7 Stunning African Resorts to Add to Your Bucket List

Africa may not come first to mind when you think of luxury destinations, but it definitely should be considered. There are many countries in Africa that offer luxurious hotels with sophisticated design and jaw-dropping amenities. Numerous hotels also offer unique experiences that you wouldn't find anywhere else in the world. Whether you want to surround yourself within Africa's wildlife or cuddle up with a good book on a private deck, these impressive hotels will satisfy any traveller craving luxury.

A paradise by the Zambezi River, the Royal Chundu draws travellers from all over the world who are looking to spend their vacation both thrill-seeking and relaxing. As it's the only luxury hotel on the Zambezi River, you'll find tranquility unlike any other, and you'll also have access to water adventures at nearby Victoria Falls. At Royal Chundu, there are endless activities: you can embark on a helicopter tour, a stunning river safari, or even a thrilling canoe ride on the Zambezi.

This exclusive boutique resort and spa sits on one of the most pristine beaches in the world, the Bwejuu – Paje beach on the island of Zanzibar. Offering a number of private villas with either ocean or garden views, this resort provides luxury through design inspired by Arabic, Swahili and Indian décor. Aside from the 5-star restaurant and spa, Baraza Resort is also close to The Water Club, a water sports center offering fun-filled activities such as snorkeling, sailing, windsurfing and paddle boarding.

Sitting on the slopes of Lion's Head on the beautiful Bantry Bay, the luxurious Ellerman House offers majestic waterfront views that you'll be dreaming of for years to come. Known for offering some of the best ocean views in South Africa, this hotel is for travellers craving ultimate tranquility and relaxation. With plenty of spa treatments, exquisite cuisine offerings and a library filled with books and art collections, you'll be staying in a house that you'll never want to leave.

Located on a private 30-acre estate in South Africa, this luxurious hotel sits on the beautiful Franschoek Valley, a destination perfect for travellers who are looking for a relaxing escape. Exuding opulence, La Residence is surrounded by extraordinary views of mountains, vineyards and plum orchards. With Franschoek Valley's natural beauty, you'll enjoy a number of outdoor activities from cycling and hiking to simply lounging by the pool.

This luxurious haven in the heart of Namibia (Damaraland) has stunning desert landscapes that will have you feeling as though you've travelled back in time. With a design inspired by the natural landscape, each hotel villa is hidden between boulders and gives a different view of the land, which is home to a number of game animals, including elephants, springboks and jackals. Travellers can embark on many activities at this secluded yet elegant boutique hotel. During your stay, you can visit Twyfelfontein (a site of ancient rock engravings), visit the Organ Pipes Mountain, or go on dune drives to meet the local elephants.

Situated in the center of Botswana's wildlife, Vumbura Plains Camp is a luxury hotel that allows travellers to view Africa's most incredible animals, including elephants, giraffes, impalas and zebras. With a contemporary design featuring outdoor lounge areas, a private pool and a campfire deck, you'll get to enjoy every minute of the outdoors.

Near Victoria Falls and in-between the Masuwe River and Zambezi ravines sits a glamorous and intimate hotel known as The Elephant Camp. Rather than staying in a standard room, this hotel offers luxurious tents with private decks, plunge pools, lounge areas and picturesque views. Travellers can rest up at the luxurious camp after a full day of activities nearby, such as meeting the local elephants, touring the rural village and witnessing the beauty of Victoria Falls.

Source: 7 Stunning African Resorts to Add to Your Bucket List

Shimmy Beach Club closed for renovation

This popular party venue is closed in preparation for a bumper summer season by closing their doors for one month for minor décor renovations, a revamp of menu offerings and a 2016 style update.

Shimmy Beach Club. Credit: Supplied

Popular in summer for the Submerged Sundays, headlining internationally acclaimed electronica and dance group, Goldfish, Shimmy Beach Club promises a show stopping Summer line-up.

READ: Say Cheese! Artisan Cheese Fair 2016

It will feature local artists that have put South African music on the map, as well as being host to some of the world's biggest names in music.

As one of Cape Town's hottest destinations, the venue will be upgrading to showcase an international standard of hospitality, with food and cocktails that continually feature as some of the best in Cape Town.

