Mauritius set to tap eco tourism market by 2013 with new trails and hikes

MAURITIUS SET TO REVAMP NATURE TRAILS TO INCREASE ECO TOURISM EARNINGS

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Information has been received from a regular source in Port Louis / Mauritius that the Ministry of Tourism is discussing with other government departments and agencies a complete facelift and overhaul of trails and hikes across the island, with the aim to offer greater attractions to tourists coming to Mauritius for such eco friendly activities. From what I have found out there will be a fresh approach to this segment of tourism and by 2013 new facilities, trail markings, rest stops, bird spotting places and interpretative material will be available the source wrote in an email overnight. Mauritius is mostly known for beach vacations at some very luxurious resorts but with a wide range of accommodation options available and received nearly 1 million tourists last year.
However, tapping into the eco tourism market is bound to increase visitor numbers and will get tourists out of the resorts to visit forests and hike trails across the island, giving them a greater insight into what Mauritius really has to offer besides splendid beaches, great diving and fishing and excellent resorts.
At least five, possibly more areas on Mauritius are targeted for such investments even though no details are available right now for possible private sector participation in the scheme.
Visit www.mauritius-tourism.mu for more information or else check www.mauritius.net

Air Tanzania’s sole plane crashes in Kigoma after bodged takeoff attempt, 39 passengers and crew all survive

AIR TANZANIAS ONLY PLANE CRASHES IN KIGOMA

The financial input by the government of Tanzania into a rescue attempt for ATCL has yesterday come crashing down, pun fully intended, when the airlines single operating plane, a Bombardier Q300 crashed upon a bodged takeoff attempt in Kigoma, according to reports from a regular aviation source in Dar es Salaam.
Thankfully there were no casualties reported amongst the 39 passengers and crew of flight TC119 but the aircraft suffered severe damage to the hull, the undercarriage and had one engine and part of the wing torn off, resulting in a probably write off for the plane.
Perhaps the government now sees that they have been flogging a dead horse. That airline has union problems, management problems, outstanding debts to travel agents and all and sundry and has been doing nothing but swallow up public resources. This is the second accident in as many years. They crashlanded their remaining B737-200 in Mwanza and that was the end of that. They had no planes to fly, no income, lost their AOC and could not pay for the heavy maintenance of the Q300 in South Africa till government took our tax money and wasted it on ATCL instead of giving it to health, schools and social services. They should have taken that money and put it into a significant share at Precision Air when that company went for an IPO, to support a private company with action and not just their usual empty utterances. What does it take for our government to let go of their 70s mindset and let go of ATCL. Do people first need to be killed? Enough is enough, let that wreck of a company be wound up now and leave the air space to private sector airlines which have given the public much better services and much better deals said a very angry source from Dar es Salaam when the question was posed about ATCLs future following this latest incident. No comments were received from ATCL at the time of filing this report but it is understood that the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority has started an air accident investigation with a team of technical experts being sent to Kigoma.
Is this finally the endsong of Air Tanzania, the erstwhile national airline of Tanzania but for years now in the financial ICU, barely breathing on its own? Time will tell, so watch this space for updates as and when available.

Seychelles government approves SHTA request to restore Director of Tourism Marketing position

