Blog:From Egypt. . Blog from Morocco Top countries in visits to our website.

Top African countries visiting our site.

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...Editor's Blog

Morocco, Summer 2009: Speaking of Train Travel. We have made several trips back and forth between Casablanca and Marrakech recently, and not only do they have sparkling new railway stations (right), the rails are integrated seamlessly with other modes of travel, including a line to Casablanca's Mohammed V International Airport. Now underway at Rabat is a modern rapid rail line to its sister city of Salé, which alone has a population of over 900,000. A prime example for other African cities, whose mayors and executives we met at the UN Urban Forum. Like the country's railway network, the highways system is outstanding, with an ever-expanding autoroute.

On July 14th. we were invited by the Consul General of France to attend the annual Fête de la Fédération (Bastile Day) in their beautiful gardens in Marrakech. It gave us a true feeling of the solidarity that exists between the two countries. Marrakech is famous for its attractive Riads, which was an opportunity for us to develop our World Edition Supplement on this topic, which we began in 2002.

The Africa Travel Library: While in Morocco, we are developing Electronic and Printed Editions which will become part of the Africa Travel Library. Why? After 14 years working with African Tourism Ministries and friends from across the continent, our editors came to the following conclusion. "There's so much positive news about Africa Travel, Trade and Tourism, it will take an entire library to tell the world about it." So thanks to an extra burst of energy during the past year, the Africa Travel Library is ready to launch this fall at the World Travel Market and others to follow. We have been working closely with Benachir Akli of Olive Branch Tours, Casablanca, who set up major ATA Conferences in Fez (2002) and Marrakech (1996). Benachir is a friend of Muguette Goufrani's father, who was a well known Moroccan tour operator.

In Essaouira, George David Cook of Mistral Travel gave a look at the city's world class golf course and hospitality industry training institute, both of which are underway. Maurice Goufrani of Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris joined us for the Gnaoua Music Festival, a cultural extravaganza. We drove down the Atlantic Coast to Agadir - and north from Essaouira to the Port City of Safi, with miles of balmy beaches, scenic vistas and upscale resort development along the entire coast, including one on the Safi highway that could win the prize for being environmentally sound. In Marrakech we explored several unique riads in the Médina, part of an ongoing feature in the Africa Travel Library. Gnaoua Festival (above)

Many thanks to our longtime friend Gezahgen Kebede, Honorary Consul, Ethiopia, for the good news about Lucy's Legend in New York City, and for hosting us in Houston, Texas. Thanks also to Dr. Wolfgang Thome, who keeps our readers well informed about East Africa and the Africa-Asia Business Forum.

more to come ...