IOL adapted press release

Source: Shimmy Beach Club closed for renovation

Air France to increase West Africa flights

Air France will begin 3X-weekly Paris Charles de Gaulle-Accra (Ghana, West Africa) services on Feb. 28, 2017.

Beginning March 28, 2017, Air France's 208-seat Airbus A330 service will be upgraded to a 312-seat Boeing 777-200 for the summer season.

Air France chairman and CEO Frédéric Gagey said partner KLM Royal Dutch Airlines operates daily flights from Amsterdam Schiphol to Accra. "We also want to support Ghana's buoyant economy, led by the development of the oil industry. Finally, our long-haul network is expanding in a region where we are already a leader."

The SkyTeam member is expanding one of the most important markets on the African continent for traffic to and from Europe and North America, the company said.

Air France-KLM operates to 46 destinations in Africa. In addition, a joint venture with Kenya Airways delivers 18 additional African destinations to the Group network. A codeshare agreement with South Africa-based Comair and low-cost carrier kulula.com adds five additional cities in South Africa via Johannesburg or Cape Town.

Air France also has a strategic partnership with Ivory Coast national carrier Air Côte d'Ivoire. Since May 2012, Air France supported the creation of the carrier, alongside the Ivorian state, thanks to a 20% investment in its initial capital.

In April, the Abidjan-based carrier became the first African airline to order the A320neo. In July, Air Côte D'Ivoire signed a firm order for an additional A320neo. According to the company website, Air Côte D'Ivoire operates four Airbus A319s, one A320 and four Bombardier Dash 8 Q400s.

Kurt Hofmann, hofmann.aviation@netway.at

Source: Air France to increase West Africa flights

Accra, new Air France destination in Ghana

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Starting 28 February 2017, Air France will offer three weekly flights to Accra in Ghana from Paris-Charles de Gaulle.

In this way, Air France is expanding on one of the most important markets on the African continent for traffic to and from Europe and North America.

These flights will be operated by Airbus A330 with a capacity of 208 seats until 27 March 2017, then by Boeing 777-200 with 312 seats and equipped with the latest new Air France travel cabins for the entire summer season.

Frédéric Gagey, Chairman and CEO of Air France, said:

"These three weekly flights will strengthen Air France's presence in Africa as well as the Air France-KLM Group's presence, as KLM already flies daily from Amsterdam to Accra. With this new service, we will provide Air France customers with even more connecting opportunities at Paris-Charles de Gaulle, both to and from Europe and North America. We also want to support Ghana's buoyant economy, led by the development of the oil industry. Finally, our long-haul network is expanding in a region where we are already a leader".

Flight schedules (in local time)

From 28 February to 27 March 2017

AF780: leaves Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 13:30, arrives at Accra international airport at 19:05 the same day;

AF731: leaves Accra international airport at 22:25, arrives at Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 6:00 the following day.

AF780: leaves Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 15:30, arrives at Accra international airport at 19:50 the same day;

AF731: leaves Accra international airport at 23:40, arrives at Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 8:00 the following day.

Flights operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays on departure from Paris.

Air France-KLM currently operates flights to 46 destinations in Africa. In addition, thanks to its joint venture partnership with Kenya Airways, the Group offers even more frequencies between Europe and Africa and has expanded its network with another 18 destinations, including: Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Blantyre (Malawi), Bujumbura (Burundi), Harare (Zimbabwe), Khartoum (Sudan), Lilongwe (Malawi), Livingstone (Zambia), Lubumbashi (DRC), Lusaka (Zambia), Mayotte, Maputo (Mozambique), Mombasa (Kenya), Moroni (Comoros), Nampula (Mozambique), Ndola (Zambia), Zanzibar, Gaborone (Botswana) and Malindi (Kenya).

The Group also benefits from a code-share agreement with South African airlines Comair and kulula.com, and offers flights to 5 other destinations in South Africa (Durban, Port Elizabeth, East London, George and Lanseria) via Johannesburg or Cape Town. Finally, since 2012, Air France has been the strategic partner of Air Côte d'Ivoire. In May 2012, Air France supported the creation of this airline, alongside the Ivorian state, thanks to a 20%investment in its initial capital.

