SEO

Great piece this from Mr. Larry Mogelonsky – CHA on Hotel Interactive on the importance of SEO. Though some dispute the importance, it is worth taking note!
  
“It never ceases to amaze me as to how many unsolicited emails my clients get from companies promising to do wonders for a hotel’s web site in terms of search engine optimization. Usually, these missives are well written in an onerous tone that has GM’s questioning their web site, their web agency, their director of marketing and usually all of the above. What’s a GM to do? Just how important is SEO, and can a “specialist” company really help? Above all, is there any value to the whole exercise in terms of true revenue generation?

First, some notes. This article focuses on Google, which at this current time processes roughly two-thirds of all search activity. For those who purchase Google Ad Words, these appear as sponsored links on the right hand side or top of the page and are not influenced by SEO tactics. Positioning your product in this arena, combined with SEO is called Search Engine Marketing, or SEM, and is a whole other discussion.

Why is SEO important?

If a person is looking for a hotel in a foreign city, doing a Google search is the easiest way to find accommodations. Surely every GM knows that this is not the only approach that a potential guest would undertake in their quest to find the perfect spot to rest their weary legs. But it’s typically the first. Other resources include travel agents, OTAs, Facebook, other social media, other travel sites, hotel chain sites and association sites such as Preferred, SLH, or Leading.

With so many methods to find your hotel, being in first place for a broad Google search is far from being the panacea to your occupancy challenges. In fact, it may be almost insignificant depending upon how relevant new customer search is to your marketing strategy. Certainly, it cannot hurt to be in the top two or three as a matter of search results, but it is not Armageddon if you miss this spot.

The rationale here is simple: the more “optimized” your site is, the more relevant it is within the Google search algorithm, resulting in a higher placement for all posted results. But Google rankings cannot be fooled! Don’t think that hiring some third party sales company can take you from an eighth ranked page to a top three position in a matter of days or weeks. It doesn’t work that way. Moreover, Google is wary of some tactics that these proverbial snake oil salesmen utilize and likely has algorithms that negate such surreptitious tactics.

Take the Initiative Yourself
A basic optimization strategy is quite easy to do internally. Review your web site as you do your property, both strategically and tactically. Here is a typical checklist of what you should look for before seeking external help.

    A flawless site, with clear text and no internal errors
    Correct and accurate tags (title, keyword, page and headers)
    Optimized images with photo alt tags
    Fully linked and active blog
    Fully linked and active social media (primarily Facebook and Twitter, but don’t forget Google Plus and Pinterest)
    Your URL registered for at least 24 months before it expires
    Active RSS feed
    At least one data collection form
    Clear navigation structure of indexed pages with sitemap files
    A number of quality in-bound links

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More ‘Wise Words’ From Ruth Binney

Check the excellent review (see below) of my sister Ruth Binney‘s (above) new book ‘Wise Words And Country House Ways’ in no less than the UK Spectator magazine! No wonder Julian Fellowes wrote the foreword – firstly he and Ruth were virtually neighbours when she lived in West Stafford, just outside Dorchester, and secondly the book is clearly a great read!

Ruth recently moved back to our home county of Devon, and has just taken up golf! We look forward to news of her handicap. It’s been a big year for Ruth one way and another, with the birth of her first grand-daughter Molly and a new relationship with partner Mark.

We wish her ‘best of sales’ for the new book and I look forward to receiving my ‘comp’ copy!! Here’s the review:

“Finally, a simple idea, brilliantly done. Ruth Binney’s Wise Words & Country House Ways (David & Charles, £9.99) is aimed directly at the Downton Abbey audience, even to the extent of having a foreword by Julian Fellowes. It is a guide to what it was really like to live in a country house, whether you were a lord, lady, maid or cook. It has the rules of etiquette, the servants’ daily routines, the housekeeping maxims, the texture of people’s lives. How much to tip a footman? I had always wondered. Put it this way: my ten-year-old daughter wants this for Christmas, and so does my mother. This is a sentence no book reviewer ever wishes to write, but the way things are going, I may actually be compelled to go out and buy one. A copy of the book, that is, not a country house.”

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ZoneFam sign for Taurus Musik

 
This from Taurus Musik via George da Soulchild Kaufela, is exciting news for all Zambian music fans!

