Danson Mwazo who succeeded Balala and is therefore the current Kenyan minister has identified allocation of more funds to be used in the improvement of infrastructure and marketing skills in the tourism as the best way of attracting more tourists to the country.  Danson Mwazo mentioned that he try his level best to see that the government improves on the amount of money that allocated for the   infrastructure development schemes which will in the long run lead to the development of the tourism industry.

He also sited out routes like that that goes through the Maasai Mara Park which is almost impassable and therefore very difficult to drive through. He added that it is very important for the government to work closely with all the stake holders to improve on the roads in the country especially those that are leading to tourism destinations because in tourism, the better the marketing skills, the better the yields at the end of the day so said Mwazo.

Minister Danon Mwazo was addressing the people after he took over form Najib Balala after he was sacked on Monday in the reshuffle that was conducted in the ministry. Balala however mentioned that the committee that is supposed to execute the Tourism Bill will be finishing its duties in June 2012.

Balala added that the Tourism bill of 2011 is so far the major accomplishment that they have got as far as policies are concerned because Kenya has never had any policy or act of parliament since the year 1969. His last work in office was the creation of the inter-ministerial taskforce to organize the country and industry therefore it is most likely that this act will be working by the beginning of July

Unfortunately, Balala has left office just after four years of his service from 2008 and has since then done all that he could to improve on the number of tourists that entered Kenya to two million people at the end of 2011 from 670,000 who came in at the end of 2009as well as increase on the amount earned to  earn Sh98 billion in 2011.

GORILLA SAFARI NEWS

According to the information that was got during the weekend from a reliable source, President Kikwete the leader of the republic of Tanzania assigned Ambassador Charles A. Sanga a new role. He was last week appointed as the new Chair person of the Tanzania Tourist Board. More to this, Ezekiel Maige who is the Minister of Tourism also identified and appointed new  directors on the Board of Directors to work with the newly appointed chairperson and these included Prof. Isya Jairo from the Institute of Finance Management,  a popular economist by the names of Teddy Mapunda, Abdulkarim Shah who is also a member of parliament for Mafia Island which is one of the best tourism attraction centre that Tanzania has got Kaika Telele and Samuel Diah an MP for the Ngorongoro constituency and also a private sector stakeholder.

Unfortunately it was not establish whether the major tourism private sector organs for example TCT, TATO or HAT had any thing to do with the decisions made in the selection of the new members just like it was in Kenya where the Kenya Tourist Board is currently occupied by the top level stakeholder like the CEOs of Serena Hotels, Mombasa Air Safaris as well as Pollmans Tours.

Congratulations to all those that were appointed in their respective new position and wish you well in all their efforts to expand and marketing the Tanzanian tourism industry.

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Basing on the information provided by the Assistant Director of the Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) who is responsible for the Central Rift, Mrs. Lydia Kisoyan, there are about two elephants which were poached in the past one week in the Mau forest situated in the South Western and another one was killed in Maasai Mau forest, Kuresoi District. Ms. Kisoyan mentioned that the two of them were speared in a place close to Kuresoi forest just a few days ago and they died from Kibara village situated in Koiwa, Konoin district and their ivory was taken. Meanwhile the other was killed from a place close to Gichamba forest located in Olenguruone division of Kuresoi District.

She added that this has come after KWS rangers from Kericho captured four people who were suspected of poaching and also got two ivory tusks of about 4kg each in Brooke town which is close to Kericho town worth about Sh320, 000. Kisoyan also mentioned that these poachers currently do kill elephants using traps mounted with spears that they put on the trees along where the elephants normally pass and when it steps on the trap, the spear goes through its back and it bleeds to death, they therefore do not use guns any more.

The poacher will then follow it around fro some hours or a day until it no longer has the strength to protect itself and that is when he comes in and cut off the ivory that they take to medicine men to be used to make medicine for different purposes.  There are currently so many rangers that have been stationed in the different parts of the forests to help get rid of the vice so said the KWS director Dr Julius Kipng’etich.

Kisoyan has also asked the entire public to more so those who are living close to these forests and game reserves to watch out for such people and should report to the responsible people should they see or suspect some one to be a poacher, this will be of great help to KWS rangers if they are to wipe out the vice.

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A number of years ago, the Nile safari lodge was just like so many other lodges around and it was the very first lodge to be constructed among the currently existing Geo Lodges Uganda and owned by a safari and lodge company affiliated with the Alam Group of Companies. The Nile lodge is situated just out of Murchison Falls National Park with lots of visitors from Kampala as well as from the entire East African and tourists from all parts of the world. Meanwhile all the tourists were happy about the new looks of the lodge and anticipate that it will attract more tourists than ever before.

