NEWS ON TOURISM ACCROSS AFRICA

South Africa airports are financially healthy

For the first time cape town international Airport reported a total of more than 10 million arriving and departing passengers with king shaka international Airport recording a total of more than five million passengers for the first time. This is according to Airports company South Africa’s ?(Acsa) latest financila results for the year to march 31 2017.

Disease kills hippos in Ruaha National Park

At least 42 hippos have died in south- central Ruaha National park in Tanzania. Chief Park Warden, Christopher Timbuka, said preliminary investigatons had shown that the hippos were killed by anthrax, an infection caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthraces. Timbuka said a survey that was carried out between August and early this month showed that deaths had been found in three key areas that were popular for hostinf hippos in the sanctuary. “This is the largest number of hippos to have perished from anthrax in the park,” he said. He cited the drop in water levels in the Ruaha River as one of the factors that caused the outbreak of anthrax in the sanctuary. “Hippos in the park are forced to move to move upstream over long distances as the water levels drop due to drought.” As a result, he said, the hippos congregated in large numbers in the few remaining areas along the river that had suitable water volume and depth. “An outbreak of the infectious disease poses a challenge to conservation as the hippos are supposed to remain submerged in water during daytime to prevent overheating and severe sunburn.” he said measures had been put in place to control the spread of the disease in the park. The Tanzanian government has established a taskforce to find a lasting solution to the ecological challenges facing Ruaha River

WATCH: Stellenbosch Tourism launches #lovingStellenbosch campaignStellenbosch in the Western Cape, has evolved into one of south Africa’s premier tourist destinations. It has also grown into one of the world’s top food and wine destinations known and respected for its high- quality and global award-winning wines and cuisine. Stellebosch 360,the official tourism organisation for Stellenbosch and surronds, launched the #lovingStellenbosch Tourism Campaign this month.

The #lovingStellenbosch strategy,devised by Stellenbosch 360 with the assiatance of Hatch Communication and Skript advertising agencies,will be launched with four videos depicting the variuos marketing pillars as the foundation to expose the ‘magic’ of what the town has to offer global visitors.

Social media platforms- including facebook, twitter,instagram and YouTube- as well as an extensive PR and promotional strategy,will be utilised during the next ten months. The town’s attractions vary from its renowned wineries and restaurants to its rich legacy of magnificent Cape Dutch and other architecture, museum, art galleries,educational and neotech institutions, as well as its botanical gardens which have some rare plant species.

Annemaries Ferns, CEO of stellenbosch 360 said: “We are very enthusiastic about the new #lovngStellenbosch campaign and  believe this initiative will motivate both local inhabitants and visitors to connect with one another as they share why they love the experience- whether it be of fleeting nature or a way of life. The campaign will recognise the rich cultural heritage of the locals and their contribution in making Stellenbosch the most inspiring and innovative town in South Africa.”  

New guidelines on tourism concessions for protected areas

A new guide for tourism partnerships and concessions for protected areas aims to enhance the level of financial resources available for conservation management. The secretariat of convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the international union for the conservation of nature and natural Resourses (iucn), have announce the new publication-Guidelines for tourism partnerships and concessions for protected areas: generating sustainable revenues for conservation and development. The guidelines are geared towards protected area authorities, ministries of environment and tourism,policy experts and interested enterprises. They are designed to support protected area authorities and the private sector in their development and use of tourism partnerships and concessioning to contribute financially to biodiversity conservation.

The tourism sector is recognised as the largest market-based contributor to the financing of protected areas in many countries. How ever, most countries currently underuse tourism as ameans to contribute towards the financial sustainability of proptected area. The new guidelines aim to assist countris with addressing this gap. The guidelines were developed as part of a project called ‘Tourism partnerships and concessions in protected areas: Co- operating for success’, executed on behalf of the CBD Secretariat by the  Tourism and protected Areas Specialist Group (TAPAS) of the IUCN World Commission on protected areas. Wilderness Safaris Sustainability Manager, Dr Sue Snyman, Vice Chair of TAPAS, together with other members of the group, Dr Anna Spenceley, Chair of the TAPAS Group, professor paul eagles developed the new guidelines and ran capacity- building workshops. Spenceley said: our collaborative guidline development process has resulted in an informative tool that builds on previous experience and guidance and is pratical and easy to use, which is relevant for protected ares managers. We are to contribute this advice in the UN International year of sustainability tourism for development.

Safety concerns over Robben Island sinking ferry

Passengers on Robben Island ferry,the Thandi, had to be evacuated after the boat nearly sank on its way back to Table Bay Harbour in Cape Town last Friday. Managing Director and owner, Esa Yacoob told our correspondent that the three-year-old ferry was currently undergoing assessment before repairs could take place, which should take around two weeks to complete. According to office manager, phirial williams from Thandi ferry, the South African Maritime safety Authourity (Samsa) conducted a seaworthy survey on the vessel three days before the incident. “Thandi has been chartered by Robben Island Museum since December 2014, and has completed over 3000 tripss since she started operations, “ said Williams. “Thandi is one of five vessels owned by Yacoob, the others, however, are not chatered to the Robben Island Museum. “ Not having the ferry running will affect business drastically, especilaly with the tourism season approching,” said Yacoob. “Our priority is always to ensure that our passengers have safe and enjoyable experience, as has been the case for the past 22 years. We were concerned about the well- being of our passengers who went through this experience and so ensured that all pasengers received medical attention,” said Yacoob. The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) responded to the emergency on Friday, and managed to help 63 passenger and five crew to safety. According Samsa,the ferry was found to be listing to one side from water ingress due to uinknown causes. Debbie James from Samsa Western Cape said: passenger vessels are subject to a strict Samsa survey regime to ensure compliance with applicable statutory requirements.” the ferries that operate to Robben Island have raised many safety concerns over the year, and have come under much scrutiny over recent months due to llegations of price-fixing and collusive tangering. “The ferries carry over three hundred thousad visitors to and from Robben Island each year with viositors safety priotised at all times. We’re confident that Robben Islan’s heritage and the Robben Island Museum will continue  to be key tourism drawcards to our city,” said Enver Duminy, CEO of Cape Town Tourism.

Ugander targets four million tourists by 2020

Uganda aims to attract four million tourists by 2020. tourism and wildlife Minister Ephraim Kamuntu, said he hoped to attract one million holidaymakers from china. In 2015 international tourist arrivals to Uganda jumped 8% to 1.3 million compared with 1.2 million the previous year. Of the 1.3 million, 70% were from key markets,including the uk, the us and germany. Kamuntu recently led a delegation of government and private- sector players to china, where they took part in the Guangdong International Tourism Expo. “We are going to embark on an aggressive marketing campaign in china. The government Is looking at the chinese tourism market in abid to uplift international arrivals to the country, “said the minister. He called on chinese tour operator travel agents to build links with Uganda tourism players to develop itineries that suit the chinese market. Uganda Tourism Board CEO Stephen Asiimwe commented: “We have a budget for market representation and public relations. We hope it will help bolster our presence in the chinese market, increse visibility and awareness of the destination to grow visitor numbers.” a representative of Tourism Administration of Guagdong Province, Liang Yongzhong,said China was ready to support Uganda’s campaigns to attract more Chinese tourists. In a bid to drive international tourist numbers, the Uganda Touristm Board contracted three firms last year to market the country in its leading markets- the US, UK and Germany. Uganda has also received media publicity worth almost $4million in the three key markets. From the marketing and publicity campaigns, uganda expexts to receive 60,000 tourists from the US this year compared with 49414 in 2015. the country aims to receive 60000 British tourists in 2017 compared with 40,851 in 2015 as well as increasing Germany tourists to 15,000 this year compared with 9585 in 2015.