This brand new week, we bring you our fresh new weekly Top Ten (10) digest for the most important things in Uganda’s Tourism, the world of Aviation and Travel that are trending especially in this Post COVID-19 Era. As always, we will be giving you highlights that make News rounds all through from start of the week. Below is our Weekly Newsletter for your readership.
01. Brussels Airlines continues its Belgian Icons series
Brussels Airlines’ aircraft honouring The World’s Best Music Festival “Tomorrowland” will bear its livery until 2023. The fifth Belgian Icon Aerosmurf, dedicated to Belgium’s beloved small, blue characters, the Smurfs, will carry its drawings until 2024. The airline’s youngest special livery, dedicated to one of the most talented artists of the sixteenth century, Flemish Master Pieter Bruegel the Elder, will remain in the fleet until 2024. Any possible changes to or replacements for these last three icons are not known yet, but the airline confirms that it will continue with the Belgian Icon series in the future.
02. Kenya Airways allies with South Africa’s Airlink in interline treaty
Kenya Airways is teaming up with South Africa’s Airlink in the form of an interline agreement. This agreement will allow for a combination of Kenya Airways/Airlink itineraries, allowing passengers from one airline to connect to additional destinations on the other carrier’s network.
03. Ethiopian Mozambique Airlines halts all flights due to Covid-19 Pandemic
Ethiopian Mozambique Airlines suspended all commercial passenger flights given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic effective last week on Thursday, May 6th. The airline cited a sharp drop in demand for travel as the reason behind halting flights, making it impossible to continue operating.
African carrier Ethiopian Mozambique Airlines has been forced to halt all flights, claiming that ‘economic conditions’ have made it impossible to keep running. The airline, a subsidiary of Ethiopian Airlines, operates domestic flights to eight destinations across Mozambique. The suspension of flights commenced on Thursday, May 6th, with no estimate on a return provided thus far.
04. 200 million tourists set to travel over five-day break in China according to Trip.com
Online travel services provider Trip.com Group has released its China May Day holiday forecast data which shows up to 200 million tourists in mainland China are set to travel over the five-day break.
According to the forecast data, the current volume of hotel bookings has achieved a 43% increase compared to the same period in 2019.
High-end hotel bookings accounted for more than 50% of total bookings over the May Day holiday. The strong domestic travel recovery in the mainland China market is further evidence that the global travel revival will have a staggered build up.
05. Seychelles restricts tourists from India, only vaccinated visitors with proof to access entry
In the wake of the ongoing rise of COVID-19 outbreak in the Asian subcontinent, Seychelles has issued new travel measures for Indian visitors held recently in the island nation.
Effective immediately, the Public Health Commissioner has announced that only vaccinated visitors from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh who have completed two weeks after their second dose are permitted to travel to and enter Seychelles with proof of COVID-19 vaccination.
06. Saudi Arabia to lift travel ban on citizens Effective next week
Saudi Arabia will lift the ban on its citizens travelling abroad from 17 May, the Saudi Press Agency has announced, citing an official source at the Ministry of Interior.
Vaccinated citizens who have received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, as well as those who received one dose, provided that 14 days have passed since they received their first dose, will be eligible to travel. They will have to display proof of their vaccination on the Tawakkalna app.
Passengers wait to board their planes at Riyadh International Airport, after Saudi Arabia reopened domestic flights, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 31, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
07. Israel to unveil global Campaign as it reopens for tourism this May
Israel is reopening its doors to vaccinated tourists starting at the end of May, supported by the launch of a strategic campaign that ensures as many foreign tourist arrivals as possible in 2021.
The announcement was made by the minister of tourism Orit Farkash-Hacohen at a press conference in Tel Aviv.
08. Zimbabwe considering mass killing of elephants to manage their population
Known as home to one of the world’s big family, Zimbabwe is considering culling, the mass killing of elephants, as a possible measure to manage the ever growing elephant population that currently is terrorizing the country’s natural resource.
If enacted, this will be the first time since 1988 the country is choosing mass killing to reduce the 100,000 strong population of the animals.
09. Why African Aviation is Optimistic to recover faster than other markets
The global health crisis continues to take its toll on the aviation industry, creating uncertainty for airlines around the world. However, the African market is primed to be well-positioned for recovery.
The much-anticipated 6th Edition of the Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo (POATE) 2021, closed last week amidst cautious hopes and optimism on recovery for an industry that employs nearly 700,000 Ugandans but has been in limbo since April 2020.
Organised by the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), the Uganda government’s tourism industry marketing agency and standards regulator, POATE is an annual Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business to Consumer (B2C) gathering that brings together Ugandan tourism players such as tour and travel agencies, hoteliers, airlines etc with mainly wholesale tourism companies (hosted buyers) from Uganda’s key markets from all over the world, for purposes of doing business.
Pearl Hoareau Kakooza, the President of the Uganda Tourism Association (UTA) the private sector umbrella association that brings together over 7,000 tourism professionals, and Claire Mugabi (left) the Uganda Tourism Board Marketing Manager at the closing ceremony of POATE 2021. UTA and several other private sector players hailed UTB for innovating around POATE- which is Uganda’s biggest tourism Expo and a major marketing event for the industry. The event recorded record attendance by both exhibitors and international wholesale tourism sellers (hosted buyers).
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