KENYA
East Africa Travel And Tourism News
Strathmore University The Venue For 3rd African Conference On Sustainable Tourism
Strathmore University School of Tourism and Hospitality in collaboration with African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (AFEW)-Kenya welcome you once again to the 3rd ACoST bringing together academia, trade professionals, students and other industry experts for a unique learning, development and networking opportunity focusing on
Tourism for Sustainable Development
You are welcome to present academic papers in areas related to the following themes:
Theme 1: Community and conservation
Theme 2: Tourism and rural development
Theme 3: Policy and governance on sustainable tourism
Theme 4: Trends and innovations in sustainable tourism
Theme 5: Tourism and human capital development
Special track: Industry best practice in conservancy management
Industry best practice in sustainable business
Conference Dates: 31st October – 2nd November 2018
Venue: Strathmore University, Nairobi, KenyaKEY DATES:
- Deadline for submission of abstract – August 15, 2018
- Notification of acceptance of abstracts – August 30, 2018
- Full paper submission – September 15, 2018
- Deadline early bird registration – August 20, 2018
Fellowships and publication of papersThe ACoST has received funding to sponsor fellowships that will be offered on merit.
Papers will be published in the “African Journal of Sustainable Tourism – A Strathmore University Journal”.
Read More, Courtesy Of Wolfgang
Kenya Airways Moves To Protect Its Turf From Kampala And Dar Carriers
The East African skies are set for stiff competition following the move by Uganda and Tanzania to revive their national carriers.
The two countries hope to share the regional pie that Kenya Airways has enjoyed in the larger East African routes.
Kenya Airways, however, said it is unfazed by the return of the two airlines, noting that they have miles to go before they can catch up with the local carrier. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania formed the East African airlines but split in 1976. What followed were years of decline for all the three airlines. KQ, though in turbulence, has, however, been able to stay afloat and sustain flights in Africa as well as other far-flung destinations in Asia and Europe.
This was the same for Air Uganda until shut down in 2001 while Air Tanzania was able to sustain only a few local flights. Air Tanzania has, however, been rejuvenated. It has already taken off but only operates domestic flights with a single international flight to Comoros.
It plans to start flying to other cities in East Africa, including Nairobi, Entebbe, Kigali and Bujumbura.
Earlier this month, the airline received its first plane that can make long-haul flights, the Boeing Dreamliner, which it said would be used for the Indian route and other long-haul flights.
Air Uganda is also preparing for take-off. The country has recently inked a deal with Airbus for delivery of an A330-800 new engine option, which has been received with criticism in Uganda as the airline is the sole customer for the aircraft with other orders having been cancelled.
Air Uganda has ordered four Canadair Regional Jet 900 series (CRJ 900), which are set to be delivered by 2020. Both airlines appear set to steal some of the markets in the East African routes that are largely dominated by Kenya Airways.
RwandAir has in the recent past emerged as a competitor in the East African Community (EAC).
KQ is, however, putting on a brave face, saying the new developments are manageable. The airline’s Chief Operating Officer Jan de Vegt told Financial Standard that it has a strategic advantage of being in the market for long and flying to most corners of the continent.
KQ, he noted, is still growing and will have made more strides before Air Uganda and Tanzanian airline can find their footing.
“We are an airline with 39 aircraft, we fly to over 50 destinations and we have a footprint across Africa. KQ is still growing this footprint and we also have connections to the rest of the world where we either fly to or can offer our customers access to global destinations through our partners,” Jan de Vegt said.
“It is very hard for another airline to just build that from the ground up… strategically we do have an advantage.” KQ is still in a recovery mode and It is barely a year since it concluded its complex restructuring.
It has been looking for partnerships to strengthen its product offering and perhaps beat the emerging competition seen in the revival of Ugandan and Tanzanian carriers as well as the existing competitors that are RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.
Key among these partnerships is working with the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) in the management of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
The plan has already received cabinet backing and now awaits regulatory approvals.
Courtesy of KATA
RWANDA
Rwanda Ready For The 2018 Edition Of Its Annual ‘Tour Di Rwanda‘
17 teams from Africa, Europe and the US with 85 riders are embarking on Sunday morning on the annual Tour of Rwanda, a cycling race of growing importance.
