Proflight & Kenya Airways

Lusaka-based regional airline Proflight Zambia has signed an interline agreement with Kenya Airways that will enable passengers to travel across the networks of both airlines with a single booking.

Under the agreement, customers will be able to purchase joint Proflight Zambia-Kenya Airways itineraries and will be issued with a single combined ticket. This will enable seamless connections to and from Proflight’s ten domestic destinations: Lusaka, Ndola, Livingstone, Mfuwe, Solwezi, Chipata, Mansa, Kasama, Lower Zambezi and Mongu, as well as its two international routes, Lilongwe in Malawi and Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania.

It will also enable Proflight customers to book flights to over 60 destinations within the Kenya Airways network from its hub in Nairobi, Kenya. The move should draw more leisure and business travels to Zambia, and facilitate wider travel options for passengers from Zambia looking to travel internationally.

“We welcome Kenya Airways passengers to the Proflight network in Zambia, and look forward to a long and happy partnership between the two airlines,” said Captain Philip Lemba, Proflight Director of Government and Industry Affairs.

Customers will enjoy a range of added benefits, including special fares on itineraries across the two airlines.

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Around The World Experience

Meet Jill and Paul Carter (above) who left Fremantle, Western Australia in April 2010 on their yacht SV Elevation to sail around the world and who, in March 2014 ended up in the studios of Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station, as Guests on our weekly radio show, The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz! ‘How did they manage that when Zambia’s land locked’? You’re wondering – Jill and Paul explained to listeners that they had always wanted to see Victoria Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world, so they had berthed the Elevation in Cape Town, jumped on a plane and flown up to Livingstone, so they could do just that! Staying at Chanters Lodge it was natural for us to invite them on to the show to tell us something of their around the world trip so far.

Jill informed us that they had recently sailed from Reunion to Cape Town having previously visited many countries in the Far East on their travels. From the long list they singled out their trips to Borneo and Cambodia as two of the highlights especially the rain forest music festival in Borneo. (For more details you can read Jill’s blog here). Milli Jam wanted to know if this adventurous, personable couple were still working and on leave from their jobs. Paul told us that he had retired from his work as a marine engineer in 2009, while Jill explained that she had been in the banking industry for 33 years but was made redundant following the world crash in 2008. They had decided to build a state of the art yacht and sail the seven seas!

The music on the show was good. We were celebrating the birth of Tamera, Milli Jam’s brand new baby daughter – his other 5 children are all boys. We opened with ‘My Love’ from Route 94 featuring Jess Glynne, top of the UK singles charts as we went on air, back to back with ‘Hunter’ a track from Pharrell Williams’ hot album ‘GIRL’. The guys chose tracks from Salma, Chris Brown, B1 featuring Pentagon as well as Nelly Furtado. Our oldie of the week was ‘Motivation’ by Kelly Rowland and the prize we give each week of a dinner for two with drinks at the lodge to the first person to text us the name of the performing artist, was quickly snapped up by a certain Charles. My pick of the week was Phillip Phillips’ ‘Raging Fire’.

Jill and Paul revealed that they had been married for thirty three years. They said they had much enjoyed the activities they had undertaken since they had arrived in Livingstone including a visit to Victoria Falls which they described as ‘even more stunning than they had expected’. They had also taken a one day safari to Chobe NP in Botswana. They had loved the sunset cruise on the Zambezi on the Lady Livingstone as well as a fifteen minute helicopter flight over the Falls. They thoroughly recommended the Bushtracks dinner train, as well as the traditional dancing at Cafe Zambezi on a Friday night.

Asked about their future plans, the Carters told us that they would fly back to Cape Town the following week and would then sail to Ascension Island and St Helena, before crossing the Atlantic and spending time in the Caribbean. “Isn’t it scary sailing the oceans in bad weather?” Milli Jam wondered (it was pouring with rain outside the studio!) and the couple agreed that yes, sometimes it was. Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, they both said they hoped to be together, happy and still enjoying their adventures. Fantastic couple, fantastic adventure, great show!

