World Travel Monitor: Europeans play safe by switching destinations.

Low growth in European outbound trips and stagnating beach holiday volumes – yet more city trips – fluctuating fortunes for European destinations – ITB Berlin exclusively publishes latest results from the World Travel Monitor.

Europeans changed their traveling habits this year by opting for safe destinations, including a stagnation in sun & beach holidays, while going on more city trips. European destinations had mixed results and welcomed fewer Asian visitors this year. However, after challenging times in 2016 prospects for 2017 look better. Those were some of the results of the 24th World Travel Monitor Forum in Pisa, Italy (November 3-4).


Outbound travel by Europeans grew by 2.5 percent in the first eight months of 2016, according to World Travel Monitor figures. Outbound trips to destinations within Europe increased by 3 percent as travellers stayed closer to home, while trips to Asia grew only 2 percent and there was a 1 percent drop to the Americas. Top performers in terms of outbound growth were Poland and Ireland (both +7 percent), UK, Netherlands, Spain and Denmark (all +6 percent) while the German market grew by 4 percent, according to World Travel Monitor figures.
The number of holiday trips by Europeans increased by a moderate 2 percent but there was a high 10 percent increase in the number of visits to family and friends (VFR) and other leisure trips abroad. “This suggests that a significant number of people preferred the safety of private homes to commercial accommodation this year,” commented Paco Buerbaum, CEO of IPK International.


Changes occurred in the types of holidays taken by Europeans between January and August 2016, according to World Travel Monitor figures.
The number of sun & beach holidays stagnated, while touring holidays fell by 5 percent yet city trips went up by 15 percent. The overall average spend per trip was stable at 910 euros.
Dr. Martin Buck, Messe Berlin’s Senior Vice President, commented: “The flat growth for beach holidays reflects the concerns of many tourists about visiting some destinations that have experienced terror attacks. Some countries are growing well, and others are really struggling. However, the strong growth for city trips shows that Europeans are not being scared away from visiting cities.”
Meanwhile, European destinations certainly felt the wind of change during 2016 with fluctuating fortunes. In the Mediterranean, countries such as Spain and Portugal welcomed many more tourists from abroad while Britain enjoyed an increase of over 8 percent in international visitor numbers largely due to the weaker pound. But heavyweights such as Italy, Greece and Germany generated only low growth of 1-3 percent, according to World Travel Monitor figures. The big losers this year after suffering terror attacks were Turkey, France and Belgium. Moreover, Asian trips to Europe declined by 1 percent, World Travel Monitor figures showed.
These trends are also reflected in figures from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) which show that growth in European tourism slowed this year following the various challenges that the continent’s tourism has faced over the past year. International arrivals grew by 1.6 percent between January and September 2016, according to the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. This was significantly lower than the good growth of 4.6 percent seen in 2015 as a whole.
There was a diverse picture over the first nine months of 2016 in terms of sub-regions and individual destinations. Northern Europe (+6.4 percent) and Central and Eastern Europe (+5.3 percent) both performed well, with double-digit increases in countries such as Hungary and Ireland, according to UNWTO figures. In contrast, results were weaker in Western Europe (-1.3 percent) and Southern Mediterranean Europe (+0.4 percent). Strong increases for major destinations such as Spain and Portugal were offset by weak results in France, Belgium and Turkey.
The outlook for European outbound travel in 2017 appears more optimistic. IPK expects this year’s trends will remain broadly the same next year. “People will still go for holidays, they are just changing the type of holiday and the destinations. They are going to places that they perceive as safe,” said Buerbaum.
IPK currently predicts a 4 percent rise in European outbound trips in 2017, based on its European Travel Confidence Index which measures travel intentions for the next year. Confidence is highest in Ireland (+8 per cent), Denmark and the UK (both +7 percent), while the outlook is also above average in Finland, Belgium, Switzerland and France. In contrast, Germany looks set for about 2 percent growth along with Russia.
At the annual World Travel Monitor Forum in Pisa, initiated at the invitation of consultancy IPK International and sponsored by ITB Berlin, around 50 tourism experts and academics from around the world present the latest figures and current trends in international tourism.

