Ethiopia declared best tourist destination

The Africa­n countr­y ins known for its excell­ent preser­vation of humani­ty landma­rks

A man stands above the Bet Medhane Alem rock church during an Orthodox Good Friday celebration in Lalibela, in this May 3, 2013 file photo. PHOTO: REUTERS

Ethiopia has been declared as the best tourist destination in the world by the European Council on Tourism and Trade (ECTT).

The body chose the African country for its excellent preservation of humanity landmarks such as the ruins of the city of Aksum which is considered as the heart of ancient Ethiopia and Fasil Ghebbi, which was used by the Etiopian emperors as their residence during the 16th and 17th century. The country is also known for the city Harar Jugol which has 82 mosques, 102 shrines, and unique interior design in the townhouses and Lalibela – a holy site for Christians encompassing eleven medieval stone carved churches from the 13th century.

People pray around Saint George, one of the 11 famous monolithic rock-cut churches, during a Good Friday celebration in Lalibela in this May 3, 2013 file photo. PHOTO: REUTERS

The list of historical landmarks in the country also include Konso Cultural Landscape (containing 55 kilometers of stonewalled terraces and fortified settlements), Lower Valley of the Awash, where humanity made its first steps and where was found the Eva of all mankind-Lucy fossil's, Lower Valley of the Omo also containing fragments pertaining to early humanity development and the fossils of Homo Gracilis.

All of these sites are recognised and registered as UNESCO World heritage monuments.

Tourism in Ethiopia is growing rapidly. PHOTO: REUTERS

Tourism has also been identified as a primary tool for poverty eradication, for local community development and economic independence by the Ethiopian government under the plan of Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP).

The Ethiopian embassy in United Kingdom, while acknowledging the award, tweeted pictures of some of the most popular sites in the country.

Last year another African state Zimbabwe was declared as the top tourist spot.

Ethiopia has also seen a rush from European tourists after an Islamic State gunmen killed 27 people at a Tunsian resort on June 26.

Source: Ethiopia declared best tourist destination

The world's best tourist destination for 2015?

A rock-hewn church at Lalibela Photo: AP

The world's best tourist destination? It's not Spain, the US, or even Telegraph Travel readers' favourite country New Zealand, but Ethiopia, according to the European Council on Tourism and Trade.

The East African country, which suffered a series of famines in the 1980s but can boast some of the continent's most dramatic landscapes, was praised by the non-profit association of EU tourism organisations for its "excellent preservation of humanity landmarks".

• Ethiopia: a trip to a timeless land

The country's highlights include the monolithic rock-hewn churches at Lalibela; the Simien Mountains National Park, a Unesco World Heritage Site that is home to a number of endangered species, including Ethiopian wolf and walia ibex; and the otherworldly Danakil Depression, with its colourful sulphur and salt lakes.

Other attractions flagged up during the annual ceremony were Fasil Ghebbi, the residence of the Ethiopian emperors durin g the 16th and 17th century; Harar Jugol, containing 82 mosques and 102 shrines, and the Konso Cultural Landscape, featuring 55km of stonewalled terraces and fortified settlements.

The Danakil Depression (Photo: AP)

In its application for the award, the Ethiopian government identified tourism as a key area if it is to tackle poverty. "Ethiopia is the deserving candidate, with a perfect record of promoting social-friendly tourism, and a ecological and poverty reduction strategy based on tourism," said Senator Ionel Agrigoraoiei from the European Council.

• The best of Ethiopia

The group clearly enjoys backing an underdog – last year's winner was Zimbabwe; in 2013 it was Laos.

However, few of the candidates that applied for consideration this year were typical tourist destinations – they included Nigeria, Algeria, Congo DRC, Jordan and Kazakhstan.

The Simien Mountains National Park (Photo: AP)

Just 20,000 Britons visit Ethiopia annually, but Kuoni, the luxury tour operator, tipped it (alongside The Philippines and La Reunion) for a surge in visitors earlier this year.

• Djibouti: Africa's hottest new travel destination

Its trips feature Lalibela, the low-key capital Addis Ababa, the towns of Gondar and Bahir Dar, the Bale Mountains National Park and the Simien Mountains National Park.