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The Chris Tours Experience

It was a pleasure to welcome back Chris Mweetwa (above), director of Chris Tours, as our Guest on the latest edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild. The Experience is our weekly Sunday night radio show airing at 20.30 hrs CAT on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The show is a lively mixture of latest Zambian and international music as well as chat with our Guest of the week. If one of our listeners can quickly text us the name of the artist singing on our ‘oldie of the week’ there’s also the chance to win dinner for two with drinks at the lodge – and a swim if the weather’s up for it and the water’s warm!

Chris told listeners that when he’d last appeared on our show, some three years ago, he was a taxi driver on the verge of completing a contract with the vehicle’s owner which would then give him ownership of that car. He revealed that in the three intervening years he had completed that contract and had then successfully established a tours and taxi company, Chris Tours. He was now the proud owner of a fleet of six vehicles, three mini-buses and three taxis. He had managed to get a loan to start off the expansion and had progressed from there. As well as the regular taxi business, the company offers airport transfers, transfers to any point in Zambia and surrounding countries, as well as vehicle hire and safaris, especially to Chobe NP in Botswana. Chris gave listeners details of his website and Facebook page and mentioned that his company handles all Chanters Lodge Clients to Botswana, as well as staff transport for the lodge.

The music on the show was great. We opened with latest tracks from Avicii and Leona Lewis. George dropped Zambian tracks from Macky 2 and Tyce. Milli Jam chose numbers from Ellie Goulding and One Direction. The prize of a dinner for two with drinks at the lodge to the first person to text us telling us who’s the artist on our oldie of the week, mentioned above, was not won on this show – George chose The Specials with a topical ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ a rather obscure if trendy single.

Chris revealed to listeners that he is married with 5 children, his eldest daughter is 15 and the youngest child just one year and 5 months old. Originally from Kalomo, north of Livingstone though still in Southern Province, Chris said he had been in Livingstone since he was 10 years old and had completed his education at Linda Secondary school in the city. He claimed he supported Arsenal FC in England while others present suggested he might have been forced to say this! He told listeners that he had recently returned from his first visit to Johannesburg and had been impressed with the multi lane highways as well as the Gauteng train in that city.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Chris said that he wanted to be in Livingstone having grown and expanded his excellent tour company. We had no doubt at all that he would succeed.

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Young Travellers And Price

I liked this piece from HotelInteractive. I’ve shortened it a little. I’m also happy that at Chanters Lodge we have newly introduced low and high season rates, special rates for Zambian travellers and have resisted the temptation/need to raise rates in line with increased costs. In Livingstone we are in a very competitive environment, and yes, Customers are shopping on price.

“Here’s confirmation of what many of us already knew: Millennial travelers don’t express hotel brand loyalty like their older brethren when it comes to booking leisure travel. And that could be a problem in the coming years for hotel industry executives trying to pin down this increasingly important group. Leisure travel makes up more than 75 percent of all hotel bookings in the United States, says U.S. Travel. So this emerging trend has the potential for massive upheaval of the status quo in the coming years.


Millennials are becoming an increasingly critical part of the hotel room buying mix, and at some point during the next decade will supplant the importance of Gen X travelers and Baby Boomers to the hotel industry’s bottom line. Millennials currently drive billions of dollars in spending decisions with many of those dollars going to hotels and travel related activities. And they have yet to reach peak spending!

And their travel buying behaviors are way different than the aforementioned older groups. Remember, this is the first generation that has never known a world before the internet and the way they have integrated technologies into their lives is wholly different than older generations. That’s going to make it tricky for hoteliers to capture Millennial’s loyalty for the long term, but they are trying! Worse yet, the problem seems to be seeping into the Generation X mindset as well which is making online bookers inherently less loyal as they are increasingly driven by factors such as price more than loyalty.

The new study “Who’s Sleeping with You? A Detailed Look Into the U.S. Online Hotel Guest,” reports that 123 million travelers researched hotel options online in 2013, with 92 percent subsequently booking rooms online. And by looking at an incredible one billion monthly travel transactions per month over a three month period, the study determined that because of an “expanding array of hotel options”, a “let-the-best-deal-win” mindset is now in place among the younger class of travel consumers.

