Queen Elizabeth National Park fire destroys safari lodge
NATIONAL PARK FIRE DESTROYS SAFARI LODGE A raging bush fire, allegedly set by staff of the Uganda Wildlife Authority, has devastated the Kyambura Game Lodge earlier in the week, according to reports from a source close to UWA. The fire was reportedly started by UWA staff to clear dry vegetation and allow for fresh green […]
Maldives woes set to benefit Vanilla Island’s tourism sectors
MALDIVES POLITICAL MESS TO BENEFIT VANILLA ISLANDS Recent events on the Maldives have triggered a trend by key global tour operating companies to seek alternatives, should the islands descend into full scale political unrest. First in the bad news came the Maldives opposition demands to shut down with immediate effect all Spas in each and […]
Rwanda tourism news – Jack Hanna Cottage at Gorilla Nest Lodge gets 5 star makeover
JACK HANNA COTTAGE GETS 5 STAR MAKEOVER The Gorilla Nest Lodge outside Musanze / Ruhengeri, which sustained fire damage sometime last year as reported here, has finalized the makeover of the famous Jack Hanna Cottage, where guests are now accommodated alongside the neighbouring Ranch Rooms, allowing as many as 8 guests to enjoy the unique […]
KWS relocates 21 Eastern Black Rhinos to Ruma National Park
KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE TRANSLOCATES 20 RHINOS TO RUMA NATIONAL PARK (Picture courtesy of Kenya Wildlife Service) Good news emerged from Kenya that KWS has last week successfully completed the relocation of 21 Eastern Black Rhinos to the Ruma National Park, formerly known as Lambwe Valley National Park when this correspondent still lived in Kenya and […]
Rwanda tourism news – L’ Esperance’s eco tourism lodge project to support the orphanage
L ESPERANCES BIRAMBYE LODGE PROJECT TAKES SHAPE (Victor Monroy surrounded by ‘his’ children at L Esperance) One of the most remarkable orphanages I have ever seen, L Esperance at Kigarama in the highlands of South Eastern Rwanda along the Congo Nile Trail, is now set to embark on one of their income generating projects, the […]
African aviation – Decision time for African governments to help or let go
GULF CARRIERS BIGGEST THREAT TO AFRICAN AVIATION Two aviation sources have of late once again expressed their concern, that the onslaught of Gulf based airlines will eat into their traffic shares and reduce and dampen growth prospects for the future. Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines, the latter the erstwhile Pan African airline copied successfully by […]
Uganda airline news – SN drops outbound fares by 25 percent
BRUSSELS AIRLINES DROPS FARES FROM ENTEBBE BY 25 PERCENT Competition was cited by a source close to Brussels Airlines in Kampala for their move to drop outbound fares by 25 percent, which is a promotion valid until the 13th of March, effective immediately. SN is a regular visitor to Entebbe since the days of the […]
Kenya aviation news – Royal Air Maroc set for Nairobi in 2012
ROYAL AIR MAROC SET FOR NAIROBI Kenyas Minister for Tourism, Najib Balala, is in Morocco at present on a mission to promote travel between the two countries, and while there reportedly asked Royal Air Maroc to commence flights between Nairobi and Casablanca. Nonstop flights are thought to encourage both tourism and trade between the two […]
Seychelles news – Work has started for new Seychelles Tourism Academy
WORK BEGINS IN EARNEST AT THE NEW STA CAMPUS Information from Mahe indicates that work has now began at the new campus of the Seychelles Tourism Academy, where when complete some 500 students will be able to undertake certificate, diploma and degree courses in hospitality and tourism studies. Demolition of some of the existing buildings […]
60 years ago, when a Princess climbed up to Treetops and came down a Queen
TREETOPS, WHERE THE PRINCESS TURNED QUEEN On February 06th in 1952, outside Nyeri in the forest of the Aberdare Mountains, did a youthful Princess Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philipp climb up the ladders into a treetop hideaway, to spend the night watching the game parade by the waterhole below. Little did she know, and […]
Uganda news – New cars for parliamentarians translates to no money for tourism promotion
