This two page spread is from our Post ATA Congress and our Review Editions. Click for a pdf of this issue in progress.
|
|
|
|
|
As
founders of the successful Air and
Marine Tourism Conference, first held
in Vancouver, BC, Canada in 1997, we are
proud to present the following article by
Lelei LeLaulu, a regular speaker at
African Travel Association events. Africa
Travel Magazine is a strong supporter of
Marine Tourism and our Air
HIghways Magazine of Open
Skies
has been active since 1995. For
information on our previous Air and Marine
Conference
click
here. "Once
the big cruise companies start sailing
into West Africa - which they will because
of rising fuel prices and the need for
fresh destinations," predicted Lelei
LeLaulu, co-chairman of Innovation for
Sustainable Development Centre, "if there
are no local arrangements for their
passengers, they are likely to build their
own on-shore facilities, thereby
decreasing cruise revenues for the host
countries." "West
Africa should learn from the Caribbean
experience where cruise lines have built
their own destinations with beaches, shops
and touristic activities where
infrastructure was absent," stated
LeLaulu, a director of the Caribbean Media
Exchange for Sustainable Tourism (CMEx),
who admitted marine and cruise tourism can
be good for Africa if managed
sustainably. Speaking
to reporters at Senegal's first "Salon
TICCA," showcasing tourism, cultural
industries and art from Africa, LeLaulu,
an adviser to the Africa Travel
Association, said the Gambian River
"should be developed to enhance the
tourism offerings of the West African
region." "For
example, you should be able to fly from
the heart of the ancient desert kingdom of
Timbuktu, in Mali, onto a traditional, or
modern fishing boat, and sail between
Dakar and Banjul in a matter of hours,"
asserted LeLaulu, who also advises CDC
Development Solutions, a Washington DC
agency which links tourism to business
development in several African
countries. The
marine, river and coastal assets of West
Africa offered "huge opportunities for
multi-day cruises which both Senegal and
The Gambia can jointly develop - there are
well over 500 species of birds and an
abundance of wildlife to draw visitors to
the river and its many waterways," he
opined. "Gambian
and Senegalese companies have the means to
really turn the Gambian River into an
attractive destination - it has rich human
assets with several culturally distinct
peoples sharing the waterway, as well as
the architectural heritage of the
Portuguese, French and English colonial
periods," LeLaulu asserted. "And
for those yearning for the fruits of the
deep, it has some of the best fishing on
the continent, with record deep water
catches recorded off the West African
coast," he reported, "while the Gambian
river delta and waterways boast a cook's
seafood delight." LeLaulu
also urged more marine transportation:
"there are high-speed boats in Senegal and
Gambia which can ferry passengers between
the two West African capitals in two hours
for those wanting to avoid driving to and
from airports for the short Dakar-Banjul
flight." About The
Caribbean Media Exchange The Caribbean
Media Exchange provides a neutral platform
for the continuing discussion of the key
linkages between media, government,
private sector and civil society in
ensuring tourism enhances the health,
environment, education, culture, and
wealth of destinations in a climate
friendly fashion. Visit
the Temples of the Pharaohs on a luxurious
Nile Cruise VIsit
Africa's Exotic Ports on a Floating
Resort
If
you have news of a cruise experience
e-mail: africa@dowco.com. AIRFIELDS DATA
BASE MAKING PROGRESS Emirates
Airlines Expands Middle East
Schedule
OUR
EDITOR FOUNDED THE AIR & MARINE
TOURISM EXPO IN 1997. OUR NEXT WILL BE IN
AFRICA. Speakers & sponsors
write:
airhwy@smartt.com CHICAGO:
United Airlines (Nasdaq: UAUA) announced the
schedule for the airline's first-ever nonstop
service to the African continent, with once-daily
service linking Washington with Accra, the capital
of Ghana, beginning June 20.
To
celebrate the new service to Africa, United is
offering special fares for travel between June 20
and August 29, 2010. Sample discounted
fares to Accra are each-way based on a required
roundtrip purchase and tickets must be purchased no
later than March 22, 2010. Additional taxes and
fees apply. More AIRLINES
NOW JOIN CALL FOR SINGLE VISA by Prof.
Wolfgang Thome Airlines in the
region have now caught on to this demand, seeking
to fill their planes with more passengers, and
notably the Uganda country manager of Brussels
Airlines Mr. Pierre Declerk is quoted in the media
of having in fact challenged the scribes to join
the cause and demand action from the responsible
ministers through their newspapers. Other airline
sources, while also supporting the idea, have
however not gone on public record yet, a situation
which ought to change if they want to succeed in
having a single Visa become a fast
reality. Delta Expands Africa
Presence with First-Ever Flight between Atlanta and
Monrovia, Liberia JET
AIRWAYS TO PARTNER WITH
EMIRATES Who flies
where and when? The World's Major Airlines Do you
enjoy Aviation
and Air Shows?
Ed Anderson Flight
Network - Search for Airfare
Bargains "Aerial
Highway" Critical for poor countries African
American Pioneers in Aviation Safest
Year on Record
for Air
Transport FORUM ON AIR & SPACE
LAW, MEMPHIS, Oct. 3-6,
2007 VANCOUVER
WILL HOST THE 16TH WORLD ROUTES FORUM IN
2010 Introducing Wings Over
Africa Aviation Limited,
Nairobi,(Kenya).
More-> Pioneer
Aviators Inspired Today's Long Haul Flights .
Travel
from Vancouver to Africa via Asia Pacific recalls
the vision of Edmonton's Grant
MacConachie,
former bush pilot and founder of Canadian Pacific
Airlines. Grant dreamed of an air bridge to the
Orient and across the pole. The Aviator,
Howard Hughes was another famous visionary. See our
item about his famous Spruce
Goose.
More
Air
Highways to Africa African Airlines
Association MORE AIR HIGHWAYS
AFRICA PAGES |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
During
her career as a Travel Agent in Tahiti,
Muguette Goufrani, our Associate Editor,
worked for Matson Lines. Later, visiting
West Africa on a cruise from Europe along
the Gold Coast and Ivory Coast, she ended
up working there for several years. Ms.
Goufrani's views on Cruising Africa will
appear in this section and in print. She
lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada, one of the
world's finest ports and center of the
famous Love Boat Cruises to Alaska. Her
Editor Jerry Bird, worked aboard the
paddlewheeler SS Keno on the fabled Yukon
River system. Together they can give you
some sound advice based on experience.
ith
our biggest aviation edition in ten years well
underway, serendipity played its familiar role in
my life when I received THE WORLD'S MAJOR AIRLINES
by David Wragg. It arrived by mail last week
courtesy of the MBI Publishing, St. Paul, MN and
was presented by John Wurm, Publicist for Military
and Aviation. I plan to write this book review in
installments, since my first reading was to get an
overall position on how valuable this timely and
well researched book will be in my evaluation of
Africa's airlines and others serving the continent.
Here are some comments from MBI that help set the
stage. "Today there are so many airlines operating
throughout the world that even the most
knowledgeable enthusiast can soon become confused
about which airline flies from where to where. This
new, fully illustrated edition has been revised and
updated to include the major advances in the
aviation industry since 1998." 
