The United States Embassy in Nairobi has announced the expansion of the Interview Waiver Program for non-immigrant visas.

In a statement on Friday, US ambassador Meg Whitman said this is effective immediately.

“Effective immediately, those applying for tourist/business, student, or crew visas categories may be eligible for a visa renewal without an interview,” she said.

Whitman said to qualify for this program, one must be applying for the same visa category.

“… And your visa cannot have expired more than four years ago.  Formerly, the limit was one year,” she added.

This is part of Whitman’s pledge to reduce the non-immigrant visa interview appointment backlog

The program enables most citizens or nationals of participating countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa.

Travelers must have a valid Electronic System for Travel Authorisation approval prior to travel and meet all requirements explained below.

Source: The Star

Flights to and from Heathrow will be halted for half an hour on Monday to ensure the two minutes’ silence at the end of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral is not disrupted by aircraft noise over London.

Britain’s main airport will also halt arrivals in the early afternoon to avoid planes coming in to land over the west of the capital during the procession of the Queen’s hearse, and it will stop take-offs later so as not to disturb the ceremonial procession to Windsor.

The changes will affect about 15% of Heathrow’s schedule, which the airport said was “equivalent to a moderate weather event”. British Airways expects to cancel about 50 flights as part of the changes.

Departure schedules will be reduced throughout the later afternoon to minimise noise during the committal service in Windsor. Flights will be diverted around Windsor Castle during the private family service and interment.

Some roads around the airport will also be closed, and Heathrow urged people to use available rail links such as the Elizabeth line or tube.

Separately, the UK’s major supermarkets said their petrol stations would be closed for most of the day of the funeral. Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons will close forecourts on Monday, with some reopening at 5pm.

Heathrow said its changes had been agreed with airlines and air traffic control service Nats, and would affect some scheduled flights, particularly in the late afternoon and early evening. Passengers whose travel plans would need to change would be notified by their airlines, it said.

A Heathrow spokesperson said: “As a mark of respect, operations to and from the airport will be subject to appropriate changes in order to avoid noise disruption at certain locations at specific times on Monday. Heathrow and airlines are working closely with Nats to minimise the impact of these restrictions on passengers.

“Passengers affected by these changes will be contacted directly by their airlines about their travel plans and the options available to them. Passengers who have been notified that their flight has been cancelled, and/or do not have a confirmed seat on a flight, should not turn up to the airport.”

Those waiting for flights will be able to watch the funeral on screens at the airport. Non-essential shops in the terminals will close on Monday, although restaurants, cafes and pubs will remain open. Heathrow said it would put additional staff in the airport to support passengers.

The airport apologised in advance for the inconvenience some passengers would experience but said it believed “this is the right thing to do at a time of national mourning”.

A BA spokesperson said: “As a mark of respect for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the day of her state funeral, we have reduced our schedule and retimed some flights at Heathrow to ensure the skies are quiet at certain moments on Monday 19 September. Our thoughts remain with the royal family and the nation.”

Its Gatwick and London City airport schedules are expected to operate as planned.

Heathrow flights were briefly suspended on Wednesday to ensure silence as the Queen’s coffin travelled from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall before the lying-in-state.

The full changes on Monday

• 11.40am-12.10pm: no take-offs or landings from Heathrow, around the two-minute silence at the end of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.
• 1.45-2.20pm: no arrivals to support the procession of the Queen’s hearse.
• 3.05-4.45pm: no departures.
• 4.45-9pm: reduced departure rate during the service.

Source: The Guardian

Dubai will be ‘the major gateway’ to the World Cup with probably more people coming through the city than Qatar, according to Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths.

An accommodation squeeze means tens of thousands of fans will base themselves in nearby countries for the month-long tournament. Match-day flights from major Middle Eastern cities will shuttle spectators to games, benefiting airlines, hotels and hospitality venues across nations including the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman.

The already popular tourism hub of Dubai stands to benefit the most. Of the more than 90 new flights that will land each day in the host city, Doha, about 40 will leave from the UAE. A new hotel built on the Palm has been set aside for guests who plan to base themselves in Dubai and take the 40-minute flight to Doha with streamlined immigration procedures.