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Ethiopian graduates 322 aviation professionals.

Ethiopian Aviation Academy, the largest aviation academy in Africa, a full ICAO Trainer Plus Member and IATA Authorized Global Training Center, is pleased  to announce that it has  graduated 47 pilots, 92 aviation maintenance technicians, 50 cabin crew and 133 marketing professionals in a graduation ceremony held at Ethiopian Headquarters on November 17, 2016.


Group CEO Ethiopian Airlines, Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam congratulated and welcomed the new graduates to the airline’s dedicated workforce, gave out diplomas to all the graduates, flight wings to graduating pilots and cabin crew and achievement award to graduates with outstanding academic performance.

Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam remarked, “ We believe education is the greatest equalizer in the 21st century and Ethiopian Aviation Academy has strategically positioned itself to train the African youth in the latest Aviation technology and skills to own, manage and operate their own indigenous home grown African Airlines to lead safe, economical and reliable aviation industry with global standards. We shall continue to scale up our capacity and continue nurturing the youth and prepare them for the 21st  century African Aviation development.”

Operating successfully for the past six decades since its establishment in 1956, Ethiopian Aviation Academy has significantly contributed towards alleviating the critical shortage of skilled aviation professionals. Currently, the academy trains 1500 youths per annum and it envisages to enhance its intake capacity to 4000 by 2025


Ethiopian Aviation Academy is certified by the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, the U.S Federal Aviation Administration, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and IATA Safety Audit (IOSA).

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Kenya Hotel Classification an ongoing controversy.

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The Villa Rosa Kempinski Hotel, the Radisson Blu Nairobi Hotel, the Sarova Stanley, Hemingways Nairobi and the Fairmont The Norfolk, among others, have according to information from the Kenyan Tourism Regulatory Authority just made the cut in the latest round of grading and classification exercises in Nairobi to be awarded the coveted five star rating. 

A total of eight establishments in the city were deemed fit to put five stars on their front door while a number of others attained a four star rating, among them the Windsor Golf and Country Club in line with this correspondent’s own assessment, leaving room for improvement towards the highest classification in future reviews.

Other hotels now handed a four star rating are among others the Boma Hotel, the Sarova Panafric and the Mayfair Hotel. 

Still to be classified are the Nairobi Serena Hotel, beyond doubt a candidate for a five star rating, but also the InterContinental Hotel in Nairobi and even the Nairobi Hilton, the latter of which must no doubt be worried given the lack of major refurbishments in ages. 

Other parts of Kenya have also seen the team of evaluators swarm out to assess hotels, resorts and safari lodges in different parts of the country, however missing the deadline of October which was set by the heads of state of the Northern Corridor Integration project countries Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya. 

Rwanda and Uganda are still said to be evaluating hospitality businesses across the country, attributed to both lack of funding as well as a shortage of trained and qualified assessors and evaluators but also to a good part as a result of simply starting the exercise late. 

Some industry stakeholders in Nairobi, as was the case when the initial list of rankings for coast resorts and safari lodges and camps was published, had however different opinions, several of them pointing to the rankings of international hotel booking sites like TripAdvisor, Bookings.com and others. There some of the establishments now given five stars were ranked as lower by guest feedback while some of those given four stars were regularly found with higher rankings on such public sites. 

Justified or not, it is clear that the TRA needs to take such observations and comments into account when reviewing the present round of grading and classification and incorporate valid critique into future review exercises to make the entire setup more credible and more broadly ‘owned‘ by stakeholders rather than giving them the feeling of imposing results on them.