Parts are off-limits, however. The Fo reign Office advises against all travel to within 10km of the borders with Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya and Eritrea, and to parts of the country's north-eastern and south-eastern regions.

Source: The world's best tourist destination for 2015?

Rwanda lions: King of the jungle's roaring comeback

Story highlights

Lions have been reintroduced to Rwanda for the first time since being wiped out after the 1994 genocide

Five females and two males arrived this week, transported from South Africa to Akagera National Park

Lions have been reintroduced to Rwanda for the first time since being wiped out after the genocide of 1994, which claimed 800,000 lives. As people returned and settled after the gruesome period, lions were poisoned and killed for feeding on cattle.

Although efforts have been made to preserve the wildlife of the country, the return of the lion to Akagera National Park "is a milestone conservation achievement for both the park and the country and is a positive development that we have all joined in celebrating," said Peter Fearnhead, CEO of African Parks, in a statement.

A total of seven lions arrived this week, transported from South Africa to Akagera, including five females and two males, donated by &Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve and Tembe Elephant Park reserve. The small reserves sometimes find it necessary to relocate their animals, the Rwanda Development Board said in a statement.

The lions were also selected based on their future reproductive potential, the board said. The predators will be quarantined and closely monitored for at least two weeks before being released into the wild of the park.

"The return of lions will encourage the natural balance of the ecosystem," said Ambassador Yamina Karitanyi, chief tourism officer at the Rwanda Development Board, in a statement.

"Rwandans and visitors will now have the chance to see one of Africa's 'Big Five' animals in one of the continent's most diverse national parks, cementing Rwanda's status as conservation focused, all-in-one safari destination."

However, the relocation of the lions hasn't escaped criticism. Claudio Sillero, head of conservation at the Born Free Foundation, suggests that it is better practice to transport lions from nearby locations, but "many countries are often quite reluctant to allow wildlife exports."

"As a result lions were brought over from southern Africa, drawing some concern form biologists that those lions are not the most immediate genetic relatives of the now extinct Rwanda lions," Sillero told CNN.

But overall, the move is applauded. "With proper management, including the effective fencing to prevent the lions from straying into areas where they will be persecuted and killed, the lions in Akagera will breed into a small lion population which will contribute to a healthier and more biodiverse ecosystem," Sillero added.

Named after the Akagera River and bordering Tanzania, Akagera National Park is an expanse of rolling hills and lush grassland dotted with lakes and swamps. It boasts of wildlife that includes a variety of birds, elephants and giraffes. And it's likely that lions won't be the only animals to take up residence in the park.

"It is also an initiative that bodes well for the reintroduction of rhino into Akagera which will establish the park as a Big Five destination with far-reaching, tourism benefits," said Fearnhead.

READ: How Rwanda went from poisoning lions to paying to protect them

Source: Rwanda lions: King of the jungle's roaring comeback

Charleston named top North America destination by Travel + Leisure

Charleston, South Carolina, was named the top destination in the U.S. and Canada for the third year in a row by Travel + Leisure magazine's "World's Best Awards."

The awards were voted on between Nov. 3 to March 2, before Charleston made headlines for the June 17 church shooting in which a white gunman was charged with killing nine African-Americans.

This is the 20th year for the annual travel awards. Nearly 17,000 Travel + Leisure readers participated in this year's survey.

For the first time, Asheville, North Carolina, made the top 10 list for cities in the U.S. and Canada, coming in at No. 10. Also on the U.S. and Canada list were New Orleans at No. 2, followed by Savannah, Georgia; Santa Fe, New Mexico; San Francisco; Quebec City, Quebec; Chicago; New York and Victoria, British Columbia.

Kyoto, Japan, was chosen as the world's best city for the second year in a row. Cuzco, Peru, won best city for Latin America; Florence, Italy, won for Europe; and Cape Town won for Africa and the Middle East.

The list named the Oberoi Udaivilas in Udaipur, India, as the world's best hotel, and the Golden Door in San Marcos, California, as the best destination spa. Disney Cruise Line won best mega-ship ocean cruise line, Singapore Airlines won best international airline, Virgin America won best domestic airlines, and National Car Rental won best car-rental agency.

