Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan is taking serious steps to re-shape tourism through aggressive and competitive marketing strategies with establishment of new tourist products.

1. President sets goal of 5 million visitors within the next 5 years.
2. The Government of Tanzania is attracting hotel and tourism investments with diversification of tourist visiting sites.
3. The country will identify strategic countries to market its tourism through existing diplomatic missions and embassies, with an aggressive marketing of its safari products at a global level.

When addressing the Parliament in Tanzania’s new capital of Dodoma, the Tanzania President said that her government is now attracting more tourists through aggressive marketing strategies at a global level.

The President said her government expects to raise the number of tourists from the current 1.5 million to 5 million visitors the next 5 years.

In the same line, the government expects to raise tourist revenues from the current US$2.6 billion to US$6 billion in the same period, she said.

To achieve its envisaged targets, the government is now attracting hotel and tourism investments with diversification of tourist visiting sites, mostly the historical sites and ocean beaches, among other sites once not fully developed to attract tourists. - Apolinari Tairo, eTN Tanzania

A Kenya Airways 787 retracts its gear after rotation. Photo AirlineGeeks/William Derrickson

Kenya Airways and Congo Airways on Thursday announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding that would strengthen commercial ties between the two airlines, mainly aimed at boosting passenger and cargo businesses between their respective markets and international networks.

“The cooperation between Kenya Airways and Congo Airways will cover technical capacity building, commercial cooperation and human resource training. Part of this will cover cost-effective aircraft maintenance and technical expertise, particularly on the Embraer E-Jet fleet training in engineering, flight deck and crew, route codeshare opportunities and other synergies,” the airlines said in a statement.

Kenya Airways Group Managing Director and CEO Allan Kilavuka said the partnership is aimed at aiding both airlines as they look to recover from the slump in demand in the past year.

“The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated containment measures aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus disrupted the aviation sector, with most markets operating at reduced capacity and some fully shutting down. As the global economies continue to rebound steadily, this commitment provides an opportunity to leverage on the strengths of the industry players in the future,” Kilavuka said.

Congo Airways CEO Désiré Balazire Bantu echoed that sentiment.

“Congo Airways is very excited about this agreement with Kenya Airways. This partnership will contribute to the promotion and the development of both companies. The air transport sector has been very impacted by the pandemic with Covid-19. Together we will provide better solutions and innovations. In the future our companies will be able to face the single air transport market as decided by the African Union,” Bantu said.

Kilavuka also highlighted the importance of the strategic cooperation between the two national carriers and their role in enhancing trade exchange between the two countries. He also stressed the importance of collaboration on expertise that benefits the aviation sector, especially as the aviation sector recovers from the devastating impact of Covid-19.

Kenya Airways continues to take steps to strengthen its business and respond to the pandemic, with an emphasis on supporting its customers and team members while reducing costs and improving its liquidity position and balance sheet.

The airline tripled its 2019 losses to record an unprecedented loss of 36.57 billion Kenyan shillings in 2020, a staggering $1 million loss per day and the worst results in Kenya’s corporate history.

The Kenyan national airline also carried a dismal 1.8 million passengers in 2020, a decline of 65% from 5.1 million in 2019 and a reflection of a year largely defined by the Covid-19 pandemic. - Victor Shalton, Airline Geeks

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Esther Mbabazi is Rwanda’s first female Commercial Pilot, currently flying with RwandAir as a Senior First Officer.

Esther was born in Burundi in 1988, to Rwandese parents. At age 5, she looked up and watched an aeroplane cut across the sky and thought, “I want to be the one flying that plane.”

At age 8, her father died in a plane crash when the aircraft he was travelling in overshot the runway while landing in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The family moved back to Rwanda in 1996.

She trained at the East African Civil Aviation Academy in Uganda before RwandAir sponsored her to continue her training in Miami, Florida.

At age 24, Esther became Rwanda’s first female Commercial Pilot, an achievement that shocked a lot of people because her father died in a plane crash when she was a young girl.

But Esther refused to be deterred from her dream. She said:

"You know what? I’m going to fly, and that’s what motivated me my entire life, that idea I had as a young child.

A lot of leadership roles are taken by women in Rwanda, our government is really doing a good job training and supporting women in all aspects of life."

According to the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, Rwanda is one of the African countries that are leading in empowering women by giving them roles that were traditionally a reserve for men. - Pindula News