Travel and Tourism

Foreign visitors to South Africa surge in 2010

Friday, 03 September 2010 12:56

Foreign visitors to South Africa had risen by more than 350 000 for the first four months of this year as compared to the same period in 2009, according to South African Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk.

(2 Votes)

Tags: Tourism - Marthinus van Schalkwyk - Tourism month - World Cup - foreign arrivals - World Tourism day - Sho't Left - South African Tourism - Tourism and Biodiversity - Thandiwe January Maclean - South Africa

Nigerian airlines official welcomes top U.S. safety rating

Tuesday, 24 August 2010 14:05

The director of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority told VOA his country is delighted by the U.S. decision to grant Nigerian airlines permission to fly directly to the United States.

(1 Vote)

Tags: Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority - Harold Demuren - category one status - body scanners - Robin Renee Sanders - United States - ARIK Air - Nigeria

Comair opens Dar es Salaam routes

Thursday, 19 August 2010 15:01

Comair Limited, operator of low-cost airline kulula.com and the British Airways franchise in South Africa, is again expanding its African network, and will soon be offering five return flights a week between Johannesburg and Dar es Salaam.

(1 Vote)

Tags: Comair - British Airways - kulula.com - Stuart Cochrane - travel - Dar es Salaam - Johannesburg - South Africa - Tanzania

Kenya tourist numbers set to beat 2007 record

Monday, 16 August 2010 15:03

NAIROBI, KENYA - JANUARY 08: Zebra roam free in front of the Nairobi skyline at the Nairobi National Park on January 8, 2008 in Kenya. Tourism is a $1 billion industry in Kenya. Some tour operators have temporarily banned package holidays over fear of post election violence. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

Kenya's tourist arrivals rose to 483,000 in the first half of 2010, officials said on Monday, putting east Africa's largest economy on track to beat record foreign visitor numbers set in 2007.

Tourism is Kenya's second-largest foreign exchange earner after horticulture and tea exports.

"We are fully recovered and on a growth trajectory," Muriithi Ndegwa, head of the Kenya Tourist Board, told Reuters in an interview.

(2 Votes)

Tags: Tourism - Muriithi Ndegwa - Kenya Tourist Board - Kenya constitution - Kenya

US says Nigeria airline security improving

Thursday, 12 August 2010 18:16

Nigerian airlines could be allowed to fly their own planes to the United States by the end of the year following improvements in aviation security in the West African nation, U.S. and Nigerian officials said on Wednesday.

(1 Vote)

Tags: United States - Airline security - Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority - Harold Demuren - Robin Sanders - Nigeria

King Tut's chariot heads to New York City

Friday, 30 July 2010 15:02

The chariot of one of Egypt's most famous ancient pharaohs is heading to New York City this week to join the Discovery Times Square Exposition exhibit of the boy ruler.

(1 Vote)

Tags: Tut - pharaoh - relic - ancient - Discovery - New York - US - Egypt

Mozambique sees $2 bln in tourism investment

Tuesday, 27 July 2010 15:21

Mozambique expects investment in its fast-growing tourism sector to jump five-fold to $2 billion in the next several years, the southern African nation's tourism minister told Reuters on Tuesday.

(1 Vote)

Tags: economy - investment - sector - tourism - growth - Mozambique

Kenya's Mombasa to get luxury marina

Monday, 05 July 2010 13:14

The Kenyan city of Mombasa is setting up East Africa's first-ever luxury marina. The giant project, developed by a consortium of Kenyan investors, is to open in 2012.

(3 Votes)

Tags: Mombasa - luxury marina - EnglishPoint Marina - Alnoor Kanji - Amyn Kanji - Kenya

US airline launches daily flights to Ghana

Friday, 18 June 2010 12:19

The Vice President of Resource and Planning of United Airlines, a U.S based carrier says Ghana's stability and strong democratic credentials influenced the company's decision to launch a non-stop daily flight from Washington, D.C to Accra scheduled beginning Friday.

(1 Vote)

Tags: United Airlines - United States of America - direct flights - Greg Kaldhal - Washington-Dulles - Accra - Kotoka International Airport - Daniel Ohene Agyekum - Ghana

Once a rebel haunt, Congo's Garamba opens to tourism

Wednesday, 09 June 2010 16:12

The Democratic Republic of the Congo's Garamba National Park, once known as a haunt for militias and a vicious Ugandan rebel group, is open for tourism, the park's main Western donor said.

