Travel/Tourism
Hilton Marks Opening of Hilton Cabo Verde Sal Resort
By Dipo Olowookere
Hilton has marked the official opening of its spectacular new resort on the Island of Sal in Cabo Verde, announcing the company’s debut in the country and further growing the brand’s portfolio of world-class resorts.
Rudi Jagersbacher, Hilton’s president for Middle East, Africa and Turkey, and the company’s area vice president of operations for Africa and Indian Ocean, Jan van der Putten, were joined at the hotel’s opening ceremony by the country’s Prime Minister, Ulisses Correia, Justice Minster Janine Lelis, the hotel’s owners, and a host of dignitaries, ambassadors and guests.
Speaking at the event, Jan van der Putten said: “Cabo Verde is a fast-growing tourism destination that offers amazing weather year-round, a rich culture and pristine beaches, and we look forward to welcoming visitors to Sal with our world-renowned Hilton service and hospitality. We have an incredible product here and we expect to drive great business and opportunity to the hotel and to Cabo Verde as we look to expand in the country.”
Hilton Cabo Verde Sal Resort boasts of a stunning natural stone pool set within a lush tropical garden. Guests can enjoy a 24-hour fitness centre, a kids club with a children’s pool and a nautical centre for diving and sailing adventures. The hotel also features a beauty salon and Hilton’s signature eforea Spa concept with a wet area and eight treatment rooms.
Guests and local residents can enjoy a variety of dining options on-property, including:
THE BOUNTY BEACH CLUB: Blending international cuisine with Creole hospitality, Bounty Beach Club offers a casual but refined dining experience serving innovative specialties. Through the afternoon and into the night, guests can enjoy world-class cocktails while listening to the restaurant’s DJ.
POOL BAR: The Pool Bar offers a range of colourful and healthy food and drink options, including fruit juices and natural cocktails that guests can sip while relaxing by the pool.
CIZE BAR: In the evenings, guests can enjoy a carefully prepared cocktail or a glass of chilled wine at Cize Bar. As the sun sets, jazz, soul and Cape Verdean music add to the venue’s unique ambience.
MAGELLAN: Inspired by the sailing routes of the discoverers of the new world, Magellan is the hotel’s all-day dining restaurant and features a rich buffet with open cooking demonstrations and a selection of international dishes.
Hilton Cabo Verde Sal Resort is also the only hotel in the area to offer 24-hour room service and a minibar.
With over 1,000 square meters of flexible meeting and events space, including a 300 square-meter ballroom with high ceilings, Hilton Cabo Verde Sal Resort is ideal for business groups, small meetings and social events. The hotel also offers wedding packages which allow couples to celebrate their special day on the scenic beach overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
“Hilton Cabo Verde Sal Resort is a world-class destination resort that caters to the increasing demand for next level hospitality in Cabo Verde,” said Alejandro Casamor, general manager. “With a beach club, flexible meeting space and a host of other facilities, Hilton Cabo Verde Sal Resort is poised to become the preferred choice for travellers visiting the country.”
Each of the hotel’s 241 spacious guest rooms features a 50-inch LED television, Wi-Fi and a balcony or terrace. All rooms span at least 39 square meters, while suites offer at least 75 square meters of space. In addition, guests staying in Oceanfront Suites or in the Presidential Suite will be able to enjoy breathtaking ocean views.
Hilton Cabo Verde Sal Resort is also part of Hilton Honors, the award-winning guest-loyalty program for Hilton’s 14 distinct hotel brands. Members who book directly have access to instant benefits, including a flexible payment slider (http://APO.af/uQB6ww) that allows members to choose nearly any combination of Points and money to book a stay, an exclusive member discount, free standard Wi-Fi and access to the Hilton Honors mobile app. Diamond members will enjoy free Premium speed Wi-Fi, space-available upgrades, complimentary breakfast and 1,000 Bonus Points per stay. Gold members will have the option of a complimentary, continental breakfast or 1,000 Bonus Points per stay.
Hilton Cabo Verde Sal Resort is located at Avenida Dos Hoteis, Santa Maria, 4111, Cabo Verde, just 15 kilometres away from Sal International Airport.
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.