The lodge has got just about 10 cottages and offers exclusive private service, with enough space to accommodate smaller groups of people who wish to have some privacy away from the noisy town. According to the information provided in the New York Times, the most selling book indicating the 1.000 places that one has got to see before his death, the Nile Safari Lodge is among them with all the information about it which will help it get market from out countries. The book also indicates attractions around the lodge like the unique shoebill which are very many along the shores of the lake, the storks and pelicans which have cartoonish large beak are can only be located in a few areas in Uganda like in areas around this lodge.

This achievement should be greatly recognized in relation to Uganda’s tourism performance for the past few years. Uganda’s tourism attractions like the wildlife will gain more popular especially after Uganda was identified as the must visit place for 2012 by the Lonely Planet which is a popular travel publication. Congrats to Zahid Alam, Emily Wissanji and the entire group for the work well done.

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According to Mr. William Halula who is the TTB Information Officer mentioned last Tuesday that this programme will make it possible for the society to be apart of the tourism programs as well as in the  encouragement of  all the traditional activities which can be attractive to tourists.  Mr. Halule while he was addressing people in the sustainable tourism training programme in Dar which was prearranged by Responsible Tourism Tanzania and was financed the British High Commission but are more interested in teaching  tourism business operators on responsible tourism and eco-certification schemes.

Mr. Halula also mentioned that the cultural tourism idea has been flourishing in so many other countries and a lot of money is earned through the sell of tradition services which is the reason why Kenya has decided to venture into the system to be able to attract more tourists to the country. This has worked so well in the western countries and through this several people have been able to improve on their standards of living.

He also emphasized that they will put more emphasis on locain Mtwara, Lindi, Ruvuma, Mbeya as well as Iringa areas because people here are still ignorant about their tourism potentials and yet they do have a rich cultural activities which would attract so many tourists. It is however very important to note that Chris Thompson a Travelife Consultant and also a trainers mentioned that it is very necessary for a country to encourage cultural tourism  because there are so many people from over seas who many want to see the Tanzanian real cultures.

There is a lot that Tanzania can offer He said Tanzania has a lot to offer to tourists which is not commonly seen in any other parts of the world. Cultural tourism also helps the nation to keep its identity and their beliefs from getting flashed down the drain but the introduction of Western culture.

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Morocco one of the African countries managed to emerge as the best African country at International Travel Bureau for this year. Apparently, this is something that was expected by the judge basing on the number of votes that were cast for the country and counted; this was followed by last year’s best performer which was Burundi that had to over throw Rwanda that had been the best in Africa for 4 years.  Uganda came 3^rd and it was able to make it to this position with the fame it has gained after it was identified by the lonely planet as the 2012’s must visit country for tourism satisfaction, Uganda was followed by Rwanda in fourth and Kenya  in the fifth place.

Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, Minister of Tourism together with the Uganda Tourist Board General Manager Cuthbert Baguma were the leaders of the group that represented Uganda at ITB , however there also so many other stakeholders from the private sector who also joined the group in Berlin in an effort to market their safari and lodge businesses in  Africa.

As Uganda will be celebrating its 50th anniversary of Independence from Britain on 9^th November towards the end of this year, the major PR focus is geared towards that event because this will be the perfect opportunity for Uganda to market it potentials to make it the must visit place of the year ever listed. Despite the fact that there are no enough resources allocated for both the tourist board and the ministry by the government in its budget, the industry has managed to struggle through and made it to the top on its own something that should be appreciated.

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According to the reports received during the weekend, the Ikona Wildlife Management Area which is composed of the Singita Grumeti Reserve as well together with many others has officially provided a new visitor centre which is about 26.000 hectares and is given out for wildlife conservation purposes. The creation and maintenance of the centre was sponsored by the Frankfurt Zoological Society which has been donating and supporting the Serengeti for so many years now, other supporters include the United States government as well as the World Wide Fund for Nature best known as WWF and also there was some help that was got from the tourism operators who are operating from within the WMA which was the very first community to come up with the tourism ideas.  In the due course of establishing the centre, training of community residents was apart of the process with the intension of creating better skills  amongst the people so they can earn themselves jobs rather than bringing people from different parts of Tanzania.

Wildlife Management Areas are the most recent strategies to persuade resident in communities around to work with investors, find land to be used for productive agricultural practices and ranching for wildlife conservation as ways of establishing buffer zones that will help in the safeguarding the major national parks and game reserves as well as creating additional employment opportunities for so many people in the touristic areas which have been disregarded for so long. This will enhance growth and development of the Tanzania tourism industry and economic status of people in the country.

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Although the elephants are known to be herbivorous animals that on feed on plants and any other green for their survival, Kidepo Natinional Park has got some rare species that that do survive on the local brew which is commonly called kwete as its food. The elephant is called Bull Bull and it is the oldest among all with about 68-year-old, gentle and very friendly to all mammal weighing about six tones.