For the U.S., the Ritz-Carlton New York in Manhattan won for best large city hotel and Charleston got another award for top small city hotel for the Wentworth Mansion.

Full results are online at travelandleisure.com/worlds-best and in the August issue of Travel + Leisure.

Source: Charleston named top North America destination by Travel + Leisure

South African tourism sector in crisis

Destination Vicky Karantzavelou - 06 July 2015, 09:14 "Unfriendly approach" to Visa regime negatively impacting African and Overseas tourist arrivals to SA, says Grant Thornton. Grant Thornton Advisory Services calculates the direct spend lost to the SA economy as a result of the 150,000 tourist decline, to be R1,6 billion.

SA's tourism sector is entering its first serious crisis stage as Stats SA's Q1 figures reveal a bleak 6% decline in total foreign tourist arrivals to South Africa for the period ending 31 March 2015. Grant Thornton Advisory Services attributes this decline to a number of factors deterring tourists from travelling to SA, including the Ebola pandemic in West Africa, economic decline in some source countries and the implementation of SA's new immigration regulations.

"The 6% decline recorded in foreign tourist arrivals for the first three months of 2015 equates to a loss of 150 000 tourists, compared to the same period recorded last year. This is a decline of 1,600 tourists – or four jumbo jets - per day," says Lee-Anne Bac, Director, Advisory Services at Grant Thornton. "A loss of this magnitude in foreign tourist arrivals is unprecedented. We have never seen such dire levels of decline in the last 21 years of our tourism history."

This all comes at a ti me when South Africa's weak currency should be a factor that encourages foreign tourism.

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) releases monthly foreign tourism arrival data. The report records total foreign tourist arrivals per month, by source country, purpose of visit and mode of transport. Tourist arrivals are defined as visitors who stay in the country for at least one night, excluding travellers who are in South Africa on transit. Tourists include holiday makers and business travellers.

Grant Thornton Advisory Services calculates the direct spend lost to the SA economy as a result of the 150,000 tourist decline, to be R1,6 billion. Bac adds that this loss of foreign tourists excludes the levels of growth that South Africa should have experienced during the same period.

"If we had experienced modest growth of 5% for the quarter, then the total number of foreign tourist arrivals to end March 2015 would have been 2,6 million. So, if we include the expected growt h expectations in our estimations, South Africa actually lost 265 000 foreign tourists (and not 150 000) in the first three months of the year and therefore the loss of direct spend in our economy (Foreign Direct Investment) would have been R2,8 billion," she continues.

For the first quarter of 2015, there was a decline in foreign tourist arrivals from the majority of overseas markets to South Africa. Tourist arrivals from the UK bucked the overall trend showing an increase of 5% for the quarter.  

Overall, tourist arrivals from overseas markets declined by 6.8% during Q1 2015 according to Stats SA's data, with big declines recorded from the following markets:

Russia down 47%

Brazil down 34%

China is down 38% (the first quarter includes the Chinese New Year, a time of the year when the Chinese normally travel extensively)

India down 13%

Tourist arrivals from Africa dropped 5.6% in total for the first quarter period of 2015, with significant declines from:

Nigeria - 15% decline

Uganda - 19% decline

Bac says that during the first quarter of 2009, when the world was in deep recession, South Africa recorded a 2.5% drop in tourist arrivals for the same period.

"When comparing our recessional years to our current situation, it's a big shock."

South Africa has rarely experienced any decline in tourism arrivals since 1994. Small declines were recorded in the first quarter of 2004 (-0.8%) and there was a decline of 0.6% during the first three months of 2001.

"Based on global tourism forecasts for 2015, South Africa should not be experiencing these levels of decline" says Bac. "South Africa appears to be 'bucking the global trend' at the moment."

She cautions that there will be far reaching implications resulting from this dramatic decline, and most notably a price squeeze will result as tourism product owners fight for a shrinking forei gn tourism market and a price sensitive domestic market.

"There will most definitely also be job losses especially in niche tourism operators that focus on specific foreign tourism markets i.e. China and India," Bac continues.