Burundi exodus driving major African refugee crisis - charity.

by Katy Migiro | @katymigiro | Thomson Reuters Foundation

Wednesday, 16 November 2016 15:42 GMT

About our Humanitarian coverage

From major disaster, conflicts and under-reported stories, we shine a light on the world’s humanitarian hotspots

Some 10,000 Burundians have arrived in neighbouring Tanzania each month since August

By Katy Migiro
NAIROBI, Nov 16 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A fivefold surge in Burundians fleeing to Tanzania to escape political violence in their troubled central African homeland is creating one of Africa's biggest refugee crises, a charity said on Wednesday, amid warnings from activists of genocide threats.
Some 10,000 Burundians have arrived in neighbouring Tanzania each month since August, increasing the population in three overcrowded north-western camps to almost 250,000 people, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said.
"This is rapidly becoming one of Africa's biggest refugee crises," MSF's Tanzanian head of mission, David Nash, said in a statement.
"Unrest in Burundi (is) showing no signs of abating."
Almost 325,000 Burundians -- three percent of the population -- have fled since the crisis began in April 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term, which he secured in a disputed election in July 2015.
Half of those fleeing Burundi have gone to Tanzania and others to Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The refugees say they are fleeing harassment, worsening hunger and an uncertain future, Nash told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone interview.
Crimes against humanity are being committed in Burundi, with the risk of intensifying to genocide, the International Federation for Human Rights and Burundian Human Rights League said on Tuesday - charges the government has repeatedly denied.
Burundi intends to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, after the ICC announced plans in April to investigate reports of killings, disappearances and torture in the country.
With 462 Burundians and 42 Congolese arriving in Tanzania each day in November, the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) predicts the refugee population will reach 280,000 by the end of 2016.
"It has become necessary and urgent that additional camps be identified to enable dignified reception of new arrivals, many of whom are women and children," UNHCR's country representative Chansa Kapaya said in emailed comments to the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"UNHCR is confident that the repeated appeal to the government of Tanzania to identify additional camp sites will be successful."
A fourth site, Karago, has been approved but it does not have enough water, Nash said, so new arrivals are being taken to Nduta camp, which has already exceeded its 50,000 capacity.
The Tanzanian government has to displace and compensate its own people each time it makes space for a new camp, Nash said.
Until then, refugees risk being held in mass shelters for up to 200 people, he said, as happened at the start of the crisis.
"It's a disaster for health," he said, as malaria is a major problem during the current rainy season.
"Malaria spreads far quicker (in mass shelters) than when people are housed in family tents."
(Reporting by Katy Migiro @katymigiro; Editing by Katie Nguyen.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org to see more stories.)

The Afar: The toughest people on earth?

By Vicky Brown and Thomas Page, for CNN

Updated 0926 GMT (1726 HKT) April 6, 2016

Inside one of the hottest and driest countries on earth 07:56

(CNN)Living above a magma chamber is not without its hazards, and yet the Afar have done so for generations.

Nomadic people from Djibouti, they have made the unforgiving landscapes at the northern reaches of the Great Rift Valley their home, relying on the same extreme elements that endanger their lives.

The dangers they face are many: drought, volcanoes, and the ever-present possibility that the ground beneath their feet may split open. One commodity makes it worth it: salt.

End of an era?

Located 500 feet below sea level, Lake Assal -- or what remains of it -- is the lowest point on the African continent. Lying at the foot on a volcanic crater, it's also one of the saltiest lakes in the world.

Receding water has left an expanse of crystal white salt that has become a lifeline for the area's nomadic people. For centuries the Afar have dug and sold the salt, first to Ethiopia and now increasingly to tourists, says Hamadou Aleisse, who has harvested the plains since he was 15.

But Djibouti is in the midst of a major climatic and geological event.

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"Climate change is killing the nomads," argues geologist Abdourahman Omar Haga. "If you have no rains, you have no grass. Your goats, they (will) die."

"Life is very difficult here because we have no water," says Aleisse. "But this is where I live, and I cannot go anywhere else."

One day even the salt may be gone.

Discover the land the Afar people call home 07:09

The Republic of Djibouti, already one of the most volatile places in the world, sits at the meeting point of three of the earth's tectonic plates -- and they're being pulled apart (albeit at a rate of two centimeters per year). At one hotspot, magma sits just two miles below ground.

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Seismic activity, Haga believes, could one day create a new ocean, washing away the salt plains.

