Travel/Tourism
Over 20 African Tourism Ministers Gather for INVESTOUR 2017
By Dipo Olowookere
INVESTOUR, a unique platform for tourism businesses from Africa and Europe to meet has convened more than 20 African Ministers of Tourism at FITUR, the Spanish Tourism Fair. The initiative, now in its 8th edition, has taken place on 19 January in a joint initiative of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and Casa Africa.
In the last eight years, INVESTOUR has become a unique platform for exchange of information and for business opportunities in the African continent. The event has counted in its 8th edition with the participation of more than 20 Ministers of Tourism of different African countries who debated the opportunities that the sector can bring to the continent.
INVESTOUR 2017 focused on two main topics: ‘Technology and design of new touristic products’ and ‘Capacity development for youth and women in tourism.’
“INVESTOUR has demonstrated not only the high relevance of such platforms to advance business, but also the immense potential of the tourism sector in the Africa as reflected in the very positive results that the region had in terms of international tourism in 2016” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai.
“For Casa Africa is a privilege to be one of the joint partners of INVESTOUR as this event has become a major reference for African tourism investors,” said the Director General of Casa Africa, Luis Padrón. “Our goal is to promote exchanges and to create a platform in which tourism professionals from both shores can meet, discuss, understand each other, and to look for ways to cooperate and to grow,” he said.
As 2017 will be celebrated worldwide as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, sustainable practices have been particularly addressed by the initiatives presented at INVESTOUR.
In 2016, Africa welcomed 58 million international tourists, up 8 % from 2015. According to UNWTO’s forecast, this figure will reach 134 million by 2030. The interest in tourism business in the continent has also risen. For instance, the number of Spanish companies based in sub-Saharan Africa has multiplied by seven in the last five years. As highlighted by the World Bank in 2015, the fast economic growth and the significant improvement of the business climate in Africa opens new perspectives for international companies.
Since the first edition in 2009, INVESTOUR has brought together over 1500 participants from 46 African countries and more than 900 projects have been presented. In 2016, more than 300 participants have attended INVESTOUR, including 14 Ministers of Tourism of Africa and Middle-East and numerous Spanish companies which met with more than 100 projects presented by African stakeholders.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Chief Commercial Officer of Emirates, Mr Adnan Kazim, has said the airline’s forward bookings have remained robust amid a strong customer demand, spurring the company to ramp up its operations across continents.
According to him, in the past months, the airline has planned and executed the rapid growth of its network operations, reintroducing services to five cities, launching flights to one new destination (Tel Aviv), and adding 251 weekly flights onto existing routes and continuing the roll-out of service enhancements in the air and on the ground.
It was disclosed that Emirates has continued to scale up its A380 operations with the reintroduction of the iconic double-decker across its network: Glasgow (from 26 March), Casablanca from (15 April), Beijing (from 01 May), Shanghai (from 04 June), Nice (from 1 June), Birmingham (from 1 July), Kuala Lumpur (from 01 August), and Taipei (from 01 August).
“Emirates is working hard on several fronts – to bring back operating capacity as quickly as the ecosystem can manage while also upgrading our fleet and product to ensure our customers always enjoy the best possible Emirates experience.
“So far, four of our A380 aircraft have been completely refurbished with our new cabin interiors and Premium Economy seats, and more will enter service as our $2 billion cabin and service enhancement program picks up pace,” Mr Kazim added.
He noted that in the coming months, established routes to Europe, Australia and Africa would be served with more Emirates flights, while in East Asia, more cities are seeing route restarts.
Emirates had upcoming route enhancements by regions, including in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, East Asia, as well as in Africa which covers Cairo: from 25 to 28 weekly flights by 29 October; Dar es Salaam: from 5 flights a week to daily flights starting 01 May and Entebbe: from 6 flights a week to daily flights starting 01 July.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
A number of African countries are focusing on promoting extensively inbound tourism. They are luring potential external investors to the tourism industry.
The latest in the southern African region is Mozambique, which has approved a visa exemption for 28 countries for tourism and business.
As the Council of Ministers approved the decree in mid-March, the exemption applies to visitors holding ordinary passports and allows for a 30-day stay, renewable to an additional 60 days.
The model adopted by the Mozambican government is similar to the United States visa waiver program in the sense that it requires travellers to register on a platform for pre-screening at least 48 hours before travelling and to pay a processing fee of MZN-650 (equivalent £8.50).
In the list released, Nigeria, which prides itself as the giant of Africa and the largest economy on the continent, was missing.
The approved countries for this programme are Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The visa exemption is a follow-up to the launch of a platform last December that allowed prospective visitors to apply for an electronic pre-authorization to travel into the country. The introduction of e-visas has seen an increase of over 30 per cent in the number of travellers entering the country compared to the same period in the previous year.
The e-visa platform commits the country to respond to applications within five days, but general feedback places an average response at 24 hours, and the few issues reported are usually created by users not uploading the required documentation.
President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, since August 2022, has taken steps containing 20 reform measures aimed at delivering to visitors and potential investors a path for a more competitive and more accessible country. Mozambique, with an approximate population of 30 million, is one of the 16-member Southern African Development Community.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said that foreign airlines’ blocked funds in Nigeria have risen to over $743.7 million.
In a letter dated March 14, 2023, and signed by the Area Manager for West and Central Africa, Dr Samson Fatokun, it was disclosed that the blocked funds rose from $549 million in December 2022 and $662 million in January to $743.7 million.
IATA noted that for over a year, Nigeria had been the country with the highest amount of airlines’ blocked funds in the world.
According to the association, the increasing backlog of international airlines’ blocked funds in Nigeria is a potential threat to foreign direct investment into the country and could affect the operations of airlines leading to job losses.
While appealing to the Minister of Aviation, Mr Hadi Sirika, to intervene in resolving the issues, the association also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to clear all airlines blocked funds before leaving office.
Meanwhile, at a meeting with the IATA and foreign airlines operators in Abuja to discuss the issues, Mr Sirika said the issue of blocked funds sits with the Central Bank of Nigeria and is not what the ministry can handle alone.
He urged international airline operators to be very considerate when dealing with the issues bearing in mind the effects of COVID-19 and the recession the country had experienced.
Recall that in August 2022, IATA’s Regional Vice-President for Africa and the Middle East, Mr Kamil Alawahdi, expressed his disappointment with Nigeria over the amount of airline money blocked from repatriation by the Nigerian government, which was around $464 million then.
“IATA is disappointed that the amount of airline money blocked from repatriation by the Nigerian government grew to $464 million in July.
“This is airline money, and its repatriation is protected by international agreements in which Nigeria participates. IATA’s many warnings that failure to restore timely repatriation will hurt Nigeria with reduced air connectivity are proving true with the withdrawal of Emirates from the market,” he said.