PARLIAMENTARY GREED ADDS TO TOURISM FUNDING WOES News emerged from sources in parliament that a controversial deal for new vehicles for members of parliament is apparently going ahead, worth over 100 million Uganda Shillings per MP, draining the available funds left in the emancipated purses of the Ministry of Finance even more. Only last week […]
African airlines hope for Chinese government ban on the EU’s ETS will see the scheme suspended
AFRICAN AIRLINES HOPE CHINESE REFUSAL OF THE EUS ETS WILL BRING CHANGES The just reported directive of the Chinese government, prohibiting Chinese airlines from participating in any form or shape in the European Unions Emission Trading Scheme or ETC, has set not only China and Europe on a collision path but opened new hope for […]
Kenya aviation news – Additional rights issue team announcements complete Kenya Airways’ line up
KENYA AIRWAYS PUTS FINAL TOUCHES TO RIGHTS ISSUE TEAM Information was received over the weekend that the Pride of Africa has named Ugandas Crested Stock Securities and Tanzanias Orbit Securities alongside Standard Investment Bank, the initially named primary and lead broker in Kenya to complete the line up covering all three East African stock exchanges […]
Uganda news – World Wetland Day celebration sees State Minister blame tourism for wetland destruction
STATE MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT FACES WRATH OF TOURISM FRATERNITY Carelessly uttered remarks by State Minister for Environment Ms. Flavia Munaba over the weekend in Rakai District, where she officiated over the World Wetland Day under the local theme Wetlands Supporting Tourism for our Survival drew immediate condemnation and acid criticism from hospitality operators, whom the […]
Uganda aviation news – Wild Skies over Kajjansi, Version 2.0
WILD SKIES OVER KAJJANSI RELOADED (Capt. Howard Davenport flying inverted over Lake Victoria with this correspondent at the time as his daring passenger in the front seat, picture courtesy of KAFTC) The Kampala Aero Club celebrated its 15th anniversary last Saturday at the Kajjansi airfield with a series of stunning aerial displays in the skies […]
Mauritius aviation news – Air Mauritius raises fares by 5 percent, excludes La Reunion and Rodrigues flights
AIR MAURITIUS PUTS 5 PERCENT FARE INCREASE INTO PLACE Information was confirmed overnight that Air Mauritius has with immediate effect raised their fares by 5 percent across the board for international flights, to cater for the rise in fuel and other cost. In addition will a further fare rise become due when the full impact […]
Vanilla Islands sure to benefit from latest Maldives blunder to attempt raise airport handling fees by over 50 percent
VANILLA ISLANDS READY TO BENEFIT FROM NEW MALDIVES BLUNDER Only weeks after first banning all resort Spas across the Maldives islands for allegedly being brothels in disguise, and then making a swift U-turn when the fall out of the potential damage to the lucrative tourism businesses became evident in the wake of nearly unprecedented condemnation […]
Uganda tourism news – Sectoral budget diverted to pay for electricity subsidies, stakeholders infuriated
TOURISM FUNDING CUT TO PAY FOR ELECTRICITY The chronic funding shortage for tourism marketing and the pathetic facilitation of the Ministry of Tourism, formed only 11 months ago following the general elections of 2011, has at last been partly explained, when news emerged in Kampala overnight that cabinet had sanctioned a budget shift of 377 […]
Seychelles news update – New Air Seychelles management confronted on day one with domestic air services problems
PRASLIN RESIDENTS COMPLAINTS AWAIT NEW AIR SEYCHELLES MANAGERS As the new CEO and his CFO got acquainted to their desks at the Air Seychelles headoffice at the Mahe International Airport, across on Praslin island did residents and tourism stakeholders voice their concerns, if not outright protest, over the state of inter island air services provided […]
Kenya aviation news – President Kibaki to formally open new Kisumu International Airport