This confirms a study earlier in the year from Driftwood Hospitality Management that queried the general managers of its managed hotels. In that survey released in September, 43 percent of Driftwood general managers believe price is the number one concern of millennial travelers when choosing where to stay for leisure travel.

Separately from this study another recent study released last month and conducted by
Harris Interactive and commissioned by Expedia.com and Egencia, said to book business travel, 32 percent of Millennials report using a smartphone, and 20 percent report booking on a tablet. Just 12 percent of those older than 45 used a smartphone, and even fewer used a tablet to book travel. Millennials are also much more likely to use mobile devices to enhance their travel experience, the study concluded.”

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Like Daughter Like Parents!

A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of hosting Frida Haavik with two of her friends, as Guests on the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George Soulchild, our weekly Sunday night radio show airing at 20.30 hrs CAT on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. Frida is a Norwegian student living in Zambia for some three months as part of her university course in occupational therapy. It was great therefore to be able to welcome Frida’s parents, Janne and Trond Haavik as Guests on the most recent edition of the show. Janne and Trond told our listeners they had jumped at the chance to come to Zambia – visiting Frida making an ideal excuse!

Janne, a kitchen designer and fitter, as well as a part time tour guide in Norway, and Trond, a business consultant live in Nordfjordeid, a stunningly beautiful part of Norway north of Bergen, and have been married for twenty four years, though they have been together for thirty three. “It took her a long time to agree to marry me!” Laughed Trond. “Was it love at first sight?” Milli Jam wanted to know, “for me it was anyway” said Trond. They told listeners they had only arrived in Zambia two days before the show but that they had already been busy. Their first day they had spent in and around Livingstone’s markets shopping, then on the afternoon of the show they had taken a trip out to ‘The Secret Island’ upstream from Victoria Falls where they had a great time with Frida and some of her friends. Janne admitted to having been ‘rather worried’ about the proximity of hippos. They had a two day/ one night safari to Chobe NP in Botswana planned for the day after the show and then they would spend a night in the village with Frida, seeing where she was working and what she was doing.

The music on the show was great, we opened with tracks from Wilkinson and Lawson. George chose Zambian tracks from Crisis Mr Swagger featuring Paul Ngozi as well as Izreal. Milli Jam preferred numbers from Drake and Avicii. Our oldie of the week was ‘That’s What Friends Are For’ a compilation single from the 80’s in aid of HIV Aids support. The track is generally credited to Stevie Wonder and we gave the prize of a lunch for two with drinks and a swim to the listener who texted that answer! Well done Musa! My pick of the week was Katy Perry’s super ‘Legendary Lovers’ and we closed with Eminem’s ‘Rap God’ for George, who raps.

Trond told listeners that one of their favourite artists is Bruce Springsteen and they were lucky enough to have been able to attend two of his concerts in Norway. Sports wise Trond admitted to being a Liverpool supporter, which pleased George and which allowed Milli Jam and I the chance to discuss the relative league positions of that club and Arsenal! Janne explained that back in Norway they love the Biathlon, a combination of cross country skiing and shooting. In certain months of the year at home in Norway, due to the warm water in the fijords from the gulf stream, you could swim and then go skiing, they told listeners. They were happy they had chosen to stay at Chanters Lodge during their visit to Zambia.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years from now, Trond replied that it would be nice to be in Zambia helping Zambian businesses develop and grow, while Janne said she would be at home in Norway looking after their small farm and their horses.

What funny, loving and happy parents Frida is lucky to have!

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American Girls Rock The Experience!

Meet Kristen Sawyer and Amber Lind (above left to right) – American girls and our Guests on the most recent edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George ‘Kaufela’. The Experience is our weekly radio show going out live every Sunday night for an hour at 20.30 hrs CAT, on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. Both girls are from Pennsylvania though Kristen now lives in Boston, Mass. – they met at school ‘way back’ they told listeners, and although they now live in different places they meet up most years for vacations. Kristen is a physiotherapist and Amber an IT specialist.

