, will come on line for Air Seychelles. The twice weekly flights between Mahe and Mauritius will be operated from 02nd May on an […]
Air Tanzania launches new website, FB page and Twitter handle amidst more controversy
AIR TANZANIA LAUNCHES WEBSITE FOR BOOKINGS The launch of Air Tanzanias new website earlier in the week has raised another storm of comments, when it became known that the airlines acting CEO had in his comments said it would make bookings easier for passengers wanting to fly with Air Tanzania. It shows that airline lives […]
Kenya Airways share rights issue enters last two days – and where all that money is going to
KENYA AIRWAYS RIGHTS ISSUE COMES TO AN END WHERE TO FROM HERE As the four weeks long Kenya Airways share rights issue offering is coming to an end on Friday, with current subscription levels a tightly guarded secret by top management and their financial advisory team and participating financial institutions, results will likely to filter […]
10th Extraordinary Head of State Summit in Arusha to discuss Juba membership and more
10TH EXTRAORDINARY HEAD OF STATE SUMMIT OF EAC TO DISCUSS JUBAS MEMBERSHIP Ministers preparing in Arusha for the Saturday Head of State Summit have confirmed that they have formed a joint verification committee to assess the state of readiness for the South Sudan to join the East African Community as soon as possible, following a […]
Helicopter Seychelles – what really happened
HELICOPTER SEYCHELLES GONE FOR GOOD FROM THE SKIES OVER THE ARCHIPELAGO? Many questions have been asked since the beginning of the month about Helicopter Seychelles, and if indeed the message now seen on the company website will stick, or only be temporary, which reads: Helicopter Seychelles regrets to announce it has ceased operating commercial flying […]
Seychelles Auditor General Report continues to rouse passion and sharp reactions
MISGUIDED AUDIT REPORT CONTINUES TO UPSET SEYCHELLES TOURISM INDUSTRY Not long ago did I file an article here over the allegations made in a report by the Seychelles Auditor General about audits of the Seychelles Tourism Board, which at the time instantly roused the passion of the private sector, condemning in particular the British consultant […]
Praslin, a different way of seeing the Seychelles
PRASLIN SO NEAR AND YET SO DIFFERENT Considering how much I travel and the often luxurious and exotic places I visit, it has to be very special to be remembered a few weeks or months down the line, since then overshadowed by new experiences, sights and sounds but the Seychelles are just that place which […]
Michael Otieno, Manager Corporate Communications, leaves RwandAir to go into aviation consulting
MICHAEL OTIENO LEAVES RWANDAIR TO GO INTO AVIATION CONSULTING RwandAirs widely respected Manager Corporate Communications and PR, Michael Otieno, has reportedly left the airline after nearly 3 ½ years as one of the public faces of the airline, but not without some pride over the achievements he says were made by RwandAir during his tenure. […]
Kenya’s coast tourism stakeholders mince no words over the challenges they face
TOURISM STAKEHOLDERS MINCE NO WORDS OVER ROADS AND WATER A tourism stakeholder meeting earlier in the week at the Sarova Whitesands Resort and Spa once again focused on the perennial challenges the industry at the Kenyan coast is faced with, poor roads, congestion at the Likoni ferry and a lack of enough water, amongst other […]
Tanzania’s tourism minister in trouble with parliamentary committee
MAIGE IN TROUBLE WITH PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE OVER HUNTING BLOCKS Wide ranging allegations were made earlier in the week by the parliamentary committee on Land, Natural Resources and Environment against Tanzanias controversial tourism minister Ezekiel Maige, to the point of the committee chairman accusing the minister of having created a corrupt environment in the ministry. James […]
Air Mauritius seeks to explain their new approach in regard of cost cutting, routes and partnerships
AIR MAURITIUS REACTS TO STINGING CRITICISM Following more losses by Air Mauritius in the last quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012, and decisions to cut initially 8 routes, leaving tour operators and holiday companies in more than just a little lurch, has the airline now apparently decided to go on the media […]
Kenya’s new tourism minister locks horns with the media
KENYAS NEW TOURISM MINISTER LOCKS HORNS WITH MEDIA In an unwarranted broad side against the media and their reporting has the recently appointed new tourism minister Dan Mwazo done more harm than good to his cause to promote tourism, as he blamed flagging tourism fortunes on what he termed irresponsible reporting and coverage of security […]
KWS kills poacher in fire fight, arrests more and confiscates weapons, ammunition and ivory
KWS GET TOUGH WITH POACHERS News of a shootout between poachers and KWS enforcement personnel was reported overnight from the Kora National Park in Northern Kenya. One poacher reportedly was shot dead in what has been described as a fierce fire fight while others were arrested with AK 47 assault rifles and ammunition in their […]
Sarova Hotels partner with Kenyatta University to combat water weed in Taita dam
SAROVA HOTELS PARTNER WITH UNIVERSITY TO COMBAT WATER WEED MENACE Kenyatta Universitys Taita / Taveta based college for agriculture and technology is partnering with Sarova Hotels Taita Hills and Salt Lick Lodges, to establish ways and means to safely eradicate an aquatic weed, which has over the past years invaded the Bura dam, a source […]
Emirates taps into Africa’s rich HR pool
EMIRATES GROUP TAPS INTO AFRICAN HUMAN RESOURCE POOL LIKE FEW OTHERS More and more Africans are looking abroad for employment these days, with opportunities, especially in the aviation sector, becoming easier to find by the day due to the expansion of the Gulf airlines. Substantially higher salaries, benefit packages and long term job security are […]
Qatar Airways bags more Skytrax awards
QATAR AIRWAYS BAGS YET MORE SKYTRAX AWARDS The Worlds 5 Star Airline has just bagged two more awards from Skytrax over the weekend, one for their Oryx Rotana Airport Hotel, rated as the best in the Middle East, and another for their Premium Terminal at the Doha International Airport, rated as the best in the […]
Hell’s Gate National Park team building adventure trip turns into tragic disaster
HELLS GATE NATIONAL PARK FLOODS CLAIM SEVERAL LIVES (One of the Hells Gate National Park gorges often traversed by adventure tourists) News of a tragic accident emerged on Sunday when it became known that a church group of young men and women on a day retreat yesterday morning to the Hells Gate National Park near […]
Seychelles taps into Chinese wedding and honeymoon market
SEYCHELLES BECOMES A CHINESE WEDDING AND HONEYMOON DESTINATION (A Chinese visitor, seen here at a Wedding Cove on the island of La Digue earlier this year) The Seychelles Tourism Board announced over the weekend that at least 50 Chinese couples will in July fly to the archipelago to get married there and spend their honeymoon, […]
Reunion tourism arrivals and revenues rise significantly in 2012
REUNION TOURISM ARRIVALS JUMP The French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion established a new visitor peak for the year 2011, when 471.268 arrivals were recorded. This constitutes an increase over the previous year 2010 by 12.1 percent, way ahead of the global average increase in tourism, which was pegged at 4.4 percent by the […]
Weekly roundup of news from Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean islands, Fourth edition April 2012
AVIATION, TOURISM AND CONSERVATION NEWS from Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean islands. A weekly roundup of breaking news, reports, travel stories and opinions by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang H. Thome Get daily breaking news updates instantly via Twitter by following @whthome, join me on Facebook where the articles also cross load or read the daily […]
East Africa’s Forests, under threat like never before
EAST AFRICAS FORESTS GOING, GOING, GOING AND GONE BY WHEN The recently published East Africa Report 2012 makes grim reading, when it comes to the forests in the region, as over the past 20 years, between 1990 and 2010 more than 22 million hectares of forests were razed, for logging, through population encroachment and to […]
Tanzanian safari guides to register, get licensed
NEW RULES FOR TANZANIAN TOUR GUIDES AIMED TO IMPROVE QUALITY Under a recently launched new set of regulation will it become mandatory for tour guides in Tanzania to register and get licensed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism. The measure is expected to come into effect in the next financial year, to allow […]
Nyungwe Forest Lodge, the gateway to the Enchanted Forest
NYUNGWE FOREST LODGE THE GATEWAY TO THE ENCHANTED FOREST When I write about Rwanda, anything to do with Rwanda, my readers often get back to me and say they feel the passion I have for the Land of a Thousand Hills and it is true. Be it the capital Kigali, well lit, clean streets, disciplined […]
Seychelles’ National Economic Council targets tourism for future growth
SEYCHELLES NATIONAL ECONOMICS COUNCIL TARGETS TOURISM FOR GROWTH When President James Michel chaired the countrys National Economics Council, in short NEC, earlier in the week the meeting had to look at a revised growth forecast for the Seychelles of 2.8 percent, down from the initially expected 4 percent. Global rises in the cost of fuel, […]
Rescued lowland gorilla baby to return home soon
RESCUED LOW LAND GORILLA TO RETURN HOME When the Rwandan security forces took a baby gorilla from traffickers last year near the common border with Congo DR, the young animal was kept under close care and supervision for several months, while the authorities tried to establish the origin of the baby. DNA analysis undertaken by […]
Mauritius set to open first eco-park by the end of the year
ECO PARK DUE TO OPEN BY END YEAR AT VALLEY DOSTERLOG A regular source from Mauritius provided information that in line with the countrys tourism outlook, aimed to tap more and more into the eco tourism segment of visitors, a new eco-park will be launched before the end of the year at the Valley DOsterlog, […]
With the two Sudan’s at the brink of war, Uganda sides with the South to stop Khartoum’s expansionism
UGANDA TO STAND BY SOUTHERN SUDAN IN CASE OF FULL SCALE WAR Information is circulating in Kampala that the rogue regime of ICC wanted alleged war criminal Bashir in Khartoum has stepped up contacts with the LRA which leadership is also wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity and may be funneling material support […]
