Category: Uncategorized

Kenya aviation news update – ‘The Pride of Africa’ makes Kenyans proud

PRIDE OF AFRICA MAKES KENYANS PROUD Kenya Airways, with the widely recognized tag line ‘The Pride of Africa’ is indeed making Kenyans proud, as the latest survey undertaken by the Nation Media Group shows. Nearly a third of those polled have Kenya Airways their ‘thumbs up’ while runner up Safaricom ended up with a 20 […]

Kenya hospitality news – KTDC finally told to sell key hotel shares

KENYA AGREES TO SELL SHARES IN INTERCONTINENTAL, HILTON AND MOUNTAIN LODGE News broke overnight that the Kenyan government had finally agreed to sell their stakes in the holding companies owning the InterContinental Hotel in Nairobi, the Hilton Hotel in Nairobi and the Mountain Lodge, presently co-owned and managed by Serena Hotels. It is understood that […]

Uganda conservation news – Now it is ‘war’ over Mabira …

MABIRA SAGA HEADING FOR CONFRONTATION President Museveni was reported to be in a defiant mood earlier in the week when he met a delegation from city traders and business, who had asked for meeting him to discuss a long list of grievances, over licenses, unfair competition by foreign nationals posing as ‘investors’ while engaging in […]

Kenya hospitality news update – Hoteliers denounce allegations by Water Authority chairman

COAST HOTELIERS DENY POLLUTION CLAIMS The Water Resources Management Authority chairman faced angry reactions from the coast branch of the Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers following his allegations that over 90 percent of beach resorts were letting raw sewage ‘escape into the sea’. Individual hoteliers and association leaders denounced the statement as misleading and […]

Aviation news update – The B787 – an ongoing saga

DREAMLINER DELIVER TO ANA – EXTRAORDIARY EFFORT OR SMOKESCREEN When Japanese airline ANA is taking delivery of their first ever B787, being THE launch customer for Boeing, over three and a half years of delay after delay comes to an end. Often denied by Boeing executives, several of whom have since lost their jobs, probably […]

Seychelles aviation news update – SHTA demands traffic rights for TransAero

SHTA LAMENTS LOSS OF TOURIST FLIGHT FROM RUSSIA In a hard hitting statement, issued by the Chairman of the Seychelles Hotel and Tourism Association SHTA, has the private sector denounced the lack of permit for a planned air connection from Russia to Mahe. TransAero had applied for traffic rights to bring tourists on a nonstop […]

Conservation news update – CITES excludes NGO’s and civil society, then reverses decicion

CITES EXCLUSION OF CIVIL SOCIETY PERPLEXES OBSERVERS The unprecedented decision by the standing committee of CITES yesterday, to exclude civil society organizations and NGO’s, including WWF, AWF and others from its deliberations on the illegal trade in ivory has shocked the global conservation fraternity and prompted already a wave of protests from those affected. Suspicion […]

Seychelles news update – Mourning the victims and commiserating friends

MOURNING VICTIMS AND COMMISERATING FRIENDS Two shark attacks in the space of two weeks, after in fact not seeing the great white shark in the Seychellois waters for decades, have rocked the tranquil archipelago’s tourism industry. While the first deadly attack on a French tourist received little media attention, the second one yesterday on a […]

Uganda hospitality news update – Sheraton hosts 500 orphans for Iftar feast

SHERATON GIVES IFTAR FEAST TO 500 ORPHANS 500 orphaned young children between the ages of 3 to 15 were treated to a traditional Iftar feast by the Sheraton Kampala Hotel a few days ago. Three orphanages run by Islamic charities were selected by the hotel to send their youngsters to the Sheraton to enjoy time […]

Zanzibar tourism news – Tourists threatened with arrest for eating during Ramadhan

ZANZIBAR TOURISTS THREATENED WITH JAIL FOR EATING DURING DAYTIME? Disturbing news emerged from Zanzibar overnight when it became known that a minister in the Zanzibari government had made public demands that police arrest anyone seen eating or drinking during day time during the current month of Ramadhan. ‘Anyone eating and drinking in public as well […]

