Kampala gets Chief Executive relegating newly elected Lord Mayor into ceremonial role
KAMPALA CITY GETS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR President Museveni has on the eve of the mayoral elections in Kampala appointed the city’s new chief executive but the name of the new appointee will not be released until after the election results are known. Government accorded the capital city a new status towards the end of last year, […]
South Sudan – New laws and regulations crucial to tourism investments
TOURISM AND WILDLIFE RELATED CONTRACTS ‘ON SHAKY GROUNDS’ When the peace agreement was signed in January 2005 between the Sudan People Liberation Movement and the regime in Khartoum, many investment opportunities were waiting for the quick witted, in particular in and around Juba, where tented camp accommodation sold at 180 US Dollars a person a night […]
News update – UWA saga continues with another chapter
AND THE VENDETTA CONTINUES UNABATED Uganda’s controversial tourism minister – there has been a rising chorus of voices calling for his ‘relocation’ when the new cabinet is formed – has instituted yet another probe committee into the affairs of the Uganda Wildlife Authority, after last week appointing a team charged with investigating the World Bank […]
Seychelles tourism success aided by NO VISA policy
NO VISA AT ALL POLICY PART OF SEYCHELLES TOURISM SUCCESS The Seychelles recent success in making big gains in tourism arrivals, often entirely credited to the privatisation of the tourist board two years ago, has many fathers though, the outstanding performance of Alain St. Ange’s tourism marketing team, globally acknowledged for that matter, notwithstanding. A […]
Seychelles Tourism Academy admit 19 students for hotel management programme
SEYCHELLES TOURISM ACADEMY EXPANDS HOTEL MANAGEMENT INTAKE Academy principal Flavien Joubert on Friday welcomed the fourth group of students for a hospitality degree programme, which STA offers jointly with the Shannon College of Hotel Management and has been validated by the National University of Ireland. The 19 students will study for 3 years at the […]
Aviation news update – IATA grants Rwanda’s RTUC exam status
IATA GRANTS RWANDA’s RTUC ‘EXAMINATION CENTRE’ STATUS The International Air Transport Association has granted the Rwanda Tourism University College the status of an examination centre for the regular IATA courses, lifting the status of RTUC to the next level. While teaching at the college of relevant topics and courses has been going on for some time […]
Lions in the suburbs
LIONS IN THE SUBURBS Residents of an outlying village area of Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam had a rude shock recently when the roars of at least one, possibly two lions were heard, driving the population into a state of panic. While there is a distinct possibility of a second lion hiding out somewhere […]
Rwanda’s new wildlife bill finally caters for compensation
NEW WILDLIFE BILL AWAITING PRESIDENTIAL CONSENT TO BECOME LAW The various amendments to the Rwandan wildlife laws – most notably the provision to pay compensation to people suffering damages to property, injuries and loss of life by game straying out of the national parks – has received the approval of Rwanda’s second chamber, the Senate, […]
Aviation breaking news – FLY540 adding three times a week service from Wilson to Vipingo
Fly 540 OPENS UP VIPINGO BY AIR True to their recent form of expanding their domestic destinations to locations other airlines have not been thinking about, has Fly 540 now announced a three times a week service from Nairobi’s Wilson Airport via Vipingo to Malindi and back effective March 18th. Fly 540, operating from both Jomo Kenyatta […]
Culinary delights return to Mauritius’ Constance Belle Mare Plage Resort
BERNARD LOUISEAU CULINARY FESTIVAL COMMENCES THIS WEEKEND No sooner had the Seychelles concluded their first ever Carnival Festival, the first of its kind in Africa it is understood, did the ‘road signs’ for events in the Indian Ocean point to Mauritius where the Bernard Louiseau Culinary Festival is going underway this weekend. Hosted by the Constance Belle […]
News update – YELLOW MASAI gives East African e-travel options
