Pundits are wondering where the money would come from should this latest airline revival really take off.
REVIVING UGANDA AIRLINES – AGAIN ??? (Posted 11th August 2015) Information firmed up overnight that another attempt is underway to revive Uganda Airlines, which, stripped of key assets like ground handling and catering was liquidated in 2001. This followed attempts to privatize the airline but with back then the only viable asset being its ownership […]
No 398 Wildlife Trade News: 2nd May
Weekend or not, the bad news just keep coming … poaching, wildlife and environmental crimes just do not stop … in the spotlight today …………………… Pangolin Prison – Part II. EXTRACT: providing black market pangolin meat and scales to traders in China and Vietnam, and now this unimaginable hoard of dead pangolins needs to be […]
Seychelles’ Tourism Minister speaks from the heart as he launched the 2015 Carnival Festival
Back home at my own shores now with material accumulated from eight days in the Seychelles which should provide for weeks of articles, I want to kick off the series with a reflection on Alain St. Ange’s opening address a week ago at the Stade Popilar in Victoria, when the opening gala of the 2015 […]
More cruises for the active Vanilla Islands’group while the African mainland ports sleep
COSTA CRUISES COMMITS TO INCREASE STOPOVERS ON THE VANILLA ISLANDS (Posted 26th April 2015) The presence this week of Costa Cruise’ Executive Vice President Norbert Stiekema in the Seychelles, when not only the annual Carnival Festival is being celebrated but also one of the Costa cruiseliners was on port call last week, was used to […]
Kenya Airways adjusts schedule ahead of night closure of JKIA runway
KENYA AIRWAYS ANNOUNCES SCHEDULE CHANGES EFFECTIVE 01ST OF APRIL (Posted 30th March 2015) Kenya Airways has announced changes to their current schedule, effective from the 01st of April, sharply increasing connectivity on domestic and African routes. Malindi will be served twice a day, up from the present 6 flights a week, clearly an effort by […]
Who is behind throwing muck at Qatar Airways?
QATAR AIRWAYS IN THE CROSS HAIRS BUT WHOSE CROSS HAIRS (Posted 20th February 2015) ‘This is bullshit’ was Qatar Airways’ Group CEO Akbar Al Baker quoted to have said in response to new allegations of bias and prejudice against female staff, among those allegations suggestions that permission would be needed to get married and staff […]
No 316 Wildlife Trade News 13th January 2015
Bad news about poaching, environmental and wildlife crimes rarely come alone … in the spotlight today …………………… How safe are the ivory, rhino horn stockpiles in EA vaults? http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/How-safe-are-the-ivory–rhino-horn-stockpiles-in-EA-vaults-/-/2558/2586072/-/ojfqjjz/-/index.html (It’s thought ivory in storage in Malaysia has been plundered by government officials. Does CITES care?) No 316 Wildlife Trade News 13th January 2015 More ‘legal’ […]
WTM 2014 – Kenya and her partners are ready to fight for market share
FORGET ME NOT AND FORSAKE ME NOT (Posted 04th November 2014) Kenya’s delegation to the 2014 edition of the World Travel Market in London, led by the Cabinet Secretary Phylis Kandie and the Kenya Tourism Board, this year comprises 11 counties, which economic performance is closely if not directly linked to the tourism industry, and […]
US plans to extradite alleged South African rhino kingpins
News updates from the Conservation Action Trust US plans to extradite alleged South African rhino kingpins. Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. US plans to extradite alleged South African rhino kingpins National Geographic | 23 October, 2014 | Laurel Neme | U.S. authorities today announced the indictment of the alleged […]
East Africa Adopts Akwaaba As official Expo
Tourism News from Nigeria … ATQnews.com a member of Travel Media Group. This is the online platform for African Travel Quarterly (ATQ), the first Travel magazine in West Africa which solely focuses on travel and tourism issues. It started publishing offline about 10 years ago. ATQnews.com features reports that cover a wide range of topics […]
Interpol takes the fight against poaching to East Africa