Source: Accra, new Air France destination in Ghana

Flying fish is just one of fastjet's market-specific innovations in Africa

Editor's Note: This post is part of our Fly Africa series where Amadeus partners in Africa share their experiences and strategies to serve the continent.

The future of low cost carriers in Africa is bright. Just look at the base numbers: there are 1.1 billion people in Africa, which is some 15% of the world population and yet it also only accounts for 0.5% of the world's aviation. All that adds up to latent demand and real opportunity.

The key to success is to understand customers' needs and to adapt your offering to suit the local market. One size fits all solutions just don't work in Africa. Rather, it's important to look at introducing market-specific innovations in the aviation space.

For example, passengers in Zambia want special prices for small-scale freighting to ship their goods home quickly and affordably. And passengers in Tanzania want to be able to bring back freshwater fish. Responding to these needs, fastjet adapted and introduced special prices for freighting and adapted part of the aircraft hold to accommodate fish. To date, we've carried over 60,000 buckets of fish.

It's therefore maybe not surprising that fastjet's innovative approach has seen the airline winning the Transport Innovator Award for the second consecutive year at the 9th Transport Africa Awards 2016 held in Johannesburg, South Africa on 28 June 2016. The Transport Africa Awards set out to reward leaders in transportation who demonstrate an unparalleled ability to succeed, offer a competitive advantage and set standards of excellence in the sector.

We're now also seeing increased sophistication in the African market. People are choosing their seats and are ready to pay a bit more for convenience or comfort. This shows that consumers are not only enjoying flying with us, they're also maturing to the point that they are choosing to pay more to add comfort.

The lack of access to proper broadband remains a problem for the low cost carrier model in Africa. The Internet has not become the commercial force it has become in the West. Also the fact that the aviation markets are not yet liberalised and that the antiquated system of bilateral air service agreements still exists across the continent can be a challenge.

Although there has been some progress when it comes to the Yamoussoukro Declaration, which calls for the liberalisation of access to air transport markets in Africa, we're certainly not seeing rapid changes. What we'll see over the next three to five years is small pockets of liberalisation appearing on the map. It will most likely be a gradual adoption rather than a continent-wide revolution of the airspace across Africa.

Fuel is also an interesting subject in Africa. Obviously the cost of the raw product has come down across the global markets, and that's a positive. However, aviation fuel is expensive in Africa as a result of the ground transport challenges of getting the fuel from the ports into the countries and the taxes applied to aviation fuel. That leads to a significant variation of the fuel cost from the very reasonable prices in Johannesburg to an eye-watering high price in the hills of Mbeya.

fastjet's main aim remains to democratise air travel in Africa by making it more affordable for more people to fly to more destinations more often. Previously, many of our passengers were compelled to travel by time-consuming bus or train, or they didn't travel at all. Now, they have the option to fly on fastjet.

The airline currently covers routes between Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Kilimanjaro, Mbeya and Zanzibar, as well as internationally from Tanzania to Johannesburg, Lusaka, Harare, Entebbe and Nairobi. The airline also operates three routes from its Zimbabwe base between Harare, Victoria Falls and Johannesburg.

Source: Flying fish is just one of fastjet's market-specific innovations in Africa

Slow Train Through Africa with Griff Rhys Jones

Review

by David Butcher

Nobody could argue British viewers have been exactly deprived of series where comedians take exotic journeys on our behalf. But you have to admit this has a winning premise. The minute you gather that Griff Rhys Jones will take scenic trips along Africa's breathtaking (and often colonially old-fashioned) railway system, you know how this will work – and it doesn't disappoint.

Griff's first trip takes him 1,700 miles across Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, starting in Marrakesh, which he describes as "sitting here since about the time of William the Conqueror". That's typical of the way he finds slight new angles on things, though there's the merest smattering of history here and rather more jaunty encounters with locals. In the labyrinth of Fes, Griff meets a man even more giggly and ebullient than he is and has a go at softening leather in a vat of pigeon droppings.

But if there's one thing to watch this for (ideally in HD), it's the photography. The colours , the details of the architecture, the people are all captured beautifully.