However Bernard Lotuk, a tour guide for Uganda Wildlife Authority at the Kidepo National Park mentioned that the elephant usually takes this local brew and it is provided by the local people who stay close to the park and therefore it does not have to the forest to search for food like the rest of the elephants Mr. Lotuk said.  He also added that this elephant stays with human beings, relates with them and also goes around the village from home to home looking for food with out any fear.

Bull Bull has got a very good sense of smell and hearing and therefore is able to detect something from so many kilometers away which is good given the fact that it has got very poor sight Mr. Lotuk said.  Once he takes the alcohol and it gets high, it becomes very sensitive and destroys a lot of property and when it smells maize flour, banana’s, pineapples, porridge or even local brew in any one’s home, it does every thing possible to get it even if it means breaking down the house which is why the locals have decided to stop keeping any food in their houses for safety.

Mr. Johnson Masereka the area conservation officer mentioned that the most sensitive part of the elephant is its trunk and yet it is also a very powerful organ that it uses to pick up material without any difficulty even if it is uprooting a tree.  Apart from the local brew that they enjoy so much, they can eat any kind of vegetation especially during the dry seasons and they some time have to pull down trees to get what too eat. They can also feed on the woody parts of plants when food is not enough since they feed a lot and have got to consume about 660 pounds of food every day with a lot of water of course.

Kidepo national park was setup in 1962 and it is the third largest national park in Uganda situated in corner of Uganda, Kenya and South Sudan borders meet in Kaabong District. Elephants are well know for liking alcoholic smell, eating alcoholic foods like the marula fruits,  despite the fact that research show that they are too huge to consume enough alcoholi substance to get drunk.

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Tanzania has tourism as its main source of foreign exchange although it also true that the women have not been so much involved in the tourism industry management and development and yet if given an opportunity to take part in influential role in the tourism industry, they would do well.

Mrs. Adventina Matungwa who is the Managing Director for Walkgard Hotels and Tours located in the Bukoba said that involving the women in the tourism work will enable them to improve on their welfare and economic status and it is therefore women empowerment is very necessary.  Kagera has got just two registered tour companies which include the Walkgard Hotels and Tours and Kiroyera Tours and Safaris, among which the latter is managed by a lady who is non other than, Ms Mary Kalikawe.

For the same reason Mrs. Matungwa mentioned that the women should get the necessary training needed if they are to help in the improvement of the tourism industry in the different parts of the nation, it is also good for the ladies to be apart of  the tourism business which is profitable business and  it will also be an opportunity for them to get more jobs and more income to cater for their families at the same time especially  during this time when  so many of them are going single so said the Managing Director.

she added that after her and her husband had invest some cash in this hotel of theirs, the beginning was not an easy one but then they had to work very hard and with perseverance, they have managed to get where they are right now and the moment are getting much more customers than before that she can hardly handle the different activities in the business by her and she refers to herself as an example for all the rest of the women in the country who should try and copy from her.  She also has plans of purchasing a luxury speed boat that can carry about 12 tourists and will be used to transfer tourists to different parts on Lake Victoria.

There are about five game reserves in Kagera with about 5,526 square kilometers and they include Biharamulo (1,300), Burigi (2,200), Kimisi (1,026), Rumanyika (800) and Ibanda (200). there are lots of  different types of wildlife in the  game reserves like the elephants, lions, giraffes, buffaloes, leopards, hippopotamus and antelopes and many more others. There are also lots of birds and butterflies species in the game reserves and many of them are not seen any where else in the world.

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Dennis Karera, who is the Chairman of Rwanda Hotels and Restaurant Association (RHRA), has asked all the members of the hospitality industry to make an effort to learn and use English. He said so while he was talking to the students of Rwanda Tourism University College (RTUC) and also encouraged them to master the ICT skills that they are being trained in if they are to produce more quality work at the end of the day.

He emphasized that it very necessary for every service provider to make an effort to work with other business associates with ease as you look out for other market prospects but the cheapest and most useful means is the use of the Internet.

What’s more is that Karera is the owner of Park View Apartments that are situated in Nyarutarama. Meanwhile Alex Bayingana is the proprietor of Alpha Palace Hotel located in Remera approved that lack of effective communication/ language barrier is one of the major problems influencing the industry. And because of that they have come with training session to have all the heads of departments train their personnel and then see how they react to their customers’ demands.

However according to John Gara, the CEO of Rwanda Development Board, he is working together with the Private Sector Federation (PSF) to alleviate the problems that the hotels are encountering at the moment. To be able to do that, they have asked the hoteliers to set standard procedures to be followed and also working with PSF to make sure that the communication problem s no more.  According to the latest information got, PSF has a draft that lays down all that a service provider has got to fulfill, like must have a staff that speaks both English and French.

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