INTERPOL SENDS TEAM TO EAST AFRICA TO TACKLE WILDLIFE CRIMES (Posted 11th October 2014) When the coin finally dropped on the Western countries, that poaching had substituted ocean terrorism, aka piracy, off the East African coast as a main source for funding for extremist groups like Al Shabab, did a scramble begin to tackle this […]
Seychelles’ latest new hotel set to open on 18th of October
EDEN BLEU HOTEL SET TO OPEN WITH A BIG BANG JUST DAYS AHEAD OF FESTIVAL KREOL (Posted 09th October 2014) Eden Island’s first hotel, variably described as a business hotel as well as a residence, is set to open to the sounds of UB 40 which will be staging a show on Eden Island on […]
Uganda’s aviation sector – as dead as a Dodo
IT IS TIME TO SAY GOODBYE TO AIR UGANDA (Posted 01st October 2014) The airline massacre unleashed by the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority’s action of 17th of June this year, when in an act of unparalleled magnitude all international flights by Ugandan registered airlines were grounded to avoid being cited, named and shamed by ICAO […]
‘Are you saying we are frauds’ ask conservationists from Principal Secretary?
CONSERVATION NGO’S TELL RANTING PRINCIPAL SECRETARY TO GET FACTS RIGHT (Posted 04th September 2014) Several of Kenya’s conservation NGO’s, all highly respected and with a great long list of accomplishments in their respective fields, took almost immediate exception at the rants uttered by the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, […]
Blood ivory and poaching – China’s fingerprints are everywhere
BORN FREE USA REPORT FINGERS CHINESE IN ALMOST EVERY MAJOR IVORY BUST (Posted 28th August 2014) A new report compiled by the Born Free USA Foundation has brought with it a damning indictment of Chinese involvement in blood ivory smuggling and by prolongation in poaching across the African elephant range states. The document titled ‘Mapping […]
Can Uganda’s aviation industry recover from the damage done by the UCAA?
UGANDAN AVIATION AT CROSS ROADS (Posted 15th August 2014) June 17th is a day which is likely to be remembered in Ugandan aviation circles as a day of infamy, when the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority grounded all locally registered airlines from flights beyond the country’s borders, amended, in some cases backdated, existing AOC’s, aka Air […]
Quo Vadis Uganda aviation?
LOCAL MEDIA LIFT UCAA SMOKESCREEN AND UNLEASH BROADSIDE AGAINST REGULATORS (Posted 31st July 2014) ‘They used our professional relationship to feed us information. On first sight it looked ok but when digging deeper we found a lot of inconsistencies in their stories. That is when we discovered that they had misused us to become their […]
Stung UCAA regulators take out full page advert to contain the damage to their reputation
UGANDA CAA’S ATTEMPT TO WHITEWASH THEMSELVES SEEN AS MISERABLE FAILURE (Posted 20th July 2014) The heat is clearly on now for the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority as they succumbed to public pressure and felt the urgent need to publish a full page advert in the local media, attempting to whitewash themselves from their actions a […]
Ever heard of the Cosmoledo Atoll?
The Seychelles News Agency recently published an article about a scientific study undertaken on the remote Cosmoledo Atoll, which describes in detail the findings of a group of researchers, worth sharing with my readers. My thanks to SNA! Cosmoledo is ‘generally healthy’! Island Conservation Society conducts studies on Seychelles atoll Cosmoledo, Seychelles | June 22, […]
New Visa requirements by Kenya for South African citizens likely to drive demand to zero
KENYA’S TOURISM SECTOR SHELL SHOCKED OVER NEW VISA RULES FOR SOUTH AFRICANS (Posted 18th June 2014) Frustration, resignation, anger and even rage were the emotions encountered when confronting senior tourism stakeholders in Kenya with the latest of the challenges thrown their way, this time by the Kenya High Commission in Pretoria, which as per the […]
FetAfrik Festival opens as the Seychelles receives another speedboat for the coastguard
SEYCHELLES CONTINUES TO BOOST ANTI PIRACY CAPABILITIES (Posted 26th May 2014) With the FetAfrik Festival now underway in the Seychelles, celebrating the Africa Day and everything to do with the archipelago’s culture and history tying the islands to Africa, has the Seychelles coastguard taken delivery of another speedboat to boost ocean security. The Seychelles maritime […]
Remember the ‘Choices have Consequences’ talk by Western powers?