PRESIDENT KIBAKI TO FORMALLY OPEN NEW KISUMU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Today will see the long awaited formal opening of the extension of Kisumus newly elevated international airport by none other than President Mwai Kibaki who will fly to Kisumu from Nairobi for the function. Work for the expansion of Kisumu International Airport started back in 2009 […]
Uganda celebrates World Wetlands Day while conservationists decry lip service and turning a blind eye by government
DEVASTATING JUDGEMENT ON UGANDAS PROTECTION OF WETLANDS As the World Wetlands Day is being celebrated around the globe, Uganda has little to be proud of, considering the devastating report produced by the national biomass study, that the country has lost nearly 570.000 hectares of wetlands over the past two decades. Relentless encroachment, draining and complicity […]
Kenya tourism news – Kilaguni Serena tops TripAdvisor survey
KILAGUNI SERENA CAPTURES TRIPADVISORS TOP RANKING (Picture courtesy of Lesley Simpson Communications) TripAdvisor has named the Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge in the heart of Tsavo West National Park as their top choice for 2012 for their annual Top 25 Bargain Hotels in Africa by TripAdvisor when the results of their readers and contributors survey conducted […]
Uganda aviation news – Air Uganda takes the fight for passengers to the market
AIR UGANDA TAKES THE FIGHT TO THE MARKET (Picture courtesy of Air Uganda) With presently three flights a week between Entebbe to Mombasa and on to Zanzibar, Ugandas quasi national airline U7 is clearly intent to fill those 50 seats in the CRJ 200 they use on the route. Fares, excluding of taxes, begin at […]
Uganda aviation news – Emirates set to increase Dublin capacity by 50 percent
EMIRATE TO USE B777 TO DUBLIN FROM MID YEAR A regular source at the Emirates office in Kampala has let it be known that the recent addition of daily flights from Dubai to Dublin / Ireland has seen such a huge response, that the airline will move from the presently used A330 to a B777, […]
Seychelles aviation breaking news – Etihad’s Cramer Ball takes over as Air Seychelles new CEO
ETIHAD TEAM MOVES IN AT AIR SEYCHELLES As February 01 dawns now over the Seychelles will the acquisition of the 40 percent shareholding in national airline Air Seychelles by Abu Dhabi’s Etihad become legally effective and a team of managers, seconded by one the Gulf’s leading airlines, is expected to move in today to strengthen […]
A year after the Independence Referendum – Dashed dreams and lost hope?
A YEAR AFTER INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM HAS THE MOOD TURNED SOUR Just over a year ago did the results of the independence referendum come in, with near 100 percent approval by those eligible to cast their vote, setting the stage for the mid July 2011 Independence from the former slave masters in Khartoum. 12 months on, […]
Reef restoration in Mauritius gets funding from global climate change fund
FISHERIES MINISTRY EXPANDS CORAL FARMING The Africa Climate Change Adaption Programme is funding an effort undertaken by the Mauritius Ministry for Fisheries to expand coral farming in several areas of the island, aimed at the dual purpose to restore under water coral habitat as well as allow for commercial harvesting in years to come. An […]
Rwanda’s Nyungwe Forest Lodge voted ‘Global Best’ at award ceremony in London
NYUNGWE FOREST LODGE BAGS TOP ARCHITECTURE AWARD (One of the cottages at Nyungwe Forest Lodge, set right at the edge of this ancient forest, the largest in Rwanda) The Dubai World owned Nyungwe Forest Lodge has done its superior reputation credit when it was announced last week that it had won yet another award, capturing […]
Weekly roundup of news from Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean islands, Fifth edition January 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 […]
Air Seychelles news update – Will Etihad’s arrival spell the end of Air Seychelles Boeing use?
AIRBUS FOR AIR SEYCHELLES? A source from Mahe, close to the airline, has suggested that plans to acquire a new B737-800 single aisle aircraft for the planned services to the other Vanilla Islands, to South Africa and perhaps new destinations on the African mainland are being reviewed since the tie up with Etihad, the national […]
