Aviation breaking news – FLY540 adding three times a week service from Wilson to Vipingo

Fly 540 OPENS UP VIPINGO BY AIR

True to their recent form of expanding their domestic destinations to locations other airlines have not been thinking about, has Fly 540 now announced a three times a week service from Nairobi’s Wilson Airport via Vipingo to Malindi and back effective March 18th. Fly 540, operating from both Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Wilson Airport, now has without doubt the most extensive scheduled flights network across Kenya including to many of the country’s key national parks. Vipingo has come into the spotlight in recent years as a purpose built and gated estate and golf club community and the who is who from Kenya and more and more of the rich and famous from abroad have lined up to build or buy weekend getaways and holiday homes, conveniently located between Mombasa and Malindi along the coastal strip. The ‘on estate’ airstrip makes arrivals and departures ‘easy’ as no lengthy travel to and from will be required by passengers.

In particular the manicured championship courses at Vipingo have immediately attracted golfers from the entire region but also from overseas and the elevated location of Vipingo creates much cooler day time temperatures compared to the beach side, making golfing much more pleasant especially during the hot dry season. The new air service from the ‘city airport’ in Nairobi to Vipingo makes it much easier to get to that part of the coast and the use of the proven Beechcraft 1900 King Air will make for comfortable travel in a pressurised cabin. The airfare, all inclusive of taxes and fuel surcharges, of KShs 10.540/- will surely attract enough passengers to make this route too a winner for the airline. The flights operate every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday

Visit www.fly540.com for more information, bookings and departure / arrival times.

Culinary delights return to Mauritius’ Constance Belle Mare Plage Resort

BERNARD LOUISEAU CULINARY FESTIVAL COMMENCES THIS WEEKEND

No sooner had the Seychelles concluded their first ever Carnival Festival, the first of its kind in Africa it is understood, did the ‘road signs’ for events in the Indian Ocean point to Mauritius where the Bernard Louiseau Culinary Festival is going underway this weekend. Hosted by the Constance Belle Mare Plage Resort, Michelin starred chefs from the Indian Ocean region and beyond are assembling to bring culinary delights to tourist guests and Mauritians. This fifth edition of the food festival, which saw its inaugural held way back in 2006 is expected to once again draw big crowds and is sure to receive the attention of the media on the island as well as beyond. Assisted by the local chefs and cooks at the Constance Resort Belle Mare Plage the ‘teams’ will create and then serve new dishes and menus, using the freshest ingredients available to them from the sea and from the land. Celebrating the art of excellent food and excellent service – in coming days ‘life in Mauritius’.

Find out more about the resort and the festival by ‘googling’ or via www.bellemareplagehotel.com

News update – YELLOW MASAI gives East African e-travel options

YELLO MASAI TAPS INTO E-TRAVEL BOOKING POTENTIAL

E-Commerce has finally descended on the Tanzanian travel scene with a bang since www.yellowmasai.com went on line. A key element, missing in many other ‘booking sites’, is available at Yellow Masai, namely secure credit card and payment transactions, but has also linked up with electronic money transfer services like M-Pesa and others, to allow East Africans to search for flights, resorts and other travel related services, book and pay on line without having to leave the ‘comfort of their laptop or desktop computer’.

Since their launch a few weeks ago over 200 service providers have already signed up with Yellow Masai but the company expects this number to grow to over 500 in the short term, as more and more airlines, hotels, resorts, lodges and tourism service providers get to know how best to tap into the growing market segment of individuals and families wishing to book on line.

Yellow Masai is linked to both Facebook and Twitter, where account holders can sign up for the latest news and information, special packages coming on the market and important destination updates.

Yellow Masai has a dual base in Arusha / Tanzania and in California and while the Tanzanian side is doing the hard sell to sign up new partners across Eastern Africa the American side is doing all the tech stuff to incorporate the very latest designs and widgets. It is from there that price and fare comparison has been incorporated allowing visitors to the site to actually compare airfares, the cost of hotel rooms, meals and transportation PLUS see the rating of such services by previous clients.

The real good news though is that smaller ‘one property’ companies can now take advantage of the Yellow Masai booking site, without having to spend mega bucks to create their own and often due to the transaction sizes not exactly viable booking engine, or ‘buying into one’ on a shared platform, something the hospitality giants in East Africa can afford but smaller businesses cannot. Yellow Masai is independent of any of the companies available for booking, ensuring there is no bias or vested interest in promoting one over the other, as it is ultimately the travelling client who decides where to go, stay and which airline to fly with. All in all, added visibility and choice for the East African tourism industry, and all for the better.