"This area should be under the sea," he says. "If we have an earthquake now... this water is going there."

Hope springs (from the ground)

Turning an arid landscape into a sustainable homeland 07:32

Earthquakes might be beyond the control of scientists, but that doesn't mean Djibouti's landscape cannot be harnessed. In fact, Haga believes the harsh landscape could provide a sustainable future for the Afar nomads.

Where the three tectonic plates -- the East Africa Rift, the Red Sea Rift and the Gulf of Aden -- meet, fractures, fissures and volcanism occurs. The only other country in the world with comparable geological conditions is Iceland.

Seismic movement creates fissures where lava gathers, heating the earth and the water around it. Haga suggests this form of geothermal heat could change the lives of the Afar forever.

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"Geothermal is very important," he explains. "It could be the base load of energy for Djibouti... Solar energy (and) wind energy are temporary, but geothermal is constant."

By tapping into steam or hot water reservoirs under the ground, engineers can generate electricity which could boost the Afar's long-term prospects.

"Without energy there is no development," says the geologist. According to Haga, Djibouti has enough areas of geothermal activity to power the entire country.

The king with 100 wives.

By Soni Methu, Colin Hancock and Eliza Anyangwe, for CNN

Updated 1051 GMT (1851 HKT) August 16, 2016

(CNN)

Abumbi II, the 11th fon, or king, of Bafut, Cameroon, has close to 100 wives. They weren't all his to start. According to local tradition, when a fon dies, his successor inherits all his wives and then marries his own queens.

"The queens have a great role to play in the fondom," notes Prince Nickson, also of Bafut, noting that it is up to these women behind the man to shape him in his kingly role.

"Behind every successful man must be a very successful, staunch woman," says Abumbi's third wife, Queen Constance.

"Our tradition has it that when you are king, the elderly wives remain to hand down the tradition to the younger wives, and also to teach the king the tradition because the king had been a prince, not a king."

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Despite the fact that polygamy is legal in Cameroon, the data shows that there are far fewer polygamous marriages across the African continent. The practice is being challenged by changing values, the spread of the Christian faith, the growing appeal of the western way of life but also the rising costs of having large families. It is against this backdrop that Cameroon's traditional rulers must walk the fine line between two often conflicting cultures.

"During colonialism other values came in, of governance, different from the traditional values we had and therefore there is this constant conflict between the traditional values and modern western values," admits Fon Abumbi II, who has ruled Bafut, the largest fondom in the region, for 47 years.

"My role is to blend them, to find the way forward so my subjects can enjoy the fruits of development and modernity without destroying their culture. Without a culture, you are not a human being, you are an animal. And therefore the chieftaincy institution is the guarantor of our culture."

Dance into the big Babungo Kingdom 07:05

Though polygamy is often met with criticism in the West, there are some who deem it a valuable tradition. After meeting with Fon Abumbi II, Soni Methu, presenter for CNN's Inside Africa, noted that there was more to the practice than meets the eye:

"I understand that we might be quick to judge the lifestyle of the kings, but just like in the United Kingdom, African kingdoms and kings are bound to a rich culture and history. (Practices) like inheritance of all your father's wives is nothing but a moral obligation."

She also observed that many of these royals are highly accomplished. On meeting the queens of Fon Ndofua Zofia II of Babungo -- one of Cameroon's youngest traditional rulers -- Methu said:

"All his young wives, forced on him by tradition, spoke fluent English in a French-speaking region and were great marketers."

It is this seeming contradiction that makes life in the fondom fascinating and confusing. Are they stuck in the past or keeping pace with the present? Fon Zofoa III doesn't think you have to choose. He may have "inherited" 72 wives and more than 500 children after his father's death, but he considers himself a very modern king.

"To run a kingdom nowadays in this era, you must be educated because things are moving very fast. Like they used to say, education is light, ignorance is darkness."

To meet the fon, or king, of Bafut, as well as his wives, watch the video below:

Bursting with tradition, meet the King of Bafut 08:14

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The Mundari: The tribe dying for their cows.

