British Airways partners with Team GB and ParalympicsGB for Tokyo 2020
British Airways has been appointed the official airline partner of Team GB and ParalympicsGB ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer.
The airline will fly hundreds of athletes and support team, along with their equipment, to and from the games as part of the partnership.
British Airways has been supporting British Olympic and Paralympic athletes for over a decade, since the Beijing 2008 Games.
To mark the announcement, athletes from a range of sports officially launched the partnership at London Heathrow airport.
Representing skateboarding, which is being introduced at Tokyo for the first time, was 11-year-old Sky Brown who is set to be GB’s youngest summer Olympian, athlete Dina Asher-Smith, and boxer Cheavon Clarke who hopes to represent Team GB.
Courtesy Breaking Travel News
Qatar Airways launches Deutsche Bahn codeshare
Qatar Airways has announced a codeshare partnership with Deutsche Bahn, offering travellers seamless connections to and from eight key destinations in Germany.
The codeshare partnership with Deutsche Bahn, one of the largest railway operators in Europe, will provide passengers with connections to Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Hannover, Leipzig, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Munich and Hamburg.
All travellers will arrive via Qatar Airways’ Frankfurt gateway.
Qatar Airways Group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, said: “This codeshare agreement between Qatar Airways and Deutsche Bahn further strengthens the ties between Germany and Qatar.
“We have witnessed significant growing demand between Germany to Qatar and beyond.
Courtesy Breaking Travel News
Etihad Airways signs easyJet partnership
Etihad Airways has signed a partnership with low-cost carrier easyJet.
This deal means customers can purchase tickets through the easyJet website connecting the two airlines’ networks and opening new and exciting possibilities for travel between Europe, Africa, the Azores and the UAE.
The collaboration comes into effect immediately.
The partnership follows easyJet’s accelerated and successful roll out programme with flight comparison search engine, Dohop, which powers the easyJet worldwide website connecting its European network with long-haul flights.
For Etihad, this has been achieved using the New Distribution Capability platform providing technical capability for new partnerships previously not possible.
Courtesy Breaking Travel News
World Popcorn Day
Sunday the 19th, we mark the world popcorn day. We are excited because we know you love popcorns!
We have incredible fun coming your way on the world popcorn day.
Your loved ones will get to enjoy plenty of popcorns, an array of games-rides, slides, bounces, splashes, swimming and great food from our kiddies menu. And to crown it all, we shall have some fun with Mickey and Minnie mouse💃
Brace yourself for some fun!
Popcorn has never tasted this sweeter. It can only get better!
Qatar Airways unveils eight new routes for 2020
Qatar Airways has revealed its new destination plans for 2020 at the Kuwait Aviation Show.
Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways group chief executive, said: “The Kuwait Aviation Show is the perfect platform for us to kick start the New Year and unveil some of our exciting plans for 2020.
“Eight new destinations will be joining our network this year in addition to the recently announced gateways of Santorini, Greece; Dubrovnik, Croatia; and Osaka, Japan.
“With these new routes, our operations will expand to 177 destinations around the world, reinforcing our position as one of the world’s most connected airlines.
“This ensures we can continue to provide our passengers more options and flexibility when planning their business and leisure travel.”
New destinations include Nur-Sultan, the recently renamed capital of Kazakhstan, which will welcome two weekly flights from March 30th.
Almaty, also in Kazakhstan, will see the launch of a twice weekly flight on April 1st, with the service increasing to four weekly flights from May 25th.
Courtesy Breaking Travel News
Uganda Airlines makes travel to Nairobi easy and affordable
VISITS TO NAIROBI – LOOKING BEYOND JUST THE FLIGHTS
The first two articles of this series have taken a close look at both the hospitality budget market segment but also the 5 star luxury segment, taking the PrideInn Hotels & Conferencing and the Villa Rosa Kempinski as examples.
The number of reads and positive comments show that both budget and luxury hotels have a strong market in the Kenyan capital and will no doubt grow from strength to strength in 2020.
