Zimbabwe:: Lobbies to Co-Host Tourism Conference

Zimbabwe has started lobbying other countries in the region to jointly host the 2013 UN World Tourism Organisation General Assembly in Victoria Falls alongside Livingstone in Zambia.
The conference will attract around 3 000 delegates from about 180 countries, which will help promote the country as a prime tourist destination.
Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Walter Mzembi said he was enthusiastic about getting the chance to host the conference as it brings the "two sister republics (Zimbabwe and Zambia) together" .
Zimbabwe has a seat on the UNWTO and winning the bid to host the conference will be a major coup for the country and Southern Africa as a whole.
"I like the idea of dedicating one of the roundtables to gain support for our bid to host the 2013, UNWTO General Assembly in Victoria Falls/ Livingstone," he said.
Mr Mzembi will be a keynote speaker at this year's International Institute for Peace through Tourism African Conference, which will be held in Zambia from May 15 to 20 under the theme "Meeting the challenges of climate change to tourism in Africa and the developing world".
The aim of the conference is to showcase models of best practice in mitigating and addressing the anticipated impacts of climate change to tourism in Africa and the developing world.
In 2007, the UNWTO, jointly with the United Nations Environment Programme and World Meteorological Organisation convened the second International Conference on Climate Change and Tourism in Switzerland.
The conference set out a range of specific policies and actions to be taken by all stakeholders in the tourism sector to immediately begin implementation of a long-term carbon-neutral roadmap.
This year's conference will seek to identify actual progress made since the 2007 conference with case studies of best practices from each of the developing regions of the world and from among governments, destinations and industry sectors.

CAMAIR-CO (Cameroon Airlines Corporation ) Boeing 767-300ER (TJ-CAC)

Cameroon Airlines Corporation (CAMAIR-Co) is a brand new, yet old airline that just started service last month in Africa.
Camair Version 1.0 was founded in 1971 and was headquartered out of Douala, Cameroon. The airline was owned 96.43% by the Yaounde-Cameroon Government and 3.57% by Air France. The airline had difficulty and stopped service in 2008.
Camair Version 2.0 was founded in 2006 before version 1.0 officially went under, but never started operations. The first flight of the new Camair just occurred on March 28, 2011 from Douala to Paris. Camair currently has a fleet of one Boeing 767-300 ER (TJ-CAC) and one Boeing 737-700.
The new airline was created by a decree of the President and he hopes it becomes an inspiration to other airlines in Africa. The new airline has a much cleaner livery than the old Camair livery. Although I am a fan of the classic cheat-line look, the Euro-white body with colorful tail always looks good.

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe — "Tourists are back!