By Thomas Page, for CNN

Updated 0955 GMT (1755 HKT) August 31, 2016

Story highlights

• The Mundari people dedicate their lives to caring for their livestock
• Their breed of cows, Ankole-Watusi, grow up to eight feet tall, and are worth up to $500 each.
• These animals are viewed as the tribes most valuable asset and they go to extreme lengths to protect them.
• The Mundari sleep among their cattle and guard them with machine guns.

(CNN)South Sudan is the world's youngest country, and it has witnessed immense change since gaining independence in 2011. The promise of peace has given way to civil war, and tribal rifts continue to run deep, permeating political affairs. Over two million people have been displaced according to the UN, and tens of thousands killed.

Amid the tumult is the Mundari, a people who would rather get on with doing what they do best: looking after their cattle.

Meat the family

It would be hard to find a more dedicated group of herdsmen than the tribe who live on the banks of the Nile, north of the capital Juba. Their entire lifestyle is geared around caring for their prized livestock, the Ankole-Watusi, a horned breed known as "the cattle of kings."

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These cows grow up to eight feet tall, and are worth as much as $500 each. It's no wonder the Mundari view these animals as their most valuable assets (or that they guard them with with machine guns).

Photographer Tariq Zaidi spent a fortnight earlier this year documenting their lives and the devotion they show towards these animals. Zaidi has captured tribes and indigenous people from over 30 African nations, though he was nonetheless taken aback by the relationship between man and beast.

"It's hard to overstate the importance of cattle to the Mundari people," says Zaidi, "these animals are everything to them."

The photographer describes how "almost every man I met wanted me to take a picture of them with their favorite cow." Their wives and children, on the other hand, were given short shrift.

Read more: The king with 100 wives

Read more: The Afar: The toughest people on earth?

Perhaps this is in part due to the function and symbolism of the Ankole-Watusi. Each bovine is so highly prized that it is rarely killed for its meat. Instead, it is a walking larder, a pharmacy, a dowry, even a friend. It is clear that cow is a resource maintaining not just a people, but a way of life.

The Mundari, tall and muscular, may "look like bodybuilders," says Zaidi, "but their diet is pretty much milk and yogurt. That's it." Other bodily fluids have more unlikely uses. Mundari men will squat under streams of cow urine, both an antiseptic, Zaidi suggests, and as an aesthetic choice -- the ammonia in the urine color the Mundari's hair orange.

Meanwhile dung is piled high into heaps for burning, the fine peach-colored ash used as another form of antiseptic and sunscreen by the herdsmen, shielding them from the 115-degree heat.

The cows, adds Zaidi, are among the world's most pampered. He says he witnessed Mundari massaging their animals twice a day. The ash from dung fires, as fine as talcum powder, is rubbed into the cattle's skin and used as bedding, while ornamental tassels swat flies from the eyes of the herd's most prestigious beasts.

Outflanking war

The Mundari sleep among their cattle, "literally two feet away from their favorites" says Zaidi, and guard them at the point of a gun. It's not unreasonable for the tribe to go to these lengths.

"Rustlers are a huge issue for them," the photographer explains. "Their cattle are a form of currency and status symbol, and form a key part of a family's pension or dowry. Since the end of the civil war, thousands of men have returned to South Sudan looking for wives, which has pushed up the 'bride price', making these animals even more precious and increasing lethal cattle raids."

Such raids have been deadly for the Mundari, but the effects of war are manifold. Landmines make finding fresh pasture a dangerous lottery. When he visited, Zaidi says the tribe were using a small island in the Nile as a safe haven. The conflict, he adds, has the paradoxical effect of preserving their way of life.

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"The ongoing war in South Sudan has cut off the Mundari tribe from the rest of the world," he says. "They don't venture into the town, they stay in the bush, and it's why their unique way of life endures."

Zaidi says the Mundari have no taste for war and "their guns are not to kill anyone but to protect their herd." All the Mundari want to do is take care of their livestock, he argues, "and they will protect them at all costs."