The event will kick off at the Kigali International Convention Centre where the Rwandan teams will face competition from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Cameroon, South Africa, the United States, Switzerland, France and Germany. This year will also mark the tenth anniversary since the event was first staged as a UCI race.
The cross country tour will return to Kigali on the 12th of August when the riders will have completed all the stages of the race and then cross the finishing line. The tour will help to promote Rwanda as a safe destination for tourists coming to see the country while cycling and in particular the Congo Nile Trail has been developed over the years and now attracted hundreds of foreign tourists every year who come to ride along the shores of Lake Kivu and through the surrounding hills.
Courtesy of Wolfgang
Rwanda Targets U.S.$74 Million From Conference Tourism
Rwanda is looking to nearly double its revenues from conference tourism, Clare Akamanzi, the chief executive of Rwanda Development Board (RDB) has said.
Last year, the country collected a total of $42 million (about Rwf36.3 billion) from 192 conferences.
This year’s target is $74 million (Rwf64 billion), the official said.
“We have a target of increasing our MICE (Meetings Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) receipts to US$74 million this year, up from US$42 last year,” Akamanzi said.
She was addressing the media at RDB head offices in Kigali yesterday.
With five months to go, the Government says it has already collected more than 50 per cent of the targeted revenue from conference tourism this year.
Rwanda has in recent years been actively investing in the MICE sector with hope it could generate economic value for the country as well as raise its profile as a destination for business.
Meanwhile, Akamanzi also spoke about the upcoming 7th edition of the Africa CEO Forum slated for next year in March.
“As RDB we are very excited to partner with the organizers (Jeune Afrique Media Group) to bring the forum to Rwanda, because it responds to our priorities in Rwanda,” she said.
“As you know Rwanda has prioritised MICE as one of the drivers of economic growth and the Government has invested in infrastructures like the (Kigali) Convention Centre and the national airline. We have invested in hotels, and have attracted the private sector to support the value chain of the conference tourism”.
According to RDB, Rwanda attracted a record $1.6 billion (Rwf1.3 trillion) in private sector investments last year. The Board targets $2 billion (Rwf1.7 trillion) this year.
“To achieve this, it means interacting with businesses and the private sector. We believe by hosting this forum we have an opportunity to advance MICE but we also have an opportunity to showcase Rwanda as a place to do business,” she noted.
According to Amir Ben Yahmed, Managing Director, Jeune Afrique Media Group, next year’s edition of Africa CEO Forum is expected to attract about 1500 top executives and business leaders from across the continent.
He noted that most of the delegates that will attend the event are influential African chief executives and members of the investment community from France, Japan, Germany, US, and China, among others.
“It is undeniably one of the most important business events in Africa,” Yahmed said.
The Forum is one of the leading global gatherings of business and finance leaders in the private sector.
Organisers said they have recently started bringing together leaders from the public sector to interact with business leaders.
At next year’s forum, which will take place March 25-26, a dedicated session will focus on doing business in Rwanda, organisers said.
Story by: Julius Bizimungu
Source: NewTimes Rwanda
TANZANIA
Air Tanzania To Launch Flights To Entebbe And Bujumbura
Air Tanzania will bring their new Boeing B787 Dreamliner to both Entebbe / Uganda and to Bujumbura / Burundi, when the airline launches their planned regional flights later in August.
The use of the wide body aircraft is aimed to showcase the plane to potential regional customers the airline hopes to attract when launching a three times a week service in September to Mumbai / India.
Flights to Entebbe and Bujumbura, according to information received, are due to launch on the 26th of August and will operate three times a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Air Tanzania will share the Entebbe route with Precision Air while on the route between Dar es Salaam to Bujumbura ATCL will be the only carrier with nonstop flights, cutting out stopovers in Nairobi.
Following the launch flights will the two routes then be served with Bombardier Q400 aircraft.
https://atcnews.org/2018/07/29/airtanzania-performs-first-commercial-flight-with-new-boeing-b787/
Air Tanzania had initially announced Bujumbura flights for August last year but the delay in the delivery of the third Bombardier Q400 prevented this at the time.
https://atcnews.org/2017/07/27/air-tanzania-sets-eyes-on-bujumbura/