Dubai will be “the major gateway” to the World Cup with probably more people coming through the city than Qatar, said Paul Griffiths, the CEO of Dubai Airports. “The amount of hotel capacity in Qatar is fairly limited and we’ve got so much to offer here.”

Qatar has been preparing to host the Cup for 12 years and estimates the influx of 1.2 million visitors will add $17 billion to its economy. Amid concerns of an accommodation crunch, organisers have leased two cruise ships and will pitch more than 1,000 tents in the desert. A regional shuttle service will connect Doha with other cities including Muscat, Riyadh, Jeddah and Kuwait City.

Saudi Arabia and Oman are both holding festivals to entice fans and plan to streamline travel procedures. The Saudi Tourism Authority says it expects to welcome 30,000 visitors because of the World Cup, and those registered for Qatar’s Hayya fan card can apply for multiple-entry visas to the kingdom.

Meanwhile, Oman’s Ministry of Heritage and Tourism says the tournament will “raise the profile of many regional destinations” and have an economic impact well beyond the event.

FIFA and Qatar have both welcomed the tourism benefits that will flow to the region.

Compact event

The busiest period for Qatar will be the group stage, when four matches a day will be held in stadiums in and around Doha. Two of the venues are just a 10-minute drive apart, while the furthest is just an hour away. That makes the event more compact than the 21 World Cups that preceded it.

Russia, which hosted the last tournament, had stadiums spread over 11 cities, while Brazil held matches in 12 cities. For the 2026 World Cup, Mexico, Canada, and the US will share hosting responsibilities.

A compact tournament offers fans the opportunity to watch more than one match in a day, said Alan Holt, managing director of Expat Sport. Holt, who slept on a gymnasium floor in Japan during the 2002 World Cup and shared a one-bedroom apartment with four friends in Moscow in 2018, said accommodation shortages for such a huge sporting event are nothing new.

And World Cup fans have shown time and again they’re prepared to travel for matches.

“I expect for first-time visitors to the region to leave impressed,” Holt said. “For some people this is a bucket-list experience, for others it’s a four-year trip with friends and for many it’s an opportunity to come to a different part of the world than they previously had.”

Source: Gulf News

Could this be the year that the much-anticipated African Passport is availed to ordinary citizens across the continent?

Despite the passage of numerous set deadlines, incessant delays exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic; after eight years since inception of the initiative, Africans continue to harbour hope that the African Passport nears its official distribution date, and will prove instrumental in relaxing travel restrictions, thereby breaking barriers in intra-African trade and mobility. The mass rollout is yet to materialize but is projected to happen this year.

The African Passport is a flagship project of the African Union’s (AU) continental blueprint Agenda 2063; which is additionally well aligned to the 1981 African Charter on human and People’s Rights and the 1991 Treaty, establishing the African Economic Community, a nascent regional trade bloc.

The Agenda envisions ‘an integrated continent, politically united and based on the ideals of Pan-Africanism and the vision of Africa’s Renaissance. By the same token, under aspiration 5, the agenda works towards ‘an Africa with a strong cultural identity, common heritage, shared values and ethics’, therefore recommending the collapse of both physical and invisible barriers that have thwarted the integration of the African people.

Hailed as a key component of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the AU unified African passport was launched in July 2016, at the 27th Ordinary session of the AU held in Kigali, Rwanda, and was scheduled to be availed to Africans by 2020. Hitherto, only AU officials, diplomats and government leaders have been issued with the passport.

Similarly, the Union had set a target of achieving intracontinental free trade by 2017, and abolishing visas for Africans to move within the continent by 2018. However, its mass roll-out has been plagued by delays and further worsened by the pandemic, which heralded travel restrictions. Nonetheless, with dispensation of vaccines, a return to normalcy has been witnessed that has in tandem seen most restrictions get lifted.

The African passport is a common passport document that is set to replace the existing nationally issued AU member states’ passport, and exempt bearers from having to obtain any visas for all 55 states in Africa. The three types of AU passports that are to be issued include, the Ordinary Passport which is 32 pages and valid for five years, that will be issued to citizens and is intended for occasional travel such as business trips and vacations. The Official or Service passport will be issued to officials attached to government institutions, who have to travel on official business.