YELLO MASAI TAPS INTO E-TRAVEL BOOKING POTENTIAL E-Commerce has finally descended on the Tanzanian travel scene with a bang since www.yellowmasai.com went on line. A key element, missing in many other ‘booking sites’, is available at Yellow Masai, namely secure credit card and payment transactions, but has also linked up with electronic money transfer services like M-Pesa and […]
Aviation news update – Can Kenya’s aviation boom be sustained in the face of higher inflation and rocketing jet fuel prices
IT IS SURVIVAL FOR THE FITTEST IN AVIATION The aviation industry, just recovering from the sharp recession during and after the global financial and economic crisis, is facing another serious threat to the industry’s ability to make up for the record losses IATA airlines suffered in past years. Rising fuel cost are causing crisis meetings […]
Breaking News – Uganda’s tourism ministry taken to court over plans to demolish the Uganda Museum
MUSEUM SAGA NOW IN COURT In a predictable development have civil society organisations and heritage advocates gone to the High Court in Kampala to stop the plans by the Ministry of Tourism to demolish the Uganda Museum and instead put up a 60 – yes SIXTY – storey building instead. At least four organisations, probably […]
SEYCHELLES EXCEL AGAIN – CARNIVAL FESTIVAL ATTRACTS COPY CATS ALREADY
CARNIVAL FESTIVAL A RESOUNDING SUCCESS The well attended first ever Seychelles Carnival Festival, which ended early this week, drew spectators from afar and in fact from across the globe to the archipelago, and what they saw did not disappoint. Political delegations and ‘snoops’ from various tourist boards too came to the Seychelles, as guests and […]
Breaking News – Kingdom Hotels/Holdings Al Waleed snubs Uganda and befriends Rwanda instead
KINGDOM HOTELS AL-WALEED SNUBS UGANDA AND PRAISES RWANDA In a move certain to perplex the powers that be in Uganda has Saudi Prince Al Waleed, owner of Kingdom Hotels, apparently done an about turn on his East African plans and expressed his open favour of Rwanda while on a recent visit to Kigali. Al Waleed’s Kingdom Hotels […]
Aviation news update – Tanzania’s Precision Air to go ahead with share public listing
PRECISION AIR MOVES AHEAD WITH LISTING ON STOCK EXCHANGE Tanzania’s premier airline, Precision Air, has announced it is set to go ahead with their planned listing of their shares at the Dar es Salaam stock exchange, apparently unperturbed over a recent attempt to have court issue a winding up order against them, following a suit […]
Libyan owned Uganda Telecom gets ‘cut notice’ from MTN
LIBYA FALLOUT FELT IN UGANDA The Libyan owned, many in fact say Gadaffi owned Uganda Telecom is said to be in serious financial dire straits, allegedly unable to pay interconnection fees to market leader MTN to the tune of 20 billion Uganda Shillings. MTN has now given a termination notice to UTL, effective next Monday 14th March, that no calls […]
Kenya’s ‘Grogan’s Castle’ now open for visitors
GROGAN’S CASTLE NOW TOURIST SITE Grogan’s Castle is located in an area full of history, where many bloody battles were fought between the German forces based in their then colony Tanganyika and the British and allied troops based in Kenya. Imperial Germany’s General Von Lettow-Vorbeck slipped across the nearby border at Taveta with his troops and […]
Rwanda’s Rosette Rugamba on UNWTO panel launching ‘Women in Tourism’ report at ITB
ROSETTE RUGAMBA RETURNS TO HER ‘WINNING PATCH’ Rosette Rugamba, former head of ORTPN and then Deputy CEO at the Rwanda Development Board for Tourism and Conservation, will return to her ‘winning site’ this week as an invited panelist when the global report on ‘Women in Tourism’ is being formally launched by the UNWTO. After leading Rwanda’s […]
Aviation news update – RwandAir now flies to Brazzaville and Libreville
RWANDAIR COMMENCES BRAZZAVILLE / LIBREVILLE FLIGHTS Last Saturday did RwandAir operate their inaugural flight between Kigali and Brazzaville / Congo B before then proceeding on with full traffic rights to Gabon’s capital Libreville, creating their first such connection from East to West Africa. The flight leaves Kigali’s Kanombe International Airport ever Tuesday, Friday and Saturday and is operated […]
STOP PRESS – THIS SITE IS BACK
