Tanzania aviation news – JRO to get long overdue facelift and expansion

KILIMANJARO INTERNATIONAL NEXT IN LINE FOR UPGRADE TOO
Information has been coming in fast and furious in recent weeks, with news chasing news of yet another major international gateway, and even secondary airports being upgraded, expanded and renovated to finally give aviation the state of the art facilities air operators have been demanding in past years as traffic grew and terminals and aircraft parking stands congested more and more.
The operator of JRO, the Kilimanjaro Airport Development Company or in short KADCO, is finally living up to its name and is now set to invest up to 39 million US Dollars in giving the airport a long overdue development via a facelift and an initially modest expansion.
The airport, now about 40 years old, still has the same aged terminal and facilities and little else to attract casual visitors other than passengers who arrive or depart from JRO, and while passenger numbers now top the half million mark per annum, a threefold increase over the past decade and a half in comparison to Nairobi or Entebbe where numbers were rising much more swiftly, is in urgent need to get a new look. To be able to attract airlines flying to JRO it is however also the cost structure which has often been critizised by air operators, claiming JRO is too expensive in comparison with its main competitors in the region, so KADCO has its work cut out for sure to find a more balanced approach.
The company reportedly sourced a 30 million US Dollars loan, making up the balance of capital need to accomplish the project over the next three year from other sources.
Arusha and Moshi, the nearest municipalities to the airport, are the gateways to the so called northern safari circuit of Arusha National Park, Lake Manyara, Tarangire, Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti while Moshi serves as a base for climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africas tallest mountain.
Watch this space for regular updates from the Eastern African and Indian Ocean islands aviation scene.

Seychelles tourism news – STB shows flag at Nairobi’s Getaway Fair

SEYCHELLES AT NAIROBI GETAWAY FAIR
The Seychelles Tourism Boards appearance at the recently concluded Getaway Fair in Nairobi was once again termed an overwhelming success, as the archipelagos stand attracted the attention of both the tourism trade, seeking to forge ties with the islands to do business together, but also of course of individuals coming to the exhibition to find their next holiday destination.
Seychelles tourism ambassador to Kenya, Ms. Popsy DSouza-Getonga was partnered by Amia Jovanovic-Desir, who in her capacity as senior marketing executive responsible for the Eastern African market was busy to engage with in particular the travel trade to partner up under the Seychelles marketing programme from the big five to the best five the latter referring to the superb and globally top rated beaches across the many islands of the archipelago.
While in Nairobi the Seychelles team also had bilateral talks with the Kenya Tourism Boards Chief Executive Mureithi Ndegwa and also met with the recently installed new Chairman Kitili Mbithi.
Kenya Airways connects Nairobi to the Seychelles three times a week, using a B737-800 aircraft, but as demand growth the airline has already indicated that more flights would be added once loadfactors made it possible. Seychelles truly Another World.

Seychelles tourism news – STA sends 13 students to the Shannon College for their degree course

SEYCHELLES TOURISM ACADEMYS EFFORTS PAY OFF
The long standing partnership between the Seychelles Tourism Academy and the Shannon College of Hotel Management has now allowed a further 13 Seychellois graduates from the home made Advances Diploma in Hotel Management to move to Ireland to complete a Bachelor Degree programme and push their skills and capabilities to the next level. The chosen participants have already excelled in previous courses and were selected along those lines to become the first generation of general managers of resorts and hotels on the archipelago after completing their formal studies and gaining more experience on the job. It is understood from a source on the islands that all of the students already have workplaces secured when they return with their degree, a sign of the close cooperation between the Seychelles Tourism Academy and the private sector.
STA is in a period of transition as a multi million US Dollar development programme is seeking to catapult the archipelagos sole public tourism and hospitality training institution truly into the new century, with state of the art facilities, a revised curriculum and new courses all aimed to provide students with the best there is to start a career for life. New for STA will then also be a dual system of training where students are remaining in the workplace to earn a living and gain experience while at the same time studying for the theoretical knowledge. Well done and congratulations to the students, and through Principal Flavien Joubert to the entire academys staff, truly an occasion to be proud of!