Finally, the diplomatic passport will be issued to diplomats and consuls for work-related travel and to their accompanying dependents. The passport has inscriptions in English, Swahili, Arabic, French and Portuguese.

The initiative aims at transforming Africa’s laws, which remain generally restrictive on the movement of people. This, despite political commitments to bring down borders, with the view to promote the issuance of visas by member states, thereby enhancing free movement of all African citizens within the continent. The passport will be biometric or an e-passport that meets international standards and will be modeled akin to the EU’s Schengen Zone one; to prevent fraud and illegal issuances therefore ensuring accountability. Leveraging on technology, the electronic system could be used to track movements, and hence aid in monitoring illegal travel and improve safe travel conditions.

This will not only aid in tracking criminals and terrorists, but also reduce illegal migration and thus save the lives of the many, who perish on illegal journeys in search of greener pastures.

Despite the enthusiasm around the African Passport, pertinent questions have emerged such as why the AU embarked on this project instead of initiating a visa-free agreement, to change the restrictive visa system. According to many skeptics, it would have been faster, cheaper and more prudent; given that visa-free concessions are already in place in several countries. Restrictive visa regimes across many African countries, have resulted in travel blockages for Africans. Travelling within the continent is not only tedious but also costly.

According to the Africa Visa Openness Index, Africans need a visa entry to 55 per cent of African countries on average. Most of this visas are valid for one month, making frequent business trips an unnecessary struggle. Currently, it takes about 30 visas to get through the entire continent, often you have to leave the continent to only to come back. In some cases, it’s easier for people outside Africa to travel to several countries on the continent, such as Americans and Canadians, who can get visas on arrival in 35 per cent of African countries. This has posed a major obstacle to increased intra-African trade, which still remains very low. It’s quite unfortunate that many African countries still do more business with their former colonial power masters, than with their neighbours.

According to the 2021 Africa Visa Openness Index, opening up Africa’s borders will drive investment and result in an economic rebound. The Index aligns with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the Protocol on the Free Movement of People. It shows that 36 countries have improved or maintained their Visa Openness Index score since 2016. Over 80 per cent of the countries that have made gains in openness, are low-income or lower-middle-income countries. The report mentioned Namibia, Morocco, and Tunisia as countries that have made the most progress in visa openness.

The report indicates that overall, Africa is almost evenly split between countries with a liberal visa policy and those that partially restrict entry from other African states. A quarter of African countries welcome some or all African visitors visa-free; another quarter roughly permit some or all African visitors, to obtain a visa on arrival.

“By supporting the free movement of people, we make it easier for Africans to do business in Africa. Free movement of people, especially workers could help plug skills gaps, while enabling countries to fix skills mismatches in their labour markets,” said Jean-Guy Afrika, the Officer-In-Charge of the Regional Integration Coordination Office at the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Prospects of the African Passport

The African passport will facilitate the free movement of persons in Africa, and is expected to deliver several benefits to all participating countries.

It will open up borders and minimize bureaucracies, associated with intra-continental travel. The document is largely expected to boost intra-Africa trade, manufacturing and commerce, given that AfCFTA is already in effect. According to an analysis for the residency firm Henley & Partners, the passport initiative will prove vital to the success of the trade agreement, as it will ease travel within the continent.

The purpose of AfCFTA is to bring together 1.3 billion people in a $3.4 trillion economic bloc, creating a single market for goods and services; in addition to a customs union with free movement of both capital and business travelers. African citizens will be able to cross all borders on African soil, this will largely simplify the trading matrix which is bound to cause a domino effect, bolstering other key sectors in these economies, hence aiding in poverty eradication.

The African Passport will greatly boost Africa’s tourism sector, which is a top foreign exchange earner in many African countries, making significant contributions to their respective GDPs such as Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. Drawing an example from the EU’s Schengen passport, that has turned Europe into a tourism hub, due to the fact that a single visa with multiple entries permit one to access 26 states; one can only imagine how the same scenario would skyrocket Africa’s industry.