SEYCHELLES GOVERNMENT APPROVES CREATION OF DIRECTOR OF TOURISM MARKETING POSITION

It was learned from a usually well informed and very reliable source in Victoria that the Seychelles government has responded positively to the request made by the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association, that following the move by Mr. Alain St. Ange, who formerly held this position as a private sector nominee following the first restructuring of the tourism board before being made CEO in the second restructuring and then appointed Minister for Tourism and Culture, the position be restored.
Yes it is true that SHTA had written to government which is part of the regular private / public sector interaction to drive the industry forward, identify areas of mutual concern and eliminate bottlenecks and deal with any matters arising said the source in a mail received over the Easter weekend. Part of our present set of recommendations is that the position of Director of Tourism Marketing is to be restored. To that we have already received a positive response from government and we are right now sourcing the right person to be recommended for the job, just like we did four years ago when the association proposed Mr. Alain St. Ange to take over the key function of marketing and publicity. Other issues are security related, have to to with air access to Mahe and about the risen charges for domestic air services to Praslin by Air Seychelles which now charges Seychellois citizens and resident the same fares like tourists. In some areas we are making very fast progress while in other areas the logistics behind some issues make it take longer. But there is constructive dialogue and mutual respect between key industry stakeholders because we have a common objective, a common goal, which is to promote our islands as the best destination in the world.
Sources close to the tourist board would only confirm that a principal decision had been communicated to them already but that the appointment would largely rest with SHTA who were to propose one or more individuals for selection.
At the same time it was also learned that Ministers St. Ange, Tourism and Culture and Joel Morgan, Internal Affairs and Transport together with the STB CEO Elsia Grandcourt, the CEO of the Public Utilities Corporation Philippe Morin, Capt. Valmont of the Seychelles Maritime Safety Authority, the Commissioner of Police Ernest Quatre and other key officials went to meet the private sector stakeholders on Praslin, with another such meeting set for La Digue after the Easter holidays, to continue the process of open dialogue and engagement between public and private sectors which shaped up over the past few years.
In a related development it was also confirmed that the important French market will see a special meeting being organized by the STB marketing office in Paris, bringing together French tour operators and airlines flying from Paris via their hubs to Mahe like Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Etihad / Air Seychelles, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Air Austral to gain a better understanding of market developments and market reactions since Air Seychelles dropped their 6 times a week nonstop service. Watch this space for the latest news and updates from Eastern Africa and from the Indian Ocean islands.
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ETS comes under more fire with Arab Air Carriers Association also demanding its suspension

ETS COMES UNDER MORE FIRE
The European Unions stubborn insistence of sticking to their hugely controversial Emission Trading Scheme or in short ETS has raised opposition from literally around the world, paving the way for a potentially damaging trade war between the EU and China, India, Russia, the United States and now with the member countries of the Arab Air Carriers Association.
During the recent launch of flights to Kigali said Qatar Airways usually very outspoken CEO Al Baker to a question posed by this correspondent: Qatar is a small country. We respect the right of the EU to set their own laws and regulations but we will join our colleagues in the Gulf in what will be the best way to resolve this situation which as met with opposition from around the world.
Exactly that has happened now according to a source from Doha, when it became known that Qatar Airways has signed up to a resolution by the Arab Air Carriers Association, which met in Doha last week and released the following statement and demands, to which all member airlines had consented:

· A unilateral application of the EU ETS is violating the essence of the Chicago convention, which stipulates that the Air Transport relations between states need to be regulated by mutual consent and agreement.

· The resolutions of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have explicitly called upon states that wish to introduce initiatives in the environmental footprint of aviation, to do that in agreement with the other states whose institutions might be impacted by such initiatives.

· The fact that the ETS holds airlines of the world responsible for their emissions before the European authorities, contradicts with the principles of sovereignty of states over their national aerospace, and that national institutions of states are responsible before its own authorities and not the authorities of other countries.

· The EUs attempts to impose its own policies on other states will only lead to conflicts and trade wars which will not help the environment, the customer nor will it help the airlines. On the contrary, these attempts will negatively impact those stakeholders thus negatively impacting as well the global economic activity.

· The environmental cause is a global one and any solution thereof should also be global arrived at under the auspices of the concerned United nations agency: ICAO

· The Arab Air Carriers Organisation is quite aware of the necessity to mitigate the environmental footprint of aviation and it supports taking global measures agreed upon within ICAO.

Said Mr. Al Baker at the end of the meeting: There has to be a systematic approach to the implementation of any such scheme and, like many airlines around the world, we feel the European Union needed to take a step-by-step consultative approach before imposing programmes and penalising an aviation industry that plays a crucial role in driving economies.
Unlike in the case of for instance China, which has prohibited her airlines to pay for ETS charges, setting a collision course with the EU with the risk of flights between Europe and China coming to a halt should the EU Commission decide to throw the book at Chinese carriers not paying up, something also now considered by other major countries opposed to ETS, there is no indication if the GCC would make a similarly binding ruling for Gulf based airlines at this stage, while negotiations over a suspension of the scheme are continuing.
Notably has Africa not yet spoken out with one voice against the EU demands, although AFRAA in Nairobi has made it clear to governments on the continent that they must take a stand and come out in support of their airlines, all of which are incurring considerable added expenses for compliance, until a resolution can be reached under the auspices of ICAO, as had been proposed by literally all opponents. Watch this space.

STB audit murmurs cause industry leaders to shake their heads

STAKEHOLDERS DISMISS STB AUDIT HULLABALOO AS OF NO CONSEQUENCE

Regular contributors from the Seychelles islands used the long Easter weekend to make their feelings known over what one individual called misplaced focus about the audit reports the Seychelles Tourist Board had submitted for the past six years. When Alain St. Ange was brought on initially as Director of Tourism Marketing, the board had not had audits carried out for the preceding years, and when elevated to the position of CEO of the Seychelles Tourism Board, besides being ever present everywhere around the world to promote the archipelago, the administrative side was not neglected. In fact, the arrival of Elsia Grandcourt as Deputy CEO saw her concentrate largely in putting the house in order and attend to such pending administrative duties and regulatory requirements, and when in early March the announcement was made that Alain St. Ange was promoted by President James Michel to the position of Minister of Tourism and Culture, and Elsia Grandcourt in turn appointed CEO of the Seychelles Tourism Board, audits and annual accounts had been brought up to date and the omissions of the past administrations been taken care of.
I am astonished about certain comments being floated about the STB audits. What is fact is that the previous administration was in default and when Mr. St. Ange became CEO, working under a new board of directors under the chairmanship of Mr. Barry Faure, then Secretary of State in the Presidents Office, he immediately started to clear the backlog. What those now trying to make a case from do not realize is that this is known as a problem left by the previous chairman of STB at a time when tourism faced a very uncertain future. That administration had lost the way and the confidence of the private sector. Since the two major restructurings of STB everything has changed. The private sector has confidence, the results are for all to see, openly wrote one source in an email over the weekend.
Another source took issue with criticism voiced by the same quarters over STBs foreign marketing offices: We have several layers of marketing and PR in place in our key markets. For one there are our own STB offices which are now staffed by Seychellois who are competent and committed. Then we have tourism attaches on diplomatic level at important Consulates and Embassies and High Commissions. And then we have our tourism ambassadors around the world, all Seychellois with passion to promote their home country in the markets where they live. When you look at the media reports, they are all envying us about such structures and set up. Making use of our own citizens as tourism ambassadors is now being copied by others. Our marketing directors are respected members of the tourism industry and are largely responsible for the day to day contacts, working with travel agents and airlines to make things happen. By end of March we are slightly ahead of last year arrivals. The private sector does not understand why there should be criticism when success is there. The new vision for Brand Seychelles brought success and has propelled our industry to new levels since those days in 2008 and before. But such success also breeds envy which is not good. We must work hand in hand, private and public sector, to promote even harder, in new markets, and that is why our Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association has asked for greater funding from government. That is the way forward, not paying attention to such rumours and comments made by individuals who maybe have their own agenda. Even as I write the top management of Blue Panorama airlines of Italy is here and so is the head of the STB office in Italy Rose Monette and Willemine Bernadette, the STB Marketing Director for Europe to discuss closer cooperation and joint marketing initiatives.
Regular sources from within the tourism board did not comment on the reports, probably an indication that none in authority found it worthwhile to respond and rather let the facts speak for themselves.
Meanwhile has the STB juggernaut continued to make waves within the SADC region with talks about closer cooperation of not only the Vanilla Islands but also talks with South African officials to strengthen cooperation and work towards more twin centre holiday offers. It was also learned over the weekend that discussions between the administration of La Reunion and their Seychelles counterparts it was agreed to take a fresh look at direct airlinks between the two islands with the aim to stimulate more island hopping.
La Reunion was co-host of this years Carnival International de Victoria and will very likely be joined next year by more co-hosts, as other Vanilla Islands have shown willingness to join the bandwagon, now that the festival has become a runaway success.
In another positive development it was also confirmed that Etihad, Abu Dhabis national airline, has struck a deal with STB to become official airline for the SUBIOS Festival of the Sea while Emirates is already signed up as official airline for the annual Carnival International de Victoria, leaving Qatar Airways as the third major carrier from the Gulf exploring their own option to partner with STB for one of the other significant festivals the archipelago now hosts under a newly outlined events calendar. Watch this space as Seychelles truly remains Another World.