Exciting news from Taurus Musik comes to you in the form of our latest band to be signed; Zone Fam. Lusaka’s energetic Hip Hop group consists of four members namely; Dope G, Jay Rox, Yung Verbal and Thugga, the group was founded in 2009 by Mr. Duncan Sodala. A mutual love and passion for hip hop brought the group members together, and has enabled them to effortlessly work on timeless music together. This can be seen in their solo mixtapes that were released in 2010 and their main album named The Business (Foreign Exchange) that featured prominent Zambian artists and went on to be one of the best albums in 2011.

Taurus Music is the latest branch of the Taurus Group . It caters for the entertainment industry in Africa. It aims to restore, build up and preserve African culture by infusing various cultures across the continent and ensuring that the outcome is vocal and lyrical perfection. It has major/talented artist from most parts of African signed under the label .

Taurus Musik has created a brand around a name and a face ato sustain the brand ans guide, counsel, manage and represent the artist to bring out their full potential. The take care of the distribution of the music digitally through platforms such as iTunes as well as ringtones and CRBT’s. They cater for the traditional spread of artist music through the sale of CD’s, and are able to reach the A-Z market segment, offering a quality product via music outlets in the uptown and downtown markets respectively!

Look out for Zone Fam singles like ‘Shaka Zulu on em’ that has over 50,000 hits on YouTube. They have nominations for the Channel O Music Award for the Most Gifted New Comers, won the Global Music Awards for Best African Group and nominated for being the Best Hip Hop acts on the globe. (4th Place).

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7 Deadly Sins Of Marketing

The Seven Deadly Sins of Hotel Marketing
That’s right. Don’t be a sinner, be a marketing winner. This is the perfect marketing crib sheet.
The picture above gives you seven more!!

by Mr. Larry Mogelonsky – CHA from HotelInteractive
   
“If you have not done this already, it’s time for you to start thinking of how you are going to make this year different. Based on more than 30 years’ experience helping various hotels around the world with their strategic planning needs, I believe that marketing is still an area for vast budgetary improvements. Here is my version of the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ as a quick message for what to do and what to avoid during this sometimes turbulent process.

Pride:

Do not ask the director of marketing to produce a multi-tabbed, hundred-page marketing manuscript.  Rather, call for a document that is a useful working tool for the business. Define appropriate strategies for each segment of the marketplace, and once these are set, adhere to them for the entire year, modifying tactics as necessary and readdressing only if dire circumstances intervene.

Sloth:
Make sure your team does their homework and reviews what worked and what did not work the previous year. Ask the question: how can we learn from my mistakes and not repeat them ever again? Strategically plan advertising purchases, do not aim to just buy remnants, or “one-off” media on deep discount. Rather, work hard and strive to build a direct relationship with the audience based on generating frequency with a selected publication.

Wrath:

Don’t overanalyze everything that’s done in the marketing department. Look at campaigns instead of individual ads or events. Listen and reflect rather than acting impulsively from a reactionary standpoint.

Greed:

Don’t increase rates without justification. Your guests will know when greed has set in, and they won’t be impressed. On the flipside, don’t aggressively increase occupancy targets without prudent rationale. And above all, don’t illogically increase BOTH rate and occupancy while at the same time reducing marketing funds.

Envy:

Social media is here to stay. Don’t just pay lip service to social marketing, but embrace the concept by responding to customers and enhancing your relationships. There are so many ways to stand out and make an exceptional impact via these online channels. Be original in your thinking and not just a copycat of other similar properties.

Lust:

Once a budget is set, don’t create a “stretch budget” without rewarding the team that delivered that base budget plan. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, stick to the document you have and don’t overzealously fine-tune it while stalling execution. Focus on diligently marketing your property, directing your lust not at the budget itself, but at your property’s exceptional aspects and its quality of guest service.

Gluttony: Refocus on your own website, your own supporters (travel agents, Facebook fans, etc.) and the strength of your own franchise.”

 
 
 
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Tingo

This if from the Tnooz Site – a must daily read for those in the travel and hospitality business.

A guest article by Matt Weisberger, chief operating officer of Travel Spike.

The wrong industry is paying attention to Tingo, the recent side project from TripAdvisor which is gaining notoriety from the travel trade. Tingo’s spin is turning what others have deemed a feature into a product. Offering refunds on booked hotel itineraries if the price drops. Its momentum alone is fascinating considering Orbitz Price Assurance, Yapta and TripIt Pro are all variant flavors of the same refund policy. And while none have it right yet, it’s worth noting that Tingo is the fourth player to endeavor this model.