My dear friends and faithful readers, due to an anti spam control mechanism kicking in erroneously my site was temporarily off air … however, thanks to the WordPress team this issue was resolved and you can now once again access the site and read all the articles posted this morning, in recent days and of […]
Weekly round up of tourism and conservation news from Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean region, Second edition March 2011
TOURISM, AVIATION AND CONSERVATION NEWS from the Eastern African and Indian Ocean region A weekly roundup of reports, travel stories and opinions by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang H. Thome Get daily breaking news updates via Twitter @whthome or on my blog: www.wolfganghthome.wordpress.com Second edition March 2011 Uganda News KAFTC EXPANDS FURTHER The Kampala Aero Club […]
Sheraton leads Ugandan hospitality businesses in observing ‘Earth Hour’
SHERATON LEADS LOCAL HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY IN OBSERVING ‘EARTH HOUR’ The Kampala Sheraton Hotel has in line with Starwood’s global commitment to go ‘green’ also agreed to turn all but the most important security lights off on the evening of the 26th March, from 20.30 hours onwards for 60 minutes, following the World Wildlife Fund’s annual appeal […]
Aviation news update – Air Seychelles ‘all ladies crew’ flight enroute from Paris to Mahe
ALL LADIES CREW FLIGHT ENROUTE FROM PARIS TO MAHE Air Seychelles is once again highlighting their equal opportunities commitments today when an all ladies crew is flying the airline’s B767-300 from Paris to Mahe, due to arrive on the morning of the globally celebrated ‘International Women’s Day’. The event is being widely covered in the French […]
Aviation news update – KAFTC set for futher expansion
KAFTC EXPANDS FURTHER The Kampala Aero Club and Flight Training Centre in Kajjansi continues to grow from strength to strength inspite of ongoing troubles with the supply of AVGAS, one of the ‘Shell is Hell’ legacies left behind by the outgoing global company. Inspite of many assurances, meetings and even interventions by the Ugandan CAA Shell has not […]
Aviation news update – TCAA to hold licensing meeting on 18th May
TANZANIA CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY TO CONSIDER APPLICATIONS Applicants for Air Service Licenses and licenses for ground handling and other service elements in aviation, including maintenance (MRO) and training facilities were yesterday invited by the Tanzanian Civil Aviation Authority to send in their formal applications and related documentation. The Board of the TCAA will hold its […]
East African Media Summit, Nairobi/Kenya, Hilton Hotel, March 14 and 15
EAST AFRICAN MEDIA SUMMIT SET FOR NAIROBI The Nairobi Hilton Hotel will be the venue for this year’s East African Media Summit, which is jointly organised by the East African Community and the East African Business Council. The two day meeting will take place from 14th until 15th of March, a year after being held […]
Breaking aviation news – Fly 540 now routes Kilimanjaro flights via Wilson
FLY 540 ROUTES KILIMANJARO FLIGHTS VIA WILSON In a sharpish departure from conventional wisdom and operating practices, that scheduled regional flights beyond Kenya’s borders only depart from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, has Fly 540 just introduced a routing for their flights to and from Kilimanjaro / Arusha via Wilson. Customs and immigration are in any case set […]
Tanzania’s tourism minister to revive failed concept to promote tourism through embassies
PROMOTING TOURISM THROUGH EMBASSIES ?!? Tanzania’s tourism minister, elevated from the deputy position after the last election into the cabinet seat, something several stakeholders say is too much to handle for him, has dug deep into the arsenal of the command economy days when proposing last Friday that tourism promotion abroad should be handled through […]
Breaking News – Congo’s gorilla national park under threat by oil companies
SEARCH FOR OIL MAY ‘KILL THE VIRUNGAS’ Information has been unearthed that another UNESCO World Heritage Site is under increasing pressure, this time the Virungas in the Congo DR. Dominion Oil has been cited as one of the main culprits behind this youngest assault on Eastern Africa’s ecosystems, and the regime in Kinshasa is said […]