But of course there is a lot more to discover and explore in Nairobi, for travelers flying with Uganda Airlines to Kenya and today we take a closer look at one international hotel group, which now already operates three hotels in Nairobi and which also covers different market segments – Radisson Hotels
Courtesy ATC
Africa Tourism Leadership Forum moves to Kigali in 2020
Following a hugely successful ATLF2019 in Durban / South Africa, has the Johannesburg based organization now announced that the event will move to Kigali / Rwanda for its third edition.
The meeting will take place from the 13th to the 15th of July under the theme: Shaping the Future of Intra-Africa Travel Together‘.
The Kigali International Convention Centre will be the host venue for the meeting, which on the last day will as usual be concluding with the Africa Tourism Leadership Awards.
More information will become available over the coming days and weeks and ATCNews – a media partner of the Africa Tourism Leadership Forum – will provide regular updates.
For added information click on http://www.tourismleadershipforum.africa/
Courtesy ATC
Nearly Extinct Pink Dolphin Gives Birth To Pink Calf
We all love dolphins, but most of us didn’t know that they can be even cuter than we know them- when colored pink! And the good news is that a rare pink dolphin mom, called Pinky, has given birth to a pink calf of her own!
She became popular 12 years ago when she was spotted by Captain Erik Rue in the Calcasieu River in Louisiana. He saw her regularly swimming in the area and mating with dolphins, and even depicted her as ‘very sexually active’.
The video of Pinky and her baby was posted on Pinky’s Facebook page, by a person named Thomas Adams and shows the pair jumping close to the boat in the Calcasieu Ship Channel.
According to experts, Pinky is a rare river dolphin who got the pink color from a rare genetic mutation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed the species” endangered to vulnerable”, and its population is decreasing, with only tens of thousands left of them.
Courtesy
CS Balala: Safari Rally will market our tourist sites
The 2020 Safari Rally will end on a high note at the 11-kilometer Power Stage through the hills overlooking Hell’s Gate National Park on July 18, with the images which define Magical Kenya being beamed live on global television.
Organizers of the Safari Rally unveiled the stage on Wednesday. Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala was present. Balala allayed fears that the Safari will interfere with wildlife’s tranquility.
The Power Stage is a flat out climax of the World Rally Championship (WRC) of which the winner earns five extra points in the series.
Additional world championship points are available to the top three crews through the stage regardless of where they actually finished in the rally.
Unlike the normal special stage, which is timed to a tenth of a second, the timing of Power Stage is to the 1,000th of a second.
WRC rallies the world over always incorporate a spectacular Power Stage at the end of an event — a stage that will allow the top three drivers to earn bonus valuable points that could very well make the difference between winning and losing the championship.
CourtesyDailyNation
Malkia Strikers thump Nigeria, qualify for Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Kenya’s female volleyball team Malkia Strikers, have qualified for the 2020 Volleyball Olympic to be held in Tokyo, Japan in July.
The national ladies’ volleyball team beat Nigerians in three sets 25-15, 25-21 and 25-12 making it to the tournament.
While congratulating the team, Sports PS Ambassador Kirimi Kaberia said: “The Government will ensure Malkia Strikers gets the best preparation before the Olympic games so that they can compete on an equal footing with the other teams.”
CourtesyStandardMedia
Kiswahili becomes first African language to be included in South Africa’s formal curriculum Read more
– South Africa government will hire teachers from countries that have established the language in their schools – The country’s Basic Education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said Kiswahili will help enhance business ties and social cohesion – South Africa has 11 officials languages that are being taught in schools and Kiswahili will be the only African language to be incorporated – Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, parts of Rwanda, DRC Congo and Burundi have adopted the language in their schools and daily interactions
CourtesyTuko
Singapore Airlines among the world’s safest: new ranking
Singapore Airlines is the world’s sixth safest carrier, according to a new ranking yesterday by aviation website Airline Ratings.