Victoria Falls- Zimbabwe — "Tourists are back!" said Knowledge, all smiles at the Victoria Falls tourism office.
His sentiment is shared widely in this resort town on the edge of the mile-wide waterfall, where it's hard to remember that three years ago Zimbabwe was trapped in a seemingly endless spiral of hyperinflation, hunger and political violence.
Victoria Falls had become a ghost town as tourists opted for the comforts and safety of resorts on the Zambian side of the Zambezi River, where the once sleepy town of Livingstone enjoyed a tourism boom as Zimbabwe collapsed.
"The Zambian side has definitively profited from all the problems in Zimbabwe," said Sarah, who sells excursions for at the Zambezi Sun, part of a South African hotel chain that opened on the Zambian side in 2001.
Hotels, lodges and other tourist attractions have mushroomed over the past decade around Livingstone, which became so popular that it now boasts several daily direct flights to South Africa.
But a brand new curio market on the main road lies empty as tourists fly in and hop across the border.
"We are not happy, the situation is bad," said the Livingstone Tourism Association. "They come here for activities and they go to Zimbabwe for accommodation."
Livingstone still runs a brisk trade in business travel by hosting conferences and corporate team-building workshops, but now faces stiff competition with Victoria Falls for leisure travellers.
Zimbabwe's tourism earnings jumped 47 percent last year to $770 million, as the number of visitors rose 15 percent to 2.3 million nationally, with Victoria Falls the country's biggest attraction, according to the tourism ministry.
Tourism minister Walter Mzembi hopes to grow that number to five billion dollars by 2015.
"However, this is on condition that the current peace and stability in the country prevails and the country is able to spin a more positive image of itself," he told reporters last month.
Since Zimbabwe adopted the US dollar two years ago, prices are lower in Victoria Falls than in Livingstone, where entrance to the derelict Railway Museum costs $15 for foreigners.
"It is cheaper here, and people can walk to the falls. They don't have to take a taxi or whatever," said Duni, a Victoria Falls hawker offering sunset cruises, helicopter rides, rafting, bungee jumps and safaris to passers-by on the sidewalk.
While Victoria Falls sits at the river edge, Livingstone is 10 kilometres (six miles) away, with a fleet of blue taxis shuttling visitors around for $10 a pop.
Opinion is divided on which side offers the better view of the 108-metre (360-foot) high falls, though the Zimbabwean side has a greater variety of viewpoints.
Confident in its renaissance, Victoria Falls has asked for Chinese aid to expand its airport to accommodate bigger planes.
But the throngs of street vendors trailing tourists are a constant reminder that it's still not business as usual.
Among the souvenirs on offer, a 100-trillion-dollar note from the old Zimbabwe currency, a worthless amount during the age of hyperinflation. Its relegation to the trinket shelves is what allowed to Victoria Falls to welcome visitors again.

Zimbabwe:: Nation Eyes Middle East Tour Operators

UAE, Dubai — The 18th edition of the Arabian Travel Mart officially opened in Dubai yesterday featuring more than 320 main exhibitors, 69 countries and 57 national tourist organisations representatives including the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority.
Zimbabwe this year is not exhibiting but its representatives are participating as trade delegates.
Expounding on Zimbabwe's participation at this important trade exhibition for travel and tourism professionals, ZTA chief executive, Mr Karikoga Kaseke, who is leading the Zimbabwean delegation, said the trade event and Zimbabwe's involvement is more business focused.
"It is a contract signing show and a platform to connect with this lucrative market.
"We are looking at strategic partnerships with leading outbound tour operators and airlines from this region," said Kaseke.
The ZTA boss also revealed that in line with the tourism marketing and growth strategy for the Arabian Travel Market, they have segmented their market into two that is; primary and secondary markets.
"In this region our primary market includes the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Kuwait, Israel, Syrian Republic and Saudi Arabia.
"Our secondary market has Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Qatar, Yemen and Jordan.
"Regarding these markets we are targeting key stakeholders such as outbound tour operators, regional and international airlines, the media and investors," he said.
According to the International Monetary Fund, real GDP growth is focused to increase by 4 percent in the Middle-East, with Qatar registering 20 percent, Iraq 10 percent and Saudi Arabia 8 percent.
These situations according to some economic analysts will be offset by an economic slowdown or contradiction in countries like Egypt, Tunisia and Libya where there is political and civil unrest.
To Zimbabwe among other emerging destinations in Southern Africa, the situation obtaining in the North though undesirable in the spirit of Pan-Africanism and nationhood presents a business opportunity as an alternative destination.
The ATM as an established and successful outbound and regional trade within the Mid-East and Gulf region provides an opportunity to increase destination awareness, confidence and reconnecting with both retail agencies and tourism wholesalers.

Kenya Airways Resumes Flights to Abidjan !

Kenya Airways resumed scheduled flights to Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, after a month’s absence due to the political skirmishes that had rocked the country.
The Kenyan National Airline resumes the route with three flights a week linked with Dakar starting 2nd May 2011 operating on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.

Kenya Airways flights to Abidjan/Dakar were re routed Accra, Ghana on 1st April due to security reasons. But as a result of the improved political and security situation in Cote d’ivoire, Abidjan flights have been reinstated. Kenya Airways flies daily to Dakar, 3 times a week via Abidjan and 4 times a week via Bamako Mali.