If a company finally succeeds with this approach, its impact could be wide reaching even beyond travel. The obvious buzz is coming from the travel category, whereas perhaps we should be hearing from RETAIL. Why? If Tingo proves successful, deductive reasoning draws a direct line to a cataclysmic sea change that impacts the retail industry. So while not an original offering, a Tingo victory could lead us down a unique path.

Though myriad differences separate Tingo from existing players, a new expectation is being created for travel consumers. The presumption that no matter when your itinerary is booked, you’re guaranteed the lowest rate. Whether true or not is irrelevant – public perception guides the expectation. Which incites consumer demand for parity. And parity ultimately means the creation of a new industry standard.

The interesting subtext of this potential new standard is an exploration of what happens when Refunds for Price Drops becomes common practice among travel suppliers. Finding our answer takes us on a journey beginning with the assumption that Tingo is a brilliant success. While far fetched this early in its history, we’ll make the hypothetical leap and say that they steal share from OTAs and independents alike provoking a strong competitive response.

Tingo is fuelled by Expedia, and we can expect the largest player in online travel to embrace this now successful policy. As Expedia goes, so goes the OTAs, who would be fast followers on the Tingo model if Expedia adopts it. With the OTAs onboard, it will be nearly impossible for independents not to follow suit, since their value proposition can no longer be price-based, so we assume they do so.

If Tingo works in hospitality, it’s likely all players would translate the model into other travel mix like air, car, cruise, etc. As such, the online travel market (now one-third of global travel market value, according to yStats) is further commoditized. Customer service and user experience become the only true gaiting factors for travel bookers. A coup for travelers!

Based on this path, every travel supplier would now protect any booking from price drops. Now we need to ponder how this impacts those establishing the actual price points: ie. revenue management. Revenue management has been the profitability engine of travel and hospitality for decades. Its operators manage the delicate balance between inventory, demand curves, rack rates, best available rate (BAR), RevPAR, load factors, time to stay/flight/ride, promotions, discounts, pre-pay, opaques, blended rates, rate parity, cancelations, refunds, rewards programs, OPEC, seasonality, advance day fares, etc.

It’s endless the elements required for consideration when establishing a price of travel products. It’s a combination of science and art form. Yet should Tingo prove victorious, revenue management teams will have their hands full figuring out how to adequately respond to this model. That response could be as simple as “No More Price Fluctuations” – yield management disappears. Blasphemy! And most Revenue Managers would tell you keeping price points flat actually has a decrementing value against the forward-looking P&L.

However, if travel is now a commodity, and downward pricing is being refunded automatically, why bother chasing longer margins to gain nothing. How does Revenue Management respond when their most reliable arrows (price adjustments and time) are removed from their quiver?

For air travel, it’s slightly different in that last-minute purchases don’t always bring the best price. RMs leverage advance day purchases and often only respond to competitive price drops as needed. Regardless, our position remains that if Tingo is successful, all travel suppliers will need to adjust accordingly.

So we assume all travel pricing becomes static. Suppliers offer a flat price for a single product that remains in perpetuity. And we further assume it’s a resounding victory. Should we not also assume the Retail category takes notice of such success? They’ve already done it to some degree, amateurishly. Retail has price matching, 110% guarantees, list pricing with deep discounts, MAP pricing from manufacturers (Apple). Anything to make you feel your purchase is guarded against the inevitability of price drops. That is of course, unless the price never drops. All of these marketing mechanisms are intended to restore confidence in our purchase, exploiting our fear of getting taken, robbed, hoodwinked. Imagine a consumer market where that was never in question.

There are far more gaps in retail since they often aren’t dealing with finite inventory and a long booking window. Most retailers are thinking about store inventory, warehouse inventory, competitive pricing, turns and GMROI. If more product is needed, they contact the manufacturer who happily delivers. If the manufacturer is out, they produce more. The model is certainly not a direct parallel, but the structures are similar.

Refunds in retail aren’t automatic like Tingo is offering. The burden of proof rests with the consumer. Scan an item in-store with an app that searches competitors, reveal your lower priced finding to customer service, and most big box retailers will honor the lower price. Imagine buying a new TV, and 90 days later you see $100 back on your credit card statement because the price dropped $100. Wouldn’t you be more likely to buy a TV at the retailer that offers this kind of service?