The girls had been staying at Chanters Lodge at the end of a two week safari that started in Johannesburg and ended in Livingstone, camping all they way. They were mighty relieved to find big comfortable beds and an en suite bathroom waiting for them at Chanters at the end of their trip! They told of roaring lions outside their tents at night in Botswana, together with honey badgers and other animals running around the camp. ‘Scary?’ We wondered. “Only slightly!” Replied Kirsten! Altogether we gathered they had had a wonderful trip, being their first to Africa. It had included a one hour flight over the Okavango Delta, cheaper we noted than a fifteen minute flight over Victoria Falls. After arriving in Livingstone they had swum in Devil’s Pool on Livingstone Island just a meter away from the edge of the Falls and had even dangled over the edge. They loved it! They had also enjoyed a visit to Zimbabwe to see the Falls from that side and had dined on salad with crocodile meat while they were there!

The music on the show was great. We opened with tracks from Example and Coldplay – both latest, while George dropped new releases from Zone-Fam and T-Boy in his Zambian spot. Milli Jam chose tracks from French Montana featuring Nicki Minaj, as well as Bruno Mars’ beautiful ‘Locked Out Of Heaven’. Our oldie of the week was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ‘Running Down A Dream’ but the prize we give on each show to the first person to text us the name of the performing artist went unwon! My pick of the week was Ellie Goulding’s gorgeous ‘How Long Will I Love You’.

To George’s excitement the girls told listeners that they were both single, although Kristen had a boyfriend waiting for her back in Boston. They both loved snow skiing and in their anxiety to leave for Africa had recently been on a skiing weekend to try to curb their excitement. The girls are American Football fans and Kristen a keen supporter of the Red Socks. Amber said she loved country music and ‘like Richard’ was a fan of Darius Rucker. They had chosen to stay at Chanters as they had wanted a downtown location, the price suited them and the lodge had great reviews on TripAdvisor. They had not been disappointed.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Amber wanted to be still living in Pennsylvania near her family, hoped to have children and still to be travelling. Kristen wanted to be living in north east USA, working as a physiotherapist and married with children.

Great girls! Great show!

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International Travel Increase

Glenn Haussman from Hotel Interactive writes:
  
International travel is not just expanding, it’s booming. No matter what area on earth you look – OK, maybe not Antarctica — tourism between countries is on the rise. And it’s climbing so much it looks to be at record levels.

But the real incredible news is not that more people are traveling to foreign countries than ever before, but this trend is expected to continue for decades. That’s right, decades. According to the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, global tourism will increase at an annual percentage rate of at least 3.8 percent through 2030. Wow! For the complete year, UNWTO forecasts 2013 to end at a four percent increase or slightly above, exceeding the organization’s initial estimate for the year.

This year alone tourism is surging to incredible new levels as that new rising middle class we speak about frequently here at Hotel Interactive is actively exploring the world around them and visiting new countries. In all, International tourist arrivals (that’s a fancy way for saying people visiting other countries) increased by 5 percent during the first half of 2013 compared to the same period of 2012. In all, nearly 500 million folks traveled to a country other than their own during the first half of this year, according to the UNWTO.

In fact, this group of 25 million new international travelers is being powered by countries with emerging economies, which saw a year over year increase of six percent compared to those with advanced economies. Those rose a steady and predictable four percent signaling plenty of opportunities for hoteliers looking to find customers in areas that had previously been fodder for potential hotel guests.

“The fact that international tourism grew above expectations confirms that travelling is now part of consumer patterns for an increasing number of people in both emerging and advanced economies” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai. “This underlines the need to rightly place tourism as one of the key pillars of socio-economic development, being a leading contributor to economic growth, exports and jobs.”

He’s right. Just look at how the numbers play out for regions with established international travel patterns compared to emerging ones. Europe was up 5 percent, but was propelled by Central and Eastern Europe, which saw a 10 percent jