Seychelles Reopens to South Africa

Travellers from South Africa will be able to visit the Seychelles from Tuesday 1 June onwards, after being barred from accessing the island nation since the start of 2021. In a bid to reinvigorate the island’s embattled tourism industry, which is responsible for 65% of its GDP, the Seychelles announced the full reopening of its…

Four Points by Sheraton to Debut in Uganda

Portman Square Limited has signed an agreement with Marriott International to debut the Four Points by Sheraton brand in Uganda. The development is expected boost the continued gradual resurgence of the local hospitality industry and bookings currently at 28% from a near zero at the height of the lockdown last year. Scheduled to open in…

Sun City Re-Opens Daily

Sun City Resort, just a two-hour drive from Pretoria, is now open daily for day visitors after months of gradually easing access. Guests can take a quad bike or mountain bike through the Letsatsing Game Park or get lost in the largest permanent maze in the Southern hemisphere, The Maze of the Lost City. The…

SkySafari Airborne Again This Month

SkySafari’s three newly launched, redesigned fly-in itineraries provide guests with a nonstop flying safari; visiting the best camps, offering the best wildlife viewing, and more time to experience more magic while on safari. Taking to the skies of Kenya and Tanzania from 10th May 2021. Taking to the skies of Kenya and Tanzania from 10th May…

The Nest Collection Launches this Month

The Nest Collection – a new hospitality management solution for owners and managers of boutique accommodation establishments – launched this month. Its aim is twofold: to bring together a bespoke collection of distinctive, individual, boutique properties to create a quality travel ecosystem, and to offer an array of solutions for those properties to help them…

SAA Aims to Resume Flights in July or August

South African Airways (SAA) aims to resume flights in July or August, but the restart date will depend on how the COVID-19 pandemic progresses and whether the airline can resolve a pilot dispute, its chief executive said on Friday. State-owned SAA, which was put into administration in December 2019, has not flown commercially since September,…

Victoria Falls Attains Herd Immunity

Zimbabwe President, Emmerson Mnangagwa says the city of Victoria Falls has now achieved herd immunity following the vaccination of over 77 percent of its residents in the ongoing countrywide mass COVID-19 vaccination programme. Statistics released by Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Care show that more than 19 243 people, against a target of 25 000, had received…

New “Skylink Airways” Planned for South Africa

A new airline, Skylink Airways, has been established with the aim of filling the vacuum left by South African Airways (SAA). AeroTime Hub reported that Skylink Airways was founded by South African entrepreneur Clarence Andrea Steyn. Steyn told Aero Telegraph he has received backing from Russian and South African investors and has started hiring former SAA…

South Africa to End Controversial Captive Lion Industry

South Africa has taken steps to end its multimillion-dollar lion-breeding industry, which supplies cubs for tourism, lions for trophy hunts, and bones for traditional medicine. In a statement on May 2, Barbara Creecy, the minster of South Africa’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, acknowledged the “view that the captive lion breeding industry did not contribute…

Tourism Industry Welcomes Tanzania/Kenya Deal

Tourism players are upbeat following heightened negotiation between Kenya and Tanzania that aims at bolstering trade between the two nations. Stakeholders said that apart from Kenya which has been cooperating with Uganda and Rwanda on tourism, Tanzania has had a frosty relation with Kenya. They said the recent state visit by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan to…

New Uganda Entry Requirements Clarified

Classic Africa Safaris (CAS) has liaised with the Ugandan Minister of Health (MOH) and all appropriate government bodies to clarify the new COVID-19 entry requirements for Uganda. Please be advised that this is a constantly – and swiftly – changing situation, but current requirements are outlined below. In keeping with existing COVID-19 entry requirements, all…

Cape Town Approves Major V&A Waterfront Expansion

City of Cape Town Mayor, Dan Plato, has approved a R3.9bn (€229.6m) expansion to the V&A Waterfront’s Canal District. The mixed-use development will lead to the creation of at least 1 100 jobs during the construction phase. This announcement follows the recent approval of the R14bn (€824.1m) mixed-use Harbour Arch Development, which will include the construction…

Namibia’s New Onduli Ridge Camp Now Open

Ultimate Safaris has shown incredible talent and innovation in bringing to life camps that stand apart from the rest, and their newest, Onduli Ridge, lives up to their high standard. The planning for Onduli Ridge was undertaken with the intentional absence of engineers, architects and interior decorators, allowing nature and its boundaries to determine the camp’s…

Seychelles Remains Safe Despite COVID Surge

In an exclusive interview with the Seychelles News Agency on Monday, the head of state of Seychelles – President Wavel Ramkalawan – said the island nation remains a safe destination for visitors and that the archipelego’s world-leading vaccination campaign has proven to be effective. President Ramkalawan said the Seychelles – 115 islands in the western…

Uganda COVID Status/Protocol Update in Relation to Travel

On 5th May 2021, Uganda’s ministry of Health issued a statement on the status of Covid-19. The document mainly covered statistics and measures being undertaken to avoid a resurgence of the pandemic. Adventure Consults is happy to share a summary mainly focused on tourism and travel in general. When the ministry released the first statement on 30th April 2021…

African Union Develops Digital COVID-19 Passport

The African Union has developed a common continental Covid-19 digital passport for travelers and airlines. It is an initiative by African Union’s lead health agency, the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). The technology is known as Trusted Travel, a platform that will enable passengers across Africa to securely and easily verify compliance with Covid-19…

New 24/7 COVID-19 Testing Laboratory Opens in Seychelles

Seychelles Medical Services Pty, a new healthcare company registered in Seychelles opens the first state-of-the-art dedicated Covid-19 testing laboratory in Seychelles. The private facility is the second in Seychelles to provide exit Covid-19 PCR testing services aside from Euro Medical Family Clinic which started their service a few months back, although this one facility has…

Mack Air Newest Airline for Victoria Falls

Zimbabwean tourism is set for a boost as a new airline is venturing into the Victoria Falls, Botswana route with the maiden flight expected to happen this coming Saturday. Mack Air, a Botswana based airline becomes the latest addition to the assortment of airlines lining up to tap into the Victoria Falls market, which is…

Air Kenya Back in the Air

AirKenya has notified the tourism industry that, following a presidential directive and an authorisation by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority released on May 1, the airline has fully resumed its operations, offering services from its exclusive terminal at Wilson Airport Nairobi, to the following destinations: Serengeti (via Kilimanjaro), Kilimanjaro, Entebbe (via Kisumu), Maasai Mara, Amboseli,…

SAA to Exit Business Rescue

The business rescue practitioners (BRPs) of South African Airways’ (SAA) have filed a notice of substantial implementation with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) that effectively brings to an end the airline’s 17 months in business rescue. Simultaneously, while this took place on April 30, the operations of SAA were handed back to its board.…