The 2020 rankings; which are based on indicators including crashes, serious incidents records, profitability, and fleet age; put the national airline just a few spots below top-ranked Qantas, the Australian carrier which has gone 60 years without any fatalities.
Airline Ratings, which evaluates 405 airlines for their safety and in-flight product offerings, did not elaborate on Singapore Airlines’ performance. It did, however, point out that all the airlines that made the list stood out for being champions in safety, innovation and launching new aircraft.
CourtesyYahoo News
Mara Serena Lodge goes even greener
Serena Hotels in partnership with Mettle Solar OFGEN have transformed a third property, Mara Serena Safari Lodge in Kenya, into a fully solar-powered property. The inauguration of the Mara Serena solar power plant demonstrates Serena Hotels’ commitment to be the ‘Full-Scale Solar Pioneers’ in the East African hospitality sector.Courtesy ATC
Air Canada takes delivery of first Airbus A220
Air Canada has taken delivery of its first A220-300, designed, built and delivered from the Mirabel programme facilities in Canada.
The first aircraft out of an order of 45 will enter service in January, making Air Canada the first airline to operate the A220-300 in North America.
The A220 will enable the Montreal-based airline to fly passengers on various routes in Canada and to the United States, offering a dual-class cabin that comfortably seats 137 passengers; 12 in business class and 125 in economy class.
“This is a highly anticipated moment for Air Canada as we welcome this game-changing aircraft into our fleet, the next step in our fleet modernisation.
“It will not only allow us to transport our customers in comfort but also further our environmental commitment with its improved efficiency.
“The A220 will enable Air Canada to strengthen our position on transborder and transcontinental markets and will be key to our continued growth.
“Our customers will benefit from the A220’s innovative design features, including a choice of two spacious and comfortable cabins, larger overhead bins, bigger windows and a quieter experience in flight,” said Michael Rousseau, deputy chief executive officer and chief financial officer at Air Canada.
Courtesy Breaking Travel News
Radisson announces its fourth hotel in Ethiopia
The Radisson Hotel Bahir Dar, located in the North East of Addis Ababa, will be the first Radisson branded hotel and the Group’s fourth hotel in the country. This achievement brings Radisson Hotel Group’s African portfolio to almost 100 hotels in operation and under development.
The Radisson Hotel Bahir Dar will be located on the shores of Lake Tana, Ethiopia’s largest lake which has been nominated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, just 8km from the International Airport. The city is home to some of the world’s oldest monasteries and churches, and the hotel will sit just 25km from Tis Abbai Falls, one of Ethiopia’s best-known tourist attractions.
Bahir Dar serves as the capital of the Amhara region in Ethiopia and is a well-known, memorable city to the north of the country. Tourists are drawn to Bahir Dar from around the world, not only due to the serene Lake Tana but also due to the city’s great location to rest and relax overnight, as travellers make their way to other popular destinations such as Gondar, Simien Mountains, and Lalibela.
Elie Younes, Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer, Radisson Hotel Group, said: “Africa remains the most exciting continent for growth and evolution. According to WTTC, Ethiopia experienced the ‘highest tourism growth in the world’ in recent years, with over 45% increase. Such growth justifies more hotel developments in the country and we are pleased to introduce our fourth hotel in the market.”
Courtesy ATC
Piffaretti returns to lead development at Kempinski
Kempinski Hotels has appointed Christophe Piffaretti as chief development officer and member of the management board.In this role, Piffaretti will be responsible for the expansion of the Kempinski portfolio by focusing on the company’s footprint growth in current and new markets as well as supporting the real-estate development strategy.
He will also oversee technical services and design of new build and conversion hotel projects before the pre-opening phase.
Piffaretti brings with him more than 25 years of luxury hotel, real estate and development experience in international markets.
He returns to Kempinski from his most recent position of leading two real estate investment funds for Credit Suisse Asset Management, where he was responsible for the strategy, development, operations, and performance of a portfolio of over 150 properties in Switzerland.