The passport is bound to create employment across many African nations, solving one of the continent’s greatest quandaries; unemployment. Given the open-door policy, the passport will permit skilled Africans to cross borders to find opportunities. Entrepreneurs can move from country to country establishing their businesses with ease, and creating job opportunities. This could also serve as a viable solution to end the dangerous journeys by many African youth, in their attempt to reach Europe mostly through the Mediterranean Sea; with opportunities abounding within the continent, they can move to a country within the continent to find greener pastures.

Africa stands to benefit from a unified approach to solving economic problems, as it serves as a powerful tool to unify trade and labour mobility allowing for strength in numbers that the continent urgently needs. Other benefits that the African Passport is expected to bring include: promoting pan-African identity and social integration; facilitating labour mobility, intra-Africa knowledge and skills transfer; improving trans-border infrastructure and shared development; fostering a comprehensive approach to border management; promoting rule of law, human rights and public health.

Plausible impediments

The African Passport project presents certain challenges, whose forfeiture could prove detrimental should they lack proper address.

Among the major concerns has been increased terrorist activity, due to the open border policy. With the continent harbouring several terror groups such as Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab among others, fears exist that they would take advantage of the free and open borders to coordinate attacks in vast areas.

Logistical issues could prove existential in regards to issuing the passports. At present, only 24 countries have implemented biometrics passport issuance systems; this could pose a challenge in issuing a standard AU passport. Furthermore, with perspective to the differences in technology advancement levels across Africa, accessing the passport could be a hurdle for some countries.

The issue of porous borders does not settle well with several countries, due to the fear of an influx of migrants. Already even before the passports are issued, some countries have been struggling with xenophobia due to the large inflow of migrants. South Africa has particularly been on the spotlight for this, due to migrants from neighbouring countries such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique. In the same breath, some African countries are very strict and protective of their borders such as Equatorial Guinea, therefore opening them up might prove challenging. Moreover, some countries might not want to relinquish the benefits of visa fees, as it forms a part of government revenue.

Furthermore, the AU needs to shed light on several issues such as whether the passport will be issued alongside a national one, or will it supersede the relevance of a national one. Another query would be the extent to which the passport will promote labour mobility; will the passport resemble the Schengen Zone one, which affords EU passport holders the same employment opportunities across Europe regardless of citizenship. Or, will protectionism give way to restrictions? Into the bargain, will the passport be useful for travelling abroad or only remain acceptable in Africa?

Going forward, African countries additionally need to invest in travel infrastructure, which is lagging behind. For instance, there are very few flights between Abuja and Dakar, two major West African capitals, and passengers sometimes have to travel via Nairobi, Addis Ababa or even Europe. Yes, the passport will soon be availed, but with ineffective travel infrastructure, priorities appear misplaced.

Even as Africa looks forward to the mass distribution of the African passport, so much remains undone and so many questions remain unanswered. Inarguably, the initiative is capital and Africa could reap a plethora of benefits, catapulting the continent closer to the realization of Agenda 2063.

However, the AU should address these existing quibbles, and clearly outline concrete plans and mechanisms for implementation thereof.

Source: The Exchange

Ethiopian Airlines and Travelport have announced a new agreement. The renewed deal includes distribution on the Travelport+ platform and expands the ongoing travel retailingand distribution relationship between Travelport and Ethiopian, who was ranked the number one airline within the African continent by Business Insider earlier this year.

Once the airline makes content via NDC distribution available, both companies will work together to provide agents with access to NDC content and functionality from Ethiopian Airlines in the Travelport+ platform. As part of the agreement, Ethiopian Airlines will become a new participant in Travelport’s Rich Content & Branding (RC&B) program. As a top 100 carrier booked through Travelport, the carrier is laying the foundation to ensure that Travelport-connected agencies can access the most robust, enriched Ethiopian Airlines’ content following its current fleet expansion.