CHOICES HAVE CONSEQUENCES – BOTH WAYS (Posted 18th May 2014) When Western powers, ahead of Kenya’s general and presidential elections last year harped on about ‘Choices have Consequences’ few could fathom the full extent of what Kenya’s supposed Western friends had in store for the country. While publicly eating humble pie and trying to make […]
Top Tourism Guru speaks up on Kenya’s security situation
PORINI / GAMEWATCHERS’ JAKE GRIEVES COOK SPEAKS OUT ON SECURITY CONCERNS (Posted 17th May 2014) In a rare departure from norm, where stakeholders for fear of repercussions prefer NOT to have their names mentioned when commenting on current affairs in Kenya – and elsewhere in East Africa too – has Jake Grieves Cook, one of […]
Leakey and Kahumbu demand immediate government response to poaching crisis
KENYA’S LEADING CONSERVATIONISTS DEMAND IMMEDIATE ACTION ON POACHING CRISIS (Posted 19th March 2014) Dr. Richard Leakey and Dr. Paula Kahumbu, both acknowledged to be Kenya’s leading conservation campaigners, held a media briefing earlier today at the Nairobi Serena Hotel to rally support for immediate action to stem the rising tide of rhino and elephant killings […]
Weekly roundup of ACT News from Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean Region, Third edition November 2013
AVIATION TOURISM & CONSERVATION NEWS EAST AFRICA A weekly roundup from Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean islands of breaking news, reports, travel stories and opinions by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang H. Thome You can get your daily news updates instantly via Twitter by following @whthome or join me on www.facebook.com/WolfgangHThome where the articles also ‘cross […]
Prince Charles endorses Seychelles’ environmental policies
SEYCHELLES ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES AND COMMITMENT GET ROYAL APPROVAL (Posted 16th November 2013) The extraordinary environmental protection work of the Seychelles, and the fact that this tiny Indian Ocean island nation has devoted over 50 percent of its territory to territorial and marine protected areas has found favour at the highest level of the Commonwealth, of […]
Weekly roundup of news from Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean region, First edition November 2013
AVIATION TOURISM & CONSERVATION NEWS EAST AFRICA A weekly roundup from Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean islands of breaking news, reports, travel stories and opinions by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang H. Thome You can get your daily news updates instantly via Twitter by following @whthome or join me on www.facebook.com/WolfgangHThome where the articles also ‘cross […]
Five years of economic reforms in Seychelles helped shape tourism successes
ECONOMIC REVIEW UNDERWAY AS ECONOMIC REFORM PROGRAMME CLOCKS 5 YEARS (Posted 30th October 2013) Five years ago to the day did President James Alix Michel go on national television to make a ground breaking announcement about a new economic course of action, as the country was coming under the dark cloud of a global financial […]
Weekly roundup of news from Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean region, Fifth edition September 2013
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 You can get your daily news updates instantly via Twitter by following @whthome or join me on www.facebook.com/WolfgangHThome where the articles also ‘cross load’. Read […]
Will new maritime security measures by Seychelles bring the big cruise lines back?
SEYCHELLES TAKES MARITIME SECURITY PRECAUTIONS TO THE NEXT LEVEL (Posted 28th September 2013) When some years ago, during an interview in his office, the Seychelles Minister for Home Affairs and Transport, at the time also holding the Environment and Energy portfolios, Joel Morgan made it plain that his country viewed any pirate attack on ships […]
