The winners of the World Travel Awards for Africa and the Indian Ocean for 2021 have been announced. The World Travel Awards is the foremost authority that recognises and honours excellence in travel and tourism.

Kenya fared well in the Africa categories, with Nairobi awarded ‘Africa’s Leading Business Travel Destination,’ Kenyatta International Convention Centre named ‘Africa’s Leading Meetings & Conference Centre,’ and Kenya Tourist Board recognised ‘Africa’s Leading Tourist Board.’

For the third year in a row, Cape Town was named ‘Africa’s Leading City Destination,’ and Table Mountain was named ‘Africa’s Leading Tourist Attraction.’

Tanzania was named ‘Africa’s Leading Destination,’ thanks to its national parks, wildlife, and palm-fringed beaches.

The Maldives won ‘Indian Ocean’s Leading Destination,’ ‘Indian Ocean’s Leading Beach Destination,’ and ‘Indian Ocean’s Leading Dive Destination’ in the Indian Ocean, cementing its reputation as the ultimate isolated refuge.

‘Indian Ocean’s Leading Tourist Board’ was awarded to Maldives Marketing & Public Relations Corporation.

Meanwhile, Seychelles’ lush woods and palm-fringed beaches helped the islands win the title of “Indian Ocean’s Leading Honeymoon Destination.”

Mysterious Madagascar has been dubbed the “Indian Ocean’s Leading Green Destination,” while Reunion Island has been dubbed the “Indian Ocean’s Leading Nature Destination.”

Source: BOL NEWS

British Airways’ customers will be able to fly to more destinations across Africa, thanks to a new codeshare agreement with Kenya Airways.

Customers flying to Nairobi with British Airways will be able to seamlessly connect onto 20 destinations across east and central Africa, including Douala, Zanzibar, Lusaka, Mombasa, Addis Ababa and Entebbe.

Customers will also have more options to get to popular holiday hotspot, Mauritius and Seychelles.

In the reciprocal agreement, customers flying with Kenya Airways to London, will now be able to connect onto 26 destinations across the UK and Europe that British Airways operates to, including Glasgow, Madrid, Milan, Amsterdam and Frankfurt.

British Airways currently offers four flights a week from London Heathrow to Nairobi, operated by a four class Boeing 777 aircraft.

Christopher Fordyce, British Airways head of alliances, said: “After a difficult 20 months with global travel restrictions, it’s fantastic to see travel between the UK and Africa resuming.

“We are really pleased to be able to offer our customers access to even more destinations across the region thanks to our new codeshare agreement with Kenya Airways, making that bucket list trip even easier to plan.”

Source: Breaking travel news

The aviation sector is facing the most devastating crisis since World War 2 – and the most likely route to helping southern Africa’s regional airline industry survive is opening up the skies.

This is according to Aaron Munetsi, new CEO of the Airlines Association of Southern Africa (AASA). Munetsi takes over from Wrenelle Stander, a former CEO of Comair, who has become CEO of Wesgro – the tourism, trade and investment agency of the Western Cape and Cape Town.

AASA’s airline members represent about 90% of all carriers based in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). Its associate members include airport operators, air navigation, commercial airliner and engine manufacturers, banks and fuel companies.

Munetsi believes the biggest opportunity for aviation in southern Africa is intra-regional air service connectivity. He says this is imperative for the SADC’s overall economic recovery and future growth – having a commercially sustainable air transport industry that can connect and carry people and products between the region’s markets and beyond. AASA is advocating for close coordination and cooperation between governments and industry – regardless of who owns the entities involved.

But many of the SADC region’s airlines have ceased operations during the pandemic – some temporarily, some permanently. Many jobs directly and indirectly linked to aviation were lost.

One way of creating a sustainable industry on the continent is to open up the skies, says Munetsi. 

“The framework for liberalising Africa’s skies has evolved from the Yamoussoukro Declaration of 1988 to the Single Africa Air Transport Market (SAATM) of 2018, which now has 35 signatories. The post-pandemic restart is the perfect opportunity to kick-start the SAATM,” says Munetsi.