“As we are now investing in our ability to meet high demand for travel following the pandemic, it is crucial that we deepen our partnership with Travelport as they understand our need to efficiently deliver simplified access to our growing content,” said Lemma Yadecha, Chief Commercial Officer at Ethiopian Airlines. “Travelport’s enhanced multisourced content capabilities within the Travelport+ platform will help us to provide agents and their travelers with quick, easy access to highly relevant offers and more choices to fit their needs. Our expanded agreement with Travelport and Rich Content & Branding will further enable us to drive more value for our travelers through today’s modern travel retailing environment,” he added.

David Gomes, Head of Regional Air Partners, EMEA at Travelport, said: “Our renewed, expanded agreement with Ethiopian Airlines to include Travelport RC&B participation is a significant step in evolving and modernizing Ethiopian’s retailing strategy. Travelport+ was built to manage multiple sources of content and effectively merchandize personalized and dynamic offers, which will greatly benefit the agency community and provide a better experience for Ethiopian’s travellers as the airline pushes its NDC strategy forward.”

Source: Travel Trends Today

South African Airways (SAA) is talking to British Airways (BA) about the possibility of taking over its franchise agreement in South Africa, John Lamola, SAA’s interim chair and CEO, confirmed on Friday.

BA cancelled the franchise agreement it had with Comair after the SA company went into provisional liquidation in mid-June.

Recently, Comair’s provisional liquidator, said his understanding was that BA was looking for a new partner in the SA market.

BA does not comment on franchise agreements as it involves commercially sensitive information, the company previously told Fin24. 

Local aviation experts have speculated that BA would ideally prefer a full-service airline as a franchise partner in SA. Full service usually offers a global loyalty programme, a high flight frequency, and a comprehensive route network.

Comair, which at some point accounted for about 40% of SA’s domestic aviation market, operated its own low-cost airline, kulula.com, and domestic and regional British Airways flights as part of the franchise agreement.

Comair was negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and related lockdowns and went into business rescue in May 2020. It was also hamstrung by an attempt to cancel a contract to buy Boeing 737 MAX planes, and rising fuel prices after Russia invaded Ukraine.

British Airways plc (BA) is a separate company from Comair, and British Airways’ services have been unaffected and continue to operate as usual between South Africa and its hub in London. 

Lamola told Fin24 that the regulatory process to obtain approval for the Takatso Consortium to buy 51% of the shares in SAA is still underway and the consortium is not yet involved in the running of the airline.

Source: Engineering News

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates will grant visas to those holding tickets to the World Cup in neighboring Qatar, the country announced Tuesday.

The UAE said in a statement those registered for Qatar’s Hayya fan card will be able to apply for multiple-entry visas 19 days before the tournament starts. Those granted visas will be able to stay for up to 90 days in the UAE, home to flashy Dubai and oil-rich Abu Dhabi.

Many fans are planning to base themselves in the UAE and neighboring countries for the monthlong tournament, as organizers expect a tight accommodation squeeze in tiny Qatar that has never hosted an event on this scale.

Hotels in the tourism hub of Dubai say some fans are booking rooms and planning to commute to matches by air. Dozens of flights will leave from the UAE to the host city of Doha each day. Saudi Arabia has also announced that those registered for the fan card can apply for multiple-entry visas to the kingdom.

The Hayya card is mandatory for ticket holders going to the World Cup in November and December.

The UAE’s website for visas is www.icp.gov.ae.

Source: AP

According to the latest figures from Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), an impressive 7.12 million international visitors arrived in the emirate between January and June 2022.

A figure that translated means a growth of over 183% compared to the 2.52 million tourists who visited Dubai in the same period in 2021. This positive trend puts the city on track to achieve the tourism targets set for 2022 and further strengthens its position as a favourite destination for international tourism.

Resilient and dynamic economy

“The vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai the city of the future and the best place in the world to live, work and invest, has led to a renaissance in the tourism sector. The growth in tourists reflects the resilience and dynamism of the emirate’s economy. His Highness’ vision has helped Dubai create a strong and stable economic base and a dynamic business ecosystem, enabling it to become a leading global hub in several sectors” said Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council.

“The rapid increase in international tourist arrivals puts Dubai on track to achieve its ambitious goal of becoming the most visited destination in the world. In the coming years, Dubai will continue to develop further as a destination that offers unparalleled value to international travellers,” added the Crow Prince.