Tags: Garamba National Park - Spain - Felix Costales - UNESCO World Heritage Site - Lord's Resistance Army - France - Pierre Jacquemot - Epulu - Virunga National Park - Democratic Republic of Congo

Festival to market Africa during World Cup

Monday, 31 May 2010 13:26

The kick-off of the 2010 FIFA World Cup on June 11 will coincide with the inaugural Festival of Africa in host city Johannesburg, South Africa.

Tags: 2010 FIFA World Cup - RETOSA - SADC - African Union - NEPAD - Melrose Arch - 2010 Legacy - Thokozile Xasa - South Africa

Archaeologists in Egypt find Ptolemaic King statue

Wednesday, 05 May 2010 16:01

Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered a 2,000-year-old granite statue of a Ptolemaic-era king near what is believed to be the tomb of Egyptian Queen Cleopatra.

(1 Vote)

Tags: archaeologist - Cleopatra - Ptolemaic-era - Egypt

Seychelles, Réunion tourism cooperation pays off

Monday, 12 April 2010 11:48

Island hopping is no longer defined to the Caribbean or Aegean, but growing more popular in the Indian Ocean. Seychelles has found that tourism marketing on the close-by French island Réunion and a tighter cooperation is gaining quick results.

(1 Vote)

Tags: island hopping - Indian Ocean - tourism - growth - Réunion - Seychelles

Angola welcomes airline's removal from EU blacklist

Thursday, 01 April 2010 12:17

Angola's transport minister on Wednesday welcomed the removal of national airline TAAG from a European Union blacklist, saying the government made a "good decision" in restructuring the company.

Tags: TAAG - European Union - Augusto Tomas - blacklist - Portugal - Angola

Lesotho lodge a top pick for 2010

Friday, 26 February 2010 11:27

Maliba Mountain Lodge in Lesotho, the country's first five-star establishment, was voted as a top travel pick for 2010 by prestigious UK magazine Tatler.

Tags: Maliba Mountain Lodge - Tatler - Melinda Stevens - Tsehlanyane National Park - Lesotho

Belgian carrier to launch African airline

Thursday, 25 February 2010 13:28

Belgian carrier Brussels Airlines will this year launch a new regional African airline to be based in the Demorcratic Republic of Congo, its chief executive said in Paris this week.

(1 Vote)

Tags: Brussels Airlines - Bernard Gustin - Forrest Group - Georges Forrest - Benin - Burkina Faso - Ghana - Togo - Democratic Republic of Congo

SA international air traffic to soar over next 20 year

Tuesday, 23 February 2010 15:40

South Africa features in three of the top ten international air traffic growth markets predicted for the next 20 years by European airliner manufacturer Airbus in its 2010 global market forecast.

(1 Vote)

Tags: ten - international - markets - growth - air traffic Middle East - China - North Africa - South Africa

Sierra Leone working to revive tourism

Wednesday, 10 February 2010 16:20

Tourists, in small numbers, are returning to Sierra Leone's white sand beaches and clear blue waters, eight years after fighting ended in the western African country.

Tags: Number 2 River Beach - tour operator - Sierra Leone

Egypt eyes 2010 tourism revenue of $11.5 billion: minister

Monday, 08 February 2010 14:04

Egypt is targeting 2010 tourism revenues of $11.5 billion and wants 14 million tourists to visit, the tourism minister said on Monday.

(3 Votes)

Tags: tourism - revenue - 2010 - Zoheir Garrana - Egypt

Africa tourism 'lifted by Obama and World Cup'

Monday, 25 January 2010 12:54

The "Obama effect" of a US president with African heritage and the 2010 World Cup are boosting tourism in Africa, industry experts say.

(1 Vote)

Tags: Obama - tourism - 2010 - World Cup - UN - World Tourism - growth - Africa

Monument lifted from Cleopatra's underwater city

Friday, 18 December 2009 10:44

Archaeologists on Thursday hoisted a 9-ton temple pylon from the waters of the Mediterranean that was part of the palace complex of the fabled Cleopatra before it became submerged for centuries in the harbour of Alexandria.