Air Zimbabwe chairman Jonathan Kadzura quits Air Zimbabwe?

Air Zimbabwe chairman Jonathan Kadzura hangs in the balance as he has reportedly quit the troubled airline amid talk that he had fallen out of favour with Transport minister Nicholas Goche over the recent strike by the airline’s pilots.
Transport minister Nicholas Goche, to whom Kadzura is supposed to have submitted his resignation, could neither confirm nor deny speculation surrounding Kadzura’s tenure.
“You should ask him (Kadzura) on whether he has resigned or not,” he said in a telephone interview yesterday.
Kadzura gave a veiled response to businessdigest’s inquiry: “I haven’t really done that. I have heard that. But you can’t keep such news away from the public.”
However, impeccable sources within the aviation industry said Kadzura had tendered his resignation, but Goche had turned it down.   
The sources said Kadzura threw in the towel as the national carrier’s chair, frustrated that he was bypassed twice during critical meetings to resolve the pilots’ crippling job action.
The sources said the embattled Air Zimbabwe chair, who has witnessed two paralysing strikes within a space of six months since his appointment in 2009, tendered his resignation after government by-passed him and directly struck a deal with the pilots on April 14.
Goche, according to sources, did not accept the resignation although he is understood to have already lined up former Air Zimbabwe acting CEO Oscar Madombwe or ZTA chief Karikoga Kaseke to succeed Kadzura.
Kadzura is said to have fallen out favour with Goche over the manner in which he handled the strike. He was consistently quoted as saying the airline had no cash to meet the financial obligations, a development that is understood to have irked the pilots.
Kadzura, previously vice chairman, succeeded Mike Bimha as chairman after the former chair was appointed Industry and Commerce deputy minister at the formation of the inclusive government two years ago.
Information gathered by businessdigest indicates that at meetings convened last September to save the financially beleaguered airline Captain Courage Munyanyiwa represented the pilots, Patson Mbiriri stood in for
the shareholder (government) while immediate past Air Zimbabwe CEO Peter Chikumba was not party to the meetings.
“They agreed during these meeting that arrears owed to the pilots should be cleared within six months.
Government failed to meet this deadline, which resulted in the most recent strike.  Kadzura was again not actively involved on the negotiations, which could have annoyed him as board chairman. Acting CEO Innocent Mavhunga, Munyanyiwa and Mbiriri instead took part in these negotiations.”
Air Zimbabwe pilots went on a strike on last month  over non-payment of nearly US$3 million in outstanding salaries. The strike, according to the sources, was stopped after the parties agreed government would immediately pay 74% of the arrears, with the remainder being cleared by end of August this year.
Meanwhile, Munyanyiwa is understood to have quit the national carrier amid reports that he has joined a Middle East airline. 

Air France expands its offer of services to West Africa

Present for the past 75 years on the African continent such as Douala-Cameroon, Yaounde-Cameroon, Accra- Ghana, , Lagos-Nigeria, Air France is expanding its offer of services in West Africa with the launch of routes to Freetown and Monrovia and increased frequencies to Conakry.
Air France now flies to Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Sundays, via Conakry; and to Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, twice weekly, on Wednesdays and Fridays via Conakry. Daily flights to Conakry will be operated on a non-stop basis four times weekly and via Nouakchott three times weekly.

Flights to Conakry, Nouakchott, Freetown and Monrovia will be operated by Airbus A330-200 with 208 seats, in Air France’s three long-haul cabin classes (40 seats in Business, 21 in Premium Voyageur and 147 in Voyageur).

“After the launch of flights to Kigali by KLM in October 2010, these two new Air France routes and the daily service to Guinea illustrate the confidence Air France KLM has in the development of the West African region. Our commitment to offer our customers even more choice and destinations goes hand in hand with our desire to accompany the growth in economic relations between the African continent and the rest of the world” explains Pierre Descazeaux, SVP Africa & Middle East, Air France KLM.