NEWS

South African Tourism under head of Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk made a positive balance of tourism activity during the first quarter of 2012 with 2 267 807 foreign arrivals – an exceptional 10.5% growth increase over the same period a year ago. While growth in tourist arrivals came from all the regions of the world, overseas tourist arrivals grew by 17.8%....

Source: The Star - The supply of upscale hotel rooms in Nairobi is set to increase as local and global hotel properties plan to enter the market between now and 2014....

Kempinski AG, the luxury hotel chain, will open properties in three African countries this year and is looking at projects in five more, the company’s president said....

Lonrho has added a new 5-star hotel in Gaborone, Botswana to the Lonrho Hotels portfolio. The group will open the new hotel in July 2012....

Hotels in Africa keep leveling off their development in hot markets and exploring new areas, improving the accommodation suppply and creating jobs in Africa. ...

...

From PRNewswire. SkyTeam, the global airline alliance, has launched its new Go Africa Pass providing cost savings and flexibility on flights operated by Kenya Airways within Africa. The pass is available to business and leisure travelers flying with any of SkyTeam's 15 member airlines on an intercontinental round-trip to Africa or a Go Round the World ticket. ...

From www.nation.co.ke. International tourists will now pay more to enter Kenya’s premium parks. ...

The Moroccan city of Casablanca is the country’s largest, so it should come as no surprise that it is now home of the largest mall, not only in Morocco itself, but on the entire African continent....

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has called for a renewed focus on aviation safety to help Africa reap the benefits of aviation connectivity. The organization also called for a strong partnership to drive innovative solutions to the other challenges facing aviation in the region: security, environmental sustainability and infrastructure. ...