Placing enough pressure on retailers to embrace such a policy would be like moving an iceberg by hand. Our loudest voices and preferences don’t have the PSI for that kind of battle. For such a model to work, retailers would need to realize the benefit for themselves. After all, I once sat in a room with a revenue manager who said: “Why charge $250 for something they’re willing to pay $350 for.” Tingo is another player challenging that antiquated but profitable thought process. I don’t know that I’m a Tingo-supporter yet, but I’m enjoying the trend it’s yielding off of.

For a moment, we’ll imagine commerce, based not on what someone is willing to pay for a good, but a fair and economical valuation of the cost of goods, labor to create it and a reasonable profit? Dream of such a marketplace, then wake up, and realize the cost to you as a consumer is typically based on what you’re willing to pay for it. But wouldn’t that dream be a pleasant reality, if only for the momentary lifespan of a small travel brand.

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Hotels Online

I liked this by Melanie Nayer on 4Hoteliers not surprising, I suppose, considering the amount of time I spend on line! Here’s the piece:

“As more consumers move online, it’s becoming more important for business to maintain trust and respect on social channels. Without face-to-face conversation, your consumer needs to rely strictly on your word. Bottom line: if they don’t trust you, they won’t buy from you. So, how can you ensure you’re building trust through social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and FourSquare?

I consulted a few hoteliers to get their thoughts:

“We view social media as a powerful channel to build consumer trust and deliver on our brand promise, which is to surprise and delight our guests by providing service that is gracious and sincere,” said Mac Joseph, Social Media Marketing Manager for Mandarin Oriental Hotels, which currently has 8100 followers on their main Twitter page @MO_HOTELS. “We focus on building genuine relationships with consumers on Facebook and Twitter by engaging in two-way dialogue. Through listening first to our audiences, we are able to add value to their experiences with our brand online.”

Joseph told me that Mandarin Oriental recently came across a tweet from a guest at Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona, wanting a guestroom with a bathtub. Joseph said his team connected with the hotel, who were able to move the guest to the desired room type that same day. “Through this open dialogue, the guest and our audiences witnessed first-hand that we are not simply pushing content through our social media channels but also listening, in the hopes of making a difference in the guest experience,” he said.

InterContinental Hotels
, which also has various twitter accounts for individual hotels but one main channel, @InterConHotels, with over 7,200 followers, recently made headlines with their new mobile platform and iPad accessibility in worldwide hotels. The hotel group also uses social platforms to introduce guests to local information before they check in, giving them a sense of environment before they arrive at their destination. “Even though we are interacting with our guests and our friends as a brand, we try to be as human in our interaction as we can,” said Charles Yap, Director, Global Brand Communications for InterContinental Hotels. “This means being conversational with our approach, highlighting some of the fun discoveries our guests have made in their travels, providing local assistance through our InterContinental Concierge teams to those who need it, and taking every opportunity to help should things go wrong.”

As a consumer and industry expert, I’ve found a few things to be beneficial when working with hotels online:

    Constant tweeting and Facebook messages are great ways to promote the hotel and converse with guests, but it’s also a great idea to post testimonials from your clients. These reviews are coming from the guest themselves, and other potential guests will rely on the feedback of their peers before making a purchasing decision, especially when it comes to travel.

    Keeping it personal adds a level of emotion to your conversation. By putting a name with a Twitter account or Facebook post, you’re introducing your guests to other hotel employees, allowing guests to learn a little more about the hotel and destination on a local level.”

The picture? The stunningly beautiful Lake Malawi, I worked there some time back!

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Peter & Gill Langmead on Zambezi 107.7 fm



Meet Peter and Gill Langmead from Chisamba, north of Lusaka, who’ve been visiting Livingstone to see the lunar rainbow over Victoria Falls for the first time, even though they’ve lived in Zambia for many years. So, we took the chance of inviting them to guest on The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient, our regular Sunday night radio show airing on Zambezi fm every Sunday at 20.30 hrs Zambian time, and also streaming live on the internet. Peter and Gill own Langmead and Baker – click the link to read all about their company!

“Did the lunar rainbow live up to expectations?” Milli Jam asked our guests at the beginning of the programme. “It probably exceeded them” replied Peter “it was absolutely fantastic!” “Did you get some good photos?” We wanted to know. “Absolutely!” said Gill “in fact we’ve already posted quite a lot of them on the internet via Twitter and Facebook”. “How did you hear about Chanters Lodge?” asked Milli Jam. Our guests went on to explain that they’d first made contact with me through Twitter and everything had then fallen into place when they came to make their arrangements to visit Livingstone and see the lunar rainbow. Of course they’d found time to do other things as well, including visits to Livingstone Museum and the Railway Museum, as well as Lawrence Yombwe’s fabulous art gallery.

