Category: Africa

Wild horses are the lifeblood of the Namibian economy, drawing tourists who come to see them living amid inhospitable sand dunes and the barren plains. It is estimated that the wild horse population has declined from 286 in 2012 to just 65 adults now. A hotel owner Bernd Roemer told CNN last year, “If an attraction like the horses would fall away it will not kill tourism completely, but it will make a strong indent.” Biologist Telane Greyling says the future of the herd rests on a few precious foals, yet only one, named Zohra, has survived to see its ... Read more

Egypt has announced it will reopen its seaside resorts from today. The areas opening up are southern Sinai, where the resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh and Dahab are located, Red Sea province, home to the Hurghada and Marsa Alam resorts, and Marsa Matrouh on the Mediterranean. The cabinet has said that international flights will be allowed to enter the country from July 1, while foreign tourists will be permitted at the resorts least affected by Covid-19. Tourists coming to Egypt will now be required to submit a valid health insurance policy to Egyptian airport authorities as part of measures to limit the coronavirus spread. ... Read more

South Africa’s tourism sector has lost an estimated R68bn in revenue amid the coronavirus outbreak, which has necessitated national lockdowns and enforced restrictions on global travel. The R270bn tourism industry, which anchors South Africa’s less-developed provinces, is reeling and counting the cost of the worldwide pandemic, says Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) CEO Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa. The entire value chain and associated industries that depend on tourism and hospitality are feeling the squeeze induced by the coronavirus crisis, The Africa Report has said. The R68bn revenue loss comes with loss of employment. The other industries and sectors we impact are going ... Read more

The Ghana Tourism Federation (GHATOF) has called on the government to turn its attention to the deteriorating tourism sector and commit enough resources to boost infrastructure for a better outcome. The Federation in a statement signed by the President, Bella Ayayee Ahu, noted that it has been working tirelessly to improve on service quality of the industry to ensure growth and development. According to the Federation, the state of physical and soft infrastructure in the sector, inadequate investments, reputation as a high cost destination, poor tourism support services, lack of professionalism and service quality are factors that continue to hamper ... Read more

Solomon Islands has called on the Australian and New Zealand governments to ask for their active consideration in allowing the COVID-19 free island nation to be included in a potential ‘South Pacific travel bubble’ when international travel restrictions are finally lifted. Tourism Solomon CEO, Josefa ‘Jo’ Tuamoto, while praising the government for the proactive steps it has taken, added that Australian and New Zealand travellers could be assured of their safety when visiting the destination. Australian and New Zealand travellers form the bulk of the country’s international visitor intake and allowing the destination to be included in the bubble would ... Read more

Egypt’s tourism ministry is scrapping tourist visa fees for the governorates of South Sinai, Marsa Matrouh and the Red Sea until October 31, in a move meant to encourage tourists back to the country. Khaled El Enani, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, stated that the Ministry of Interior has issued a new decision to abolish the fees for all citizens visiting Egypt in only the three governorates mentioned above. El Enani conducted a visit to the governorates, to some of the hotels and their airports, deeming them more suitable for touristic activities than condensed and crowded cities, especially during the ... Read more

Sky watchers along a narrow band from West Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, India and southern China will witness the most dramatic “ring of fire” solar eclipse to shadow the Earth in years on Sunday. Annular eclipses occur when the Moon – passing between Earth and the Sun – is not quite close enough to our planet to completely obscure sunlight, leaving a thin ring of the solar disc visible. They occur every year or two, and can only be seen from a narrow pathway across the planet. The full eclipse will be visible somewhere on Earth for just under ... Read more

Tour operators in Tanzania have unveiled a private, state-of-the-art, waiting lounge at Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) as they seek to offer holidaymakers “a hassle-free welcome”. Tanzanian authorities have reopened its skies for international passenger flights from June 1, 2020, becoming the first country in the East African community to welcome tourists. Isack Kamwelwe, the Minister for Works, Transport and Communications, said in a statement that business, humanitarian, diplomatic, emergency and other special flights were allowed to land, take off and fly across the country’s skies as it was before. He said the opening of the skies followed an announcement by President John ... Read more

Rwanda has slashed gorilla permit fees by 60-80% as the government endeavours to revive the tourism sector adversely hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Mountain gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park will now cost foreign nationals $500, while Rwandan citizens and foreign residents will pay $200, down from $1,400. The new price regime is valid until December 31. The decision was announced after a Cabinet meeting, chaired by President Paul Kagame. Rwanda has agreed to resume tourism activities after more than three months of inactivity due to the coronavirus lockdown. “Domestic tourism and international tourism for visitors travelling with charter flights ... Read more

Zimbabwe has decided to allow tour operators and hoteliers to enter the Victoria Falls National Park to take footage of the falls, for marketing purposes. The falls is said to be the largest curtain of falling water in the world and is shared between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Victoria Falls, a world heritage site, was closed from early April ever since the outbreak of the pandemic. The Victoria Falls is a town in western Zimbabwe and a gateway to the massive waterfall of the same name. Here, the Zambezi river plummets over a cliff before flowing through a series of gorges. ... Read more

Morocco’s minister of tourism Nadia Fettah said the country was committed to extending  cooperation with their “brotherly Arab countries” in the field of tourism. During a virtual meeting, Fettah said Morocco is keen to reinforce “joint Arab action” and consolidate the “distinguished relations” between Arab countries, Morocco World News said in a report. The Moroccan minister also emphasized the importance of solidarity and joint action among Arab countries to preserve the resilience of the tourism sector amid the current global crises.  The Arab League, the World Tourism Organization, and Arab and regional organizations must support the tourism sector and mitigate ... Read more

Kenya is set to make a major change in the way it markets its tourism products, by shifting from the traditional television and print media to digital and social media. Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) on Thursday hosted a webinar that brought together sectoral players to discuss the importance and gains that would be accrued, by utilising the digital space to market destinations, according to a report by The Star. Players said the use of social media marketing is overdue and has been reinforced by how COVID-19 has disrupted the tourism industry in the last three months. Betty Radier, chief executive ... Read more

Hotels have ramped up hygiene, archaeological sites have been sanitised and beaches cleaned up — Egypt is gearing up to welcome back tourists kept away by the coronavirus pandemic. “We are laying the groundwork for tourists from around the world to find this destination … in exemplary sanitary conditions,” Egypt’s antiquities and tourism minister, Khaled al-Anani, told AFP. The minister said Red Sea resorts including those in South Sinai will be the first to open along with Mediterranean beaches that lay to the west of the coastal city of Alexandria. Top tourist attractions such as the Giza pyramids and Aswan’s ... Read more

Recovery and resilience were the central themes as the members of the World Tourism Organization’s Regional Commission for Africa (CAF) met to reflect today’s extraordinary circumstances. The meeting held virtually, brought together ministers of tourism from across the region with representatives of the African Union, the West African Monetary Union and even from the private sector, to plot a united course towards a stronger and better tourism industry. The meeting enjoyed the virtual presence of 140 participants from 30 countries, including 24 Ministers of Tourism. They were joined by representatives of 10 international organizations and by members of the UNWTO ... Read more

Seychelles, an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, has decided to welcome guests from select countries. The Seychelles Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC) has identified a number of countries as low risk and in conducting its review, it considered the magnitude of transmission, trends in outbreak, responsiveness of the public health system, advisories from public health authorities and reliability of data. PHEOC recommended to the Public Health Commissioner that the following countries could be designated as low risk. Risk assessment is dynamic, and the list of countries will be kept under constant review and may be amended. ... Read more