Numbers are close to pre-COVID figures

The number of tourists recorded in the first half of 2022 is close to that of the first six months of 2019, which saw 8.36 million tourists arrive in Dubai. The emirate’s ability to quickly return to near pre-pandemic tourism levels is even more remarkable when considering the impact of unprecedented challenges and other macroeconomic factors impacting the global economy and the tourism sector.

Looking at regional market shares, Western Europe accounted for a significant share of tourist arrivals, with 22% of total international visitors in the first six months of 2022. The MENA and GCC regions contributed 34% to international arrivals, highlighting Dubai’s strong attractiveness to tourists from surrounding markets and confirming it as a preferred and trusted destination.

These regions are closely followed by South Asia, with a 16% share, and Russia, CIS and Eastern Europe, which together account for 11% of total visitors in H1 2022. The wide geographic spread of arrivals reflects Dubai’s diversified strategy to bring in traffic from a broad spectrum of countries and visitor segments, mitigating the risks associated with over-reliance on a single region and underlining the success of the destination’s marketing campaigns that deliver tailored messages through specialised audience platforms.

Source: KAWA News

Ethiopian Airlines, the leading African flag carrier, on Wednesday reported a surge in profit for the last financial year, in sharp contrast to the ailing fortunes of other airlines in the region.

The state-owned airline saw a 79 percent jump in revenue to $5 billion for 12 months to July while profit skyrocketed 90 percent to $937 million, according to the country’s sovereign wealth fund Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH).

The results were “despite the headwinds of worsening global economic outlook, rising fuel cost, global pandemic”, EIH chief executive Mamo Mihretu said on Twitter. He gave no further details, although state media said the airline had transported 6.9 million international travellers last year alone.

Other carriers in East Africa have been buffeted by the Covid-19 pandemic and its devastating impact on air travel and are now grappling with the fallout from the war in Ukraine which has sent global fuel prices soaring.

Kenya Airways, for example, last week reported a 9.8-billion-shilling ($82 million) loss in the six months to June, although it was an improvement on the 11.48-billion-shilling ($95 million) deficit in the first half of last year.

The airline, which has been stuck in the red for years and is relying on state bailouts, reported a 76 percent increase in revenue to 48.1 billion shillings (about $400 million) over the same period as passenger numbers almost doubled to 1.6 million.

Source: Breaking Travel News

Jamaica and Kenya have agreed to collaborate in tourism in a bid to strengthen the hospitality sectors in both countries. Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett has revealed that the partnership between both countries will entail collaboration between the Montego Bay Convention Centre and the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Kenya.

The agreement came out of talks yesterday (August 31) between Minister Bartlett and Chief Executive Officer of the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, Nana Gecaga. The centre is owned by the government of Kenya. Ms Gecaga who is niece to Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, is also a well-known businesswoman and works primarily in international marketing and tourism.

With both countries having a keen interest in MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) tourism, the high-level talks were conveniently held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, a public body of the Ministry of Tourism. Mr Bartlett said one of the key points in the talks was intended to be “a movement when we begin to codify, if not solidify the connection between the Montego Bay Convention Centre and the Kenyatta International Convention Centre.”

Underscoring the importance of making the connection, he said: “We are the location in the Caribbean for big meetings, exhibitions and incentive activities, as Kenya is in Eastern Africa, so we think that synergy exists and that collaboration will inure to the benefit of all.”

Ms Gecaga sees the twinning of the two convention centres as a tangible step in achieving that objective.

“I think definitely there’s a lot of synergies that can take place,” she said and pointed to the need for Jamaica to be part of an association that would pave the way for it hosting major award ceremonies and other events. She said this would allow for a partnership in which Kenya bids for a major convention with a key factor being the ability to offer Montego Bay as a rotating host.

Among other proposals, she identified were, having an exchange programme and being proactive in creating events.

Having been to Jamaica previously, she lauded the country’s hospitality as “outstanding” and admitted that: “When leaving to head back to the States, I remember crying! It’s the only place that I’ve cried when I left.”

Source: Breaking Travel News