Peter explained that he’d first come to Zambia in the mid 80’s and that for most of his career he’d been involved in agricultural development – for much of that time with cassava. We were amazed to hear about the many uses of this shrubby plant whose starch filled roots are much in demand in Zambia for food. For some time Peter and Gill produced cassava starch commercially. They’d been involved in many other things, we heard, including but not limited to, the production of essential oils and bath soap, the publication for 5 years of Beauty Zambia magazine and handling media interests and public relations for British Airways in Zambia, amongst a load of other corporate clients!

The music on the show was great. We opened with Cher Lloyd’s ‘Swagger Jagger’ (number one last week in the UK), back to back with One Direction’s ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ – “sure fire future hit” I commented. Our Zambian tracks were ‘Vomela’ by Dalitso and ‘Nalilwala’ by Afunika. (The first track saying ‘if you’re sick, accept it’ and the second ‘I’m sick’ ….apparently!) Milli Jam also featured ‘My Life’ by DJ Khaled and Akon coupled with ‘Oleku’ by Prince ft Brymo. Our oldie of the week was ‘Dancing On The Ceiling’ by Lionel Richie and we closed with Jessie J’s ‘Sometimes Dreams Come True’. (In a disappointing number of replies Enoch won a dinner for 2 at Chanters Lodge for texting us that it was Lionel Richie singing ‘Dancing’.) The Langmeads informed us that they were friendly with Hip-Hop Mr Cri$iS with whom they had been involved on the United Against Malaria campaign.

Peter and Gill told listeners that they’d been married for 11 years and had originally met in England (in a Hampshire wine bar!) They’d spent some time living in Thailand. Gill’s background was in journalism but at the moment their focus was on public relations and media matters. Peter had just returned from a trip to the far north of Zambia and when they left Livingstone the next morning they were heading for Choma to research a vitamin A enhanced maize.

Interesting, lively and nice guests? You bet!

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Ben Blazer

George da Soulchild, co-presenter of our weekly radio show, sent the following report about an interview with Ben Blazer, seated above with some of the young musicians he’s helping!

Renowned producer and songwriter Ben Kalulu fondly known as Ben Blazer has become one of Zambia’s biggest names in the music industry and has produced a number of artistes. The youthful ‘ music maker’ has produced prominent names in the likes of Petersen, Ephraim, Danny, JK, Uniq and more. The Weekend Post recently had a chat with Ben in the following interview:

What is your latest project?

Ans: Well I am working with four artistes namely J.O.B, BobbyEast, Franciar and Flexville. I produce these artistes and I decided to bring them together to form a crew. As for now I am focused on the four so that I can turn them into big stars, then I can incorporate artistes and I do not want to have many people on the click because at times you may find that you have many artistes but only a few have what it takes to be one.

From your own understanding, just explain something about music.

Ans: Music is not like accounts where you are given a formula and you have to solve it. You have to go to school and most importantly have the passion for it because there are times when we have our difficult times but passion always keeps you moving. Whether you admit it or not, music imbeds our daily life, weaving its beauty and emotion through our thoughts, activities and memories. So if you’re interested in music theory, music appreciation, Beethoven, Mozart, or other composers, artists and performers, we hope you’ll spend some time and learn from these music articles of note for all ages and tastes.

Talk about your relations with your artistes.

Ans: I love working with artistes because we are like family. We chat and throw jokes, if you have realized our songs are crazy this is because someone comes up with a word and another also adds up a word just like that. It keeps us moving.

Any music producers you have worked with?

Ans: I have worked with T.K has always inspired me I have worked with him. I have noticed that most Zambian ,musicians just release one song and that is it why? This is because they do not have enough resources to support their music, my advice to the people is that we should buy original albums for artistes so that we can still see and hear their music.

Do you think you now have more people recording at your studio?

Ans: (laughs) well, I can say I am better the way I am now compared to last time where people could pay less money, now they pay good money and there is an acceptable number of people.

Shed some light on your branch in Lusaka.

Ans: As you are aware we have opened a branch here to enable some artistes in Lusaka record from Ben Blazer studio. I have been receiving a number of people coming to the studio to record which is a good thing.

Your advice to other fellow producers?

Ans: If you have never taken a course in of music, you don’t know what you are missing out on. The radio will never sound the same to you again. Everything will seem much more rich, much more luminous, and much more important. A new song can reflect a new way of being, and a new way of imagining life in the world. This is what learning about music means to many of us.