Summary

The comedian makes five train journeys taking in the spectacular sights of Africa, travelling to unexpected places in deserts and forests, villages and cities, and finding out how the railways are used today. He begins in the north, on a line that links the trading cities of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Stocking up for his trip at a souk in Marrakesh, he boards the train for a seven-hour ride to the ancient city of Fes, and eventually reaches the Sahara - and his final destination of Tozeur.

Cast & Crew

Presenter Griff Rhys Jones

Executive Producer Ross Harper

Series Producer Graeme Hart

Lifestyle

Source: Slow Train Through Africa with Griff Rhys Jones

Tourism sector growing: Mzembi

Tourism and Hospitality Industry minister, Walter Mzembi has said a 16% growth in tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2016 is confirmation of growth of the sector.

BY TARISAI MANDIZHA

According to the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) first quarter report, tourist arrivals rose to 450 572 from 387 557 recorded during the same period last year. The increase in the numbers was recorded in arrivals from all the source markets except the Oceania.

Mzembi said the growth in the tourism sector was sign posted by Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa in his 2015/2016 national budget presentation where he stated that the sector was going to lead in projected sectorial growth by 4,1% ahead of mining, agriculture, manufacturing and others.

"We are happy we have done considerably well and relatively better than the same period in 2014 and 2015," he said.

"My plea is that we continue to sustain the peace and stability that has endured this growth because it is the most critical success factor for a performing tourism product."

The minister said traditionally, the first quarter of the year recorded a depressed performance but the first quarter of 2016 bucked the trend.

"We anticipate better performance going forward. I must still underscore that the peace dividend is our number one product because it doesn't matter how attractive our destination is, but the moment it starts communicating conflicts, the travelling public revises its perception of the destination and automatically its itineraries which translated to 16% growth will be reconsidered," he said.

He said the reason why the growth in arrivals did not translate to the desired growth in room occupancies was non-stays by tourists, where decisions were made in the context of the behavior of currencies. He said when the dollar firms against the South African rand, visitors would opt to stay with friends and relatives instead of hotels.

Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe president George Manyumwa said while the growth in the tourism sector was positive, the desired effect of growth in room occupancies was not achieved.

"Whilst the growth is positive, desired effects of growth in room occupancies were not achieved. This probably demonstrates that some of the tourists were either staying with friends and relatives or in unregistered facilities," Manyumwa said.

He said the tourism growth should be sustainable if the country was to address the cost of doing business that had a direct impact on pricing.

He said Zimbabwe was overpriced compared to regional neighbours, making it uncompetitive.

Manyumwa said the industry anticipated further growth as the first quarter was usually the most depressed and that the ease of doing business was likely to be tough in response to an economy that was not performing well.

According to the ZTA report, not all tourists ended up in hotels as the bulk of them from mainland Africa resorted "to very cheap sources of accommodation in lodges as well as friends and relatives".

According to the report, arrivals from mainland Africa increased by 11% to 380 790 from 343 644 in 2015. Most African countries, with the exception of South Africa, Zambia, DRC and Tanzania, recorded increases during the quarter under review.

South Africa and DRC fell marginally by 2% and 4% respectively, while Zambia and Tanzania fell substantially by 16% and 20% respectively.

The national average hotel room occupancy rate decreased to 36% during the period from 38% in the comparable period last year.

The report showed that Harare had the highest average room occupancy rate of 53% followed by Victoria Falls, Midlands, Mutare/Vumba and Nyanga.

In the period under review, the 53% occupancy rate for Harare was achieved through promotions on room rates offered by major hotel groups, without which the occupancies could have been lower, the report said.

"Observations have also shown that many foreign tourists visiting the Victoria Falls are entering through Kazungula and Victoria Falls border posts for single night stays and day trips, largely showing that they are avoiding staying in Zimbabwe.

"It means Zimbabwe is a secondary destination to them. If this phenomenon increases, it will further affect the performance of the sector as Victoria Falls is the hub of foreign tourism," it said.

"This requires implementation of robust marketing programmes by Zimbabwe in key source markets."

Source: Tourism sector growing: Mzembi