Bac adds that the recent Xenophobic attacks in South Africa are not to blame for the decrease in foreign arrivals because these only flared up towards the end of the first quarter this year, which was after the period under review.

"The decline could be attributed in part to the aftermath of the Ebola virus which affected West Africa," says Bac. "But one of the other factors has to be South Africa's new immigration regulations which now require  foreign tourists who need a visa to visit South Africa to appear 'in person' and submit biometric data when applying for a Visa."

The new Visa requirements, came into effect on 1 October 2014.  

But requiring biometrics as part of a visa application is a fairly standard request around the world.

"The problem with South Africa's biometric visa legislation is that the infrastructure was not in place around the world when the law came into effect and communication around implementation and the requirements was unclear.  This caused confusion and complications in the market," says Bac. "Some markets have retaliated because of this – and now South Africa is getting less marketing and brochure space in the travel advertising world as a result. The issue is not about submitting biometrics or appearing in person for a visa. It's about the lack of systems to do so easily and simply. When applying for a visa it's often a tourist's first point of contact with South Africa and it is important that we remain a welcoming destination."

"At a time when the world is getting more 'friendly' with travel regulations, while maintaining legislative requirements where necessary, we seem to be going in the opposite direction with our disorganisation, lack of systems and added boundaries. One can only imagine what the new Birth Certificate legislation will do to our arrivals in the coming months, since its implementation came into effect on 1 June this year," Bac concludes.

Source: South African tourism sector in crisis

Virat & Anushka go on a vacation!

According to the latest buzz, Virat and Anushka are currently on a vacation together. The two are at 'Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge', a safari destination in South Africa.

Virat posted a photo of himself relaxing in front of a pool in the middle of wilderness two days back with the caption -

"Chilling in the wild. #peaceful"

As per the buzz, the two are said to have gone for 2 weeks and are expected to be back soon.

Source: Virat & Anushka go on a vacation!

African Figure Fashion Show comes off in July

Entertainment of Saturday, 4 July 2015

Source: GNA

2015-07-04

Library Photo: Fashion Show

SDV Global, an event organization in collaboration with Okletey Fashion Design and Exotic Modelling Agency, will put up a Fashion Show dubbed: "African Figure Fashion Show," to promote African style, and give distinct and vivid lifestyle to Africans and Africans in the Diaspora.

The show, slated for Friday, July 17, seeks to bring out the uniqueness and versatility of African designs on both the local and international market, in terms of authentic styles suitable for all occasion.

Mr Selassie Nyadzi, Director of SDV Global, addressing a press conference to launch the event, said the show would be replicated in all the regional capitals, to give opportunity to everyone to develop interest in African designs.

He said the event would be a night to remember by the people from the corporate world and other sectors of society, as the show would be interspersed with music, comedy, dance and modelling.

He said designers would present variety of Afri can fashion designs, by way of creating a platform to project African styles to the international market, to make Ghana the best destination for African fashion.

Mr Nyadzi announced that the organizers would use the occasion to present a fashion plan to enable corporate executives and the business community to select their fashion plan for their wardrobes.

"The fashion Plan will enable business executives and other personnel to be clothed by the designers over a period of time depending on their preference. They are allowed to select the number of months that they want to be provided with exclusive African designs for all occasions," he added.

He said: "it is about time we devote ourselves in wearing own designs as African as well as adhering to the cultural and traditional values of our communities to promote the needed transformation".

Mr Nyadzi, therefore, appealed to the government, corporate bodies and organizations to support the idea to create more jobs and at the same time promote African culture and values.

Mr Moses Okletey, Chief Executive Officer of Okletey Fashion Design, stressed the need for Ghanaians to champion the promotion of African cultural values and identity.

He said the fashion show was to enable the public to appreciate the need to patronize African fashion in Ghana and the entire African continent.

He also appealed to local textile companies to consider revising their prices downward, to enable them produce at affordable prices, to meet the pockets of all Ghanaians.

Ms Vida Abena Yeboah, Chief Executive Officer of VIDOL Sleek Ware, said the show was an opportunity for younger designers to showcase their talents, and urged them to capitalize on it.

Source: African Figure Fashion Show comes off in July