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Maya


George da Soulchild, co-presenter of our Sunday night radio show reports:

She may be one of the most sought-after upcoming female singer and rapper on the local music scene, but Cynthia Chalwe is very down to earth – the 24-year-old popularly known as ‘Maya’ shot to fame early last year, after releasing a single entitled, ‘Life Yama Diva’, under the XYZ recording label.

A law student at the National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA), she relates that although some sections of society have shown misgivings about her alliance with a male-dominated, youthful recording label, she rates herself among the most principled youngsters. “It has not been easy, I have been faced with too many challenges as a female musician. Everywhere I go for shows, people think that I am bitching around, but I really believe in myself, I am hard working….a goal-getter, someone who has self-control and is principled,” she says.

Maya explains that through her good conduct, she has continued to be a role model to many young people. “I am here to inspire a lot of young people. Equally, my dad Sam Chalwe at first had some reservations about me taking up music as a career. He used to tell me that singing will not take me anywhere, but by my good conduct I have managed to convince him and he believes in me,” she insists.

Maya notes that through her association with the XYZ crew, comprising rappers Slap Dee, Ruff Kid and Lloyd among others, has made her fans identify her as the official XYZ first lady. “I am part of XYZ crew, after all I am the official XYZ first lady although people may say I’m dating Slap Dee. I’m very comfortable about it. He has been very supportive to me and actually he is my producer and manager,” says Maya, who is committed to someone she declined to mention.

The singer and rapper says she has been receiving considerable support from her fans, since she joined the industry last year. “I receive a lot of messages from all my fans including kids. It’s so amazing. I have traveled to different places in the country. Sometimes kids run to me whenever I am passing to tell me that they want me to be their playing mum and I accept the request because I love mingling with kids. I have no problems taking photos with them,” says Maya, a devoted Christian belonging to Christian Mission in Main Lands.

Maya’s music career can be traced way back at school when she used to sing in a school choir. “I remember the first time I knew I could sing was when I was 13-years-old in grade eight at St. Mary’s Secondary School. My family is very supportive of my singing career too,” says Maya, a second born in the family of four.

Maya who draws her inspiration from the late local musician Lily T, American-based singers Beyonce, Rihanna, Kelly Hilson, Whitney and Nick Minaj among others says her passion for education has compelled her to set-up a youth organisation called ‘Xample Yama Diva’ (XYD), stating that the organization is aimed at promoting girl-child education in the country. “I am the CEO Chief executive officer of Xample Yama Diva and through this organization we are encouraging more girls out there to realise their potential and work hard in school. Girls should believe in themselves, because everything is possible if they do that and they should put God first in all they do,” Maya says.

Her album could be out this year – be on the look out!

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The Jolly Fisherman, London


For all you Zambian foody fans in UK here’s some good news for you in London!

The Jolly Fisherman, at 108 North St, Barking, Essex, the only Zambian owned pub in the United Kingdom has told UKZAMBIANS that they will be working together with Fredor (a Zambian owned restaurant) to offer Zambian food in the pub.

Bernard Chisanga, owner of The Jolly Fisherman said: “We have been talking to Ms. Mubiana for a while and now a mature agreement is in place to offer Zambian meals during the weekend at the Jolly Fisherman. This will make sure that Zambians and non-Zambians alike who come to enjoy our drink will also enjoy a proper Zambian meal (nshima, chibwabwa, ifishimi,etc) in one place. Our patrons will from this weekend onwards enjoy their drink and food with full Zambian flavor”.

In a separate interview, Ms. Dorothy Mubiana, owner of FREDOR, confirmed the new partnership as a way forward for Zambians demonstrating a model working partnership for Zambians living overseas. Ms. Mubiana said: “Zambians need to work together for the good of every Zambian, not running away from each other, particularly Zambians living abroad”. She said, they had discussed the partnership with The Jolly Fisherman for more than a year and she was very pleased that they had finally agreed the modalities. “We have done all the work and I am calling everyone out there to come with their friends and family to enjoy an authentic Zambian dish starting this weekend, 26th February and onwards every weekend Saturdays and Sundays”.

Ms Mubiana added that apart from selling Zambian cooked food, she has uncooked Zambian beans, peas, maize, peanuts, sweet potatoes, pumpkins leaves, smoked caterpillars, Kapenta, etc. She can be contacted on 07947 106 429.

We wish them the best of luck!

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