Kenya aviation news – Etihad to use A320 for Nairobi flights

ETIHAD TO USE A320 FOR NAIROBI FLIGHTS It was confirmed overnight that Etihad, the national airline of Abu Dhabi, will use an Airbus A320 aircraft when daily flights commence between Abu Dhabi and Nairobi in April 2012. An airline source in Kenya made good of the promise to obtain and share this information, after initially […]

Uganda conservation news – UWA commission fails to play tourists

UWA COMMISSION LACK FUNDS TO PLAY TOURISTS A range of rather unprintable comments were received overnight when it became known that members of the commission of enquiry publicly lamented the lack of funds from the tourism ministry to ‘visit the national parks’, ostensibly to ‘carry out their mandate’. Commission chairman, retired Supreme Court Justice George […]

Kenya tourism news – Cheli & Peacock bag ‘Gold Rating’ from Ecotourism Kenya

CHELI & PEACOCK’S ‘ELEPHANT PEPPER CAMP’ GETS THIRD EVER GOLD RATING BY ECOTOURISM KENYA One of Kenya’s tourism success stories over the last 26 years, Cheli & Peacock, has yet more reason to be proud of their extraordinary achievements, now that Ecotourism Kenya has awarded their Elephant Pepper Camp a gold rating status, only the […]

Seychelles tourism news update – Archipelago’s tourism gurus drag ‘Vanilla Islands’ into the new media age

SEYCHELLES MARKETING INNOVATIONS EXTEND TO ‘VANILLA ISLANDS’ Information was received overnight that the exceptionally successful efforts of the Seychelles Tourist Board to market the archipelago across the world by using both traditional as well as social media have now finally been extended to the ‘other’ Indian Ocean islands, brought together under the tagline ‘Vanilla Islands’. […]

Uganda conservation news – Mabira 2.0 – reloaded

GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS FAIL TO FIND ‘DEGRADED MABIRA AREAS’ Following contradicting statements from State House officials, that ‘only degraded areas of Mabira Forest will be given away for sugar cane farming’ has an effort to show Ugandan journalists those degraded areas failed miserably, when a team led by the minister for environment failed to identify any […]

Uganda news update – CHOGM sins continue to haunt the perpetrators

CHOGM SINS CONTINUE TO HAUNT THE PERPETRATORS The scandal is simply not going away and CHOGM, once a darling word to boost hotel capacity and create infrastructure along the Entebbe to Kampala corridor of the greater metropolitan area, has become synonymous with corruption, police investigations and prosecutions by the Inspector General of Government. The latest […]

Tanzania aviation news update – Swissport profits nearly double

SWISSPORT PROFITS PROMPT CALLS FOR GREATER COMPETITION The announcement by Swissport last week of a 44 percent rise in profits for the first half of their financial year to approximately 2.6 million US Dollars has swiftly brought critics to the scene, demanding that new licenses be issued to applicants wanting to provide ground handling services […]

Mauritius news update – Isla Mauricia joins Africa Travel Association

ISLA MAURICIA JOINS THE AFRICA TRAVEL ASSOCIATION ATA last week accepted the membership application of Isla Mauricia, as the first private sector member from the island, and hopefully opening the door for more members to join one of Africa’s foremost promotional bodies, based in New York. That would lead to the option to create a […]

Kenya aviation news update – Tyre burst on runway again exposes JKIA’s vulnerabiltiy

TYRE BURST EXPOSES NAIROBI’S VULNERABILITY A burst tyre on a Jetlink plane coming from Eldoret in Western Kenya once again exposed the vulnerability of Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, as the jet ‘got stuck’ on the runway after landing. While passengers were swiftly and efficiently evacuated the plane was surrounded by emergency service vehicles, bringing […]

Mauritius aviation news – Air Mauritius posts losses for first quarter

AIR MAURITIUS POSTS MORE LOSSES Information was received during the week that Air Mauritius had to post another loss, almost identical to the same period of the last financial year, of over 11 million Euros or almost 16 million US Dollars. The airline reportedly blamed the repeat on slower than expected demand and the impact […]

Mauritius tourism news – More officials resign from tourism positions

TOURISM OFFICIALS QUIT OVER POLITICAL UPHEAVALS Two senior officials in the Mauritius Ministry of Tourism and Leisure, the Director General of the Tourism Authority and the Director of the Economic Intelligence Unit, resigned earlier in the week following the departure of the Mauritius Socialist Party from the coalition government and the resignation of the minister […]

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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