“It is essential to energise the African Continental Free Trade Agreement which supports and promotes the free movement of people, goods and services across the African continent. This will generate additional trade, promote employment, stability, security and unlock the broader GDP benefits that unimpeded intra-African air connectivity will bring for each country and its communities.”

Munetsi – who was at SAA for more than 20 years in various management roles and based in eight countries during his career – says the opportunity to lead AASA at this critical juncture was “too exciting to pass up”.

Munetsi says a key challenge is that while demand is slowly returning, there is little pricing elasticity in southern Africa’s airline market, which means airlines have to walk a tightrope in a bid to grow market share, cover costs and eke out a slender margin.

Meanwhile, regaining passenger confidence in air travel remains a priority amid lingering concerns over Covid-19 infection.

Munetsi foresees that AASA will continue to play an ever-increasing role in raising concerns and proposing solutions through interaction with all key stakeholders, including air transport policymakers and regulators.

“The present financial sustainability challenges are the most severe peacetime test AASA’s members have faced. AASA, the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA), continue to lobby governments to provide financial relief and support to the entire industry,” he says.

“We appreciate the competing demands on the public purse, but aside from cash injections in airlines, governments could provide relief by reducing, deferring, scrapping or waiving the numerous taxes, levies and statutory charges on air travel and airfreight.”

Willie Walsh, director-general of IATA, recently used Airports Company SA (ACSA) as an example of some airports wanting to increase charges “to recover the money that airlines could not spend with them during the Covid-19 crisis”. ACSA has proposed raising its charges by 38% in 2022 to offset losses incurred as a result of the impact of Covid-19. ACSA says the claim is unfounded.

Munetsi says another way of assisting the aviation industry is to ratify the Cape Town Convention of 2000, which enshrines the ownership rights on leased aircraft and other moveable assets. By removing the risk of aircraft being seized by third parties, airlines would access far lower lease, financing and insurance rates. The convention has been widely adopted and implemented by most countries, but, 20 years later, South Africa, for example, is yet to ratify the agreement.

Source: Fin24

The Chief Executive of the Dubai Tourism Corporation and Marketing, Issam Kazim says the Dubai Expo 2020 which opened on the 1st of October will offer peoples of diverse cultures around the world, an opportunity to see world class destinations, the latest advancements in technology and tourist attractions all in one.

He said the Expo is part of efforts to showcase Dubai and announce the recovery of the tourism sector from the pandemic, which ravaged the world in 2020.

Kazim also disclosed that they were also working with the Afrozons Dubai Sound Off project as a partner to bring more celebrity anchors from Nigeria, five other African countries and the United States with over 70 lucky tourists and their guests to experience the beauty and transformation of Dubai.

The Sound Off is specially designed to showcase Dubai as a destination of choice for Africans in diaspora.

The event which kicked off on the 1st of October and also lasts for the next six months, is set to increase awareness about Dubai, among global audiences and to attract tourists and investment into the Emirate.

This Expo 2020 will run alongside the maiden edition of the Afrozons Dubai Sound Off, offering an exceptional travel experience for any would be visitor to Dubai. The Sound Off promotion will culminate with the selection of 70 Afrobeat lovers and their guests for a trip to Dubai, giving them an opportunity to experience Dubai like never before.

The winners will be joined by their favourite celebrity radio anchors from the U.S , Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, Zambia, and Angola to see the beauty of Dubai and experience the grandeur of the Dubai Expo 2020.

The winners of the giveaways and their guests will receive complimentary flight tickets, hotel accommodation, tours, airport transfers, and visas where necessary.

Source: Leadership

The UAE has shown great improvement over the last couple of months in the Skift Recovery Index, with travel performance hitting 77 percent of pre-pandemic levels in September, a jump of 8 percentage points compared to last month.    

This improvement of travel’s performance goes hand-in-hand with a strong decrease in Covid cases in the country. Daily new cases are currently at the lowest level since August 2020, having shown a consistent downward trend since June. As of the end of September 2021, 82 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated, one of the highest rates globally. 

The question is of course what the coming months will bring. We have asked a number of our data partners to provide forward looking data for the UAE, or Dubai specifically if available, to examine the strength of its travel market as it sets off on an important six months.   

According to data from revenue management system Duetto, Dubai hotels have seen a strong uptick in hotel bookings for the period of the Expo, but as with search trends, this has only recently started to pick up. Due to uncertainty about border openings and travel restrictions, we have seen much shorter booking windows during the pandemic, and this data confirms that this is still the case, even in the case of a major event like the Expo.

What is interesting, though, is that this uptick in demand is finally allowing hotels to increase their Average Daily Room Rates. Data from RateGain’s new Demand.AI platform shows that hotels have been able to increase prices considerably for the rest of the year. While the average room rate was AED312 on the first day of October 2020, this was AED468 (+50 percent) on the same day in 2021. And prices for the remainder of 2021 remain consistently over 50% higher than in 2020. 

In the full report Skift further analyses the performance of the vacation rental and flight segments, using data from Beyond, Transparent, OAG, and Skyscanner. 

Source: Skift

African nations have rejected the proposal to impose vaccine passport protocol on air travel, describing the move as discriminatory.

They said making the document mandatory for flying defeats the intent of the Chicago Convention that stresses friendship and establishment of international air transport based on justice.

Led by their Nigerian counterpart, Hadi Sirika, the African Ministers of Aviation, yesterday, at the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) High Level Conference on COVID-19 in Montreal, Canada, sought alternative safety measures.

Amid growing acceptance of the protocol, the Federal Government recently refuted plans to begin its enforcement from December 1, 2021.

Europe already has vaccination as a compulsory travel requirement. Countries like the United States of America, China, Burkina Faso, Chad, Egypt, Mali, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have since toed same line.

Sirika said Africa frowns on nations imposing unilateral measures relating to public health globally.

“There is a clear onus on both public and private stakeholders to take full measure of the dire circumstances now facing the air transport sector and to ensure sufficient operational sustainability. These actions are critical for the world to adequately get reconnected, as aviation plays a critical role in the global economic recovery and realisation of the goals of both the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 and the United Nation (UN) Agenda 2030 for sustainable development,” he said.

The Nigerian observed that global emergency and humanitarian supplies, including vaccines, would depend on economically viable aviation systems.

“It is worth noting that the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE) Roadmap for Prioritising use of COVID-19 Vaccines in the Context of Limited Supply acknowledges that there is still a limited supply of vaccines and puts forward seven key assumptions regarding vaccines. This further strengthens the fact that vaccines are still not widely available to all world regions, particularly Africa,” Sirika added.

The Guardian earlier reported that vaccine passport policy draws the line between those that have taken the jab and those that have not, as well as between vaccinated-rich countries and poor ones like Nigeria that have barely kick-started vaccination, therefore, leading to disenfranchising the unvaccinated and poor countries from international travel and tourism.

Source: The Guardian

As the world steps slowly into a post-pandemic era, the future looks increasingly digital. Covid-19 transformed behavior across the board, especially in how consumers want to engage with brands and businesses. Though present in the marketplace prior to 2020, contactless, streamlined digital solutions were brought to the fore by the pandemic, and businesses continue to embrace cutting-edge tech to stay ahead of the game and capitalize on future trends.

For Iceland-based digital solutions firm LS Retail, modern retail digitization is at the core of its business. SkiftX spoke to Urdur Anna Bjornsdottir, consulting manager at LS Retail, about the current growth in digital retail and how travel brands and operators can apply learnings from the industry to provide their customers with the best purchasing experiences possible.

SkiftX: In general, what are some capabilities that hospitality companies can learn from digital retail leaders when it comes to improving the customer purchasing experience?

Urdur Anna Bjornsdottir: One of the biggest opportunities is around controlling and unifying customer data with the digital experience. In order to get this right, hospitality companies must drive customers directly into their website and away from third-party platforms.

They also need to consider the entire guest journey and move away from the idea that they’re simply selling rooms. If the guest can book their entire stay on the hospitality provider’s website — not just the rooms and dining experiences, but also their horseback-riding trips, boat rentals, winery visits, museum tickets, and other off-property experiences — hospitality companies can gather extremely valuable data to help build a 360-degree view of the consumer, which can grow their revenue stream and margins. Building partnerships with other service providers can help achieve this.

There are also opportunities to improve the guest experience on property. Hotels can look to the retail industry in how it has applied QR codes and other contactless technologies that allow customers to order items and have them be delivered seamlessly. For example, a guest may want to order a snack or drink while on the golf course or at the pool. They could use their smartphone to scan a menu and get their items delivered where they are on property, and be billed to their room or on their credit card, depending on their preference.

SkiftX: What are some specific lessons from digital retail you expect to be most successful in hospitality and travel when it comes to providing a modern purchasing experience?

Bjornsdottir: Over the past year, retail has seen a boom of services that tie the digital with the physical. Options like click and collect and online ordering (with home delivery) have become extremely popular, and tactics such as these can be exported to the hospitality space.

Hospitality businesses also need to put more focus on using guest data to personalize the experience. Past purchases can, and should, be used to send guests recommendations and reminders. For example, during the booking process, a guest may be shown other services or products they might also be interested in, based on their previous purchases or on purchases made by guests with similar preferences.

Many hotels still offer a very small subset of add-ons when it comes to amenities beyond the standard breakfast or airport shuttle offerings. Instead, hotels should be thinking like Amazon: They should present guests with a large variety of products and services for purchase that can enhance their experience.

SkiftX: There’s been a lot of talk around having a single digital identity in the travel industry over the last few years. What might this look like, and why is it important?

Bjornsdottir: Imagine having a view over all bookings and reservations, across all facilities and all locations, wherever there’s a point of sale — not just rooms, but also spa, restaurant, tennis courts, and other experiences, amenities, and services. Having a single digital customer identity maximizes sales opportunities for hospitality companies, makes it easier for operators and employees to do their jobs, and provides guests with more cohesive and seamless experiences.

For example, if a property’s spa has an open massage slot due to a last-minute cancellation, a discounted offer for the massage could be pushed to the mobile device of a guest who has previously used the spa services.

A single digital identity can give hospitality companies more control over the guest journey on property. For example, if the property is looking to drive guest traffic to the rooftop pool, an offer for a free drink at the pool bar could be pushed to their mobile device.

SkiftX: What are some challenges you expect hospitality and travel companies to face as they strive to adapt to these new digital merchandising capabilities over the next few years?

Bjornsdottir: Too many companies in the hospitality industry still have a ‘If you build it, they will come’ mentality. However, this doesn’t work with modern consumers. You need to be where they are and offer what they’re looking for in terms that resonate with them.

They’ll first need to put the work in to understand how the customer journey has changed. They’ll need to map out what the new guest journey looks like, uncover the gaps within their current offerings, and strategize what’s needed to move to a more personalized, guest-centered customer experience. Many companies will also need to significantly update their technology. Most hospitality companies won’t be able to support a modern guest journey and all the digital components that come with it with their current tech stack.

Dealing with legacy operations and processes is another challenge. No matter how inefficient or complex the old processes are, it’s often difficult for companies to let go of ingrained habits. Companies will need to foresee where they might encounter resistance to change and think ahead about how they might communicate these changes with all stakeholders, which might mean providing a clear timeline with an overview of how various teams will be impacted, or offering training and supporting employees.

SkiftX: In what ways did the Covid-19 pandemic play a role in how hotels and travel companies will likely adapt to new hospitality tech?

Bjornsdottir: Contactless and self-service technologies were growing in popularity before Covid-19, but they’re increasingly becoming a must-have for operators, especially as some people continue to demand social distancing protocols or new ways they engage and communicate. These tech tools are becoming core components of the modern guest experience. In the coming years, we’ll see more focus on technology that puts guests in the driver seat and gives them the freedom to decide when, how, and to what extent, they wish to interact with people.

SkiftX: What are some lessons the industry can take from this period that can be used going forward?

Bjornsdottir: Although the hospitality industry is inherently physical and in-person, digital has become a key component of the hotel experience. You need to make sure you’re top of mind with consumers when they’re researching, making plans, and considering options — and that now happens predominantly online.

Until now, too many operators have been relying on complex technology, which can only be expanded with costly integrations and lengthy projects. The past year proved that operators need to adopt technology that gives them the agility to change course and add new functionalities as consumer demands shift and opportunities arise.

This content was created collaboratively by LS Retail and Skift’s branded content studio, SkiftX.

Source: Skift

Conference tourism in Kisumu is slowly picking up after being brought to its knees by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kisumu County Executive Committee Member (CECM) in charge of tourism, Achie Alai said since the government eased Covid-19 restrictions, conference and business tourism in the area has improved.

The number of people travelling to Kisumu for business and leisure by air daily, she said, tripled from 1, 000 in August to 3, 000 in October.

Six airlines, she added, were operating at least two flights each to Kisumu International Airport (KIA) daily with potential of increasing the number of flights given the rising demand.

An additional 3, 000 people, she said, drive to Kisumu in their personal cars especially during the weekends for business and to sample the lakeside city’s rich entertainment menu.

More visitors, she added, were expected to come through the passenger train which is expected to resume operations in November.

Construction of the Sh1.4 billion Afri-Cities Convention Center at Mamboleo which is expected to be completed by April next year, she said will be a game changer.

With a capacity of 6, 000 delegates and a range of modern conference facilities and break away rooms, she said Kisumu was set to attract key regional and international meetings thus boosting business travel and conference tourism.

“Most of our hotels are now applying for rating by the Tourism Regulatory Authority (TRA) so that when these visitors start trickling in they benefit,” she said.

Even though the lake side city does not have a five star hotel, she said a good number of facilities in the area qualify and were likely to be rated in the new round being conducted by TRA.

Kisumu’s bed capacity, she disclosed, has grown by 10 per cent bringing the total number of beds in the area to 6, 246.

The number, she added, was set to grow further given that some four big hotels are set to open doors for visitors ahead of the Afri-Cities conference slated for May 17-21, 2022.

More beds, she added, were expected from the air b and b sector with some 350 operators already registered.

Through the offices of Sub-County administrators, she said plans were underway to sensitize more locals who have additional space within their homes to embrace home stay tourism as more visitors are expected in the area.

“The tremendous growth in the sector is attributed to the multi-sectoral approach we have taken through bringing together different stakeholders from the county government, national government, state corporations and other players in the sector,” she said.

Through the umbrella body Lake Victoria Tourism Association (LVTA) where all the actors sit, the CECM said strategies have been developed to market Kisumu as the regional conference tourism hub.

Plans, she added, were underway to map out all night clubs in the area after which TRA shall inspect them to ensure that they have modern facilities to attract revelers as the festive season draws near.

Alai made the remarks on Thursday during the official opening of Mirage Palace Hotel in Kisumu.

The hotel adds to the number of high-end facilities coming up in the lakeside city to tap into the rising number of visitors to the area.

Mirage Palace General Manager Titus Ogal said the modern conference facilities, restaurant and rooms have been designed to international standards to set trends in the Western tourism circuit.

Source: KNA

US President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a major new Covid vaccine donation for Africa and promised greater commitment to the continent as he welcomed his first African leader, Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta.

Meeting at the White House, Biden and the Kenyan president promised to work together on climate change and ending violence on the Horn of Africa, although there appeared to be no headway on Kenya’s hopes on a trade deal.

Biden announced that the United States would immediately donate another 17 million doses of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine to the African Union, on top of 50 million doses already sent.

“As a continent we are lagging well behind the rest of the world in terms of being able to vaccinate our people,” Kenyatta told Biden in the Oval Office.

“So any additional support like the president just mentioned is greatly welcomed and we look forward to that continued partnership,” he said.

Biden has vowed a leadership role for Washington on vaccines at a time that infections remain stubbornly high in parts of the United States where people refuse widely available shots.

Most of sub-Saharan Africa has vaccination rates in the single digits, at the mercy of foreign donations due to the lack of indigenous production and prohibitive costs of mass purchases.

Kenyatta is the first African leader to visit Biden’s White House amid a slowdown of travel and summits as a Covid-19 precaution.

“I’m committed to further elevating our ties with Kenya and nations across Africa as a whole. But Kenya is the key,” Biden said.

‘Doing a good job’ 

Biden has promised a new focus on democracy after the courting of autocratic leaders by his predecessor Donald Trump — who also made no secret of his lack of interest in Africa.

Long seen as a pillar of stability, Kenya was wracked by political violence including after 2017 elections but Kenyatta has since made peace with his once-bitter rival Raila Odinga.

Kenyatta, who has vowed to fight corruption, came days after the Pandora Papers investigation which found that Kenyatta, together with six family members, owned a network of 11 offshore companies, one valued at $30 million.

Biden did not address the allegations during the brief appearance before reporters but called for “strengthening financial transparency” and praised Kenyatta’s record.

“I want to thank you for your leadership in defending the peace, security and democratic instincts of the region and your country,” Biden said. “You’re doing a good job.”

Aligned on climate, shift on trade 

Kenya is the current president of the UN Security Council and in that capacity as pushed to end fighting in neighbouring Ethiopia, where hundreds of thousands of people are facing extreme hunger.

Kenya is a longstanding US security partner, working closely in another neighbor, Somalia, in combatting Al-Shabaab jihadists.

Kenyatta said he was speaking to Biden about the “fight against terrorism” but also about climate change, ahead of a high-stakes UN conference in Glasgow next month.

“Our country, our continent is the least in terms of emitting but pays the highest price,” Kenyatta said, welcoming Biden’s commitment on climate change since taking over from Trump.

Kenyatta also made a pitch on trade. The Trump administration began talks with Kenya on a free-trade deal; little progress was made but Biden has shown scant sign even of restarting talks amid a growing domestic backlash against big-ticket accords.

Trade “is vital not only in terms of further entrenching American interests on the continent but also in helping us achieve our social-economic agenda,” Kenyatta said.

A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Biden administration would be “working closely” with Kenya on trade but acknowledged: “We are thinking through how we approach foreign trade.”

Kenya is worried as the landmark African Growth and Opportunity Act, which lets sub-Saharan nations with good governance export without duties to the vast US market, is set to expire in 2025.

Source: AFP

Addis Ababa, 04 October 2021: Ethiopian Airlines has signed Codeshare and Interline Agreement with AccessRail to widen connectivity options for its passengers destined to Western Europe, United Kingdom, Scandinavian, Japan and Canada. The agreement avails AccesRails’ wide rail destinations to passengers of Ethiopian Airlines through seamless connectivity with all journey segments contained on a single Ethiopian Airlines ticket.  

Regarding the partnership, Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam said, “I am glad that we have entered into such a monumental agreement with AccessRail, the world’s leading provider of air-rail intermodal solutions. Each year, we are growing in terms of customer service excellence through collaboration with key partners across the globe. As rail travel is becoming popular, especially when traveling regionally or locally, our collaboration with the worlds renowned flight and rail connection provider helps our customers access extra convenience and better connectivity options. In view of expanding our service to markets where Ethiopian has no direct operations to, our partnership with rail services is a great strategic move in enhancing our customer service. I hope the success of the partnership between AccesRail and Ethiopian would be felt throughout our customers.”

Ethiopian Airlines has further developed its air-rail strategy by partnering with the world’s leading provider of air-rail intermodal solutions, AccesRail (9B). This new partnership provides Ethiopian Airlines with the ability to expand its network of destinations and to feed ET flights in both interline and codeshare format. In addition, this partnership will offer agents as well as consumers’ new options to book Ethiopian Airlines journeys which include surface sectors via a single process and workflow thus enabling Ethiopian Airlines to extend its value proposition and offer greater content options.

Andrew Popescu, Vice President Business Development, AccesRail, said: “We are excited about our Ethiopian-AccesRail intermodal cooperation which will enable Ethiopian Airlines to offer an important amount of entirely new destinations all over the world to their passengers. Ethiopian Airlines have embraced at a global level the concept of network expansion through air-rail partnership and we are thrilled to help make this strategic vision into a reality.”

Intermodality is becoming a growing part of airline network planning and demand for the service is also increasing with the inception of high-speed rail services. AccesRail is the world’s leading provider of air-rail intermodal solutions that specializes in intermodal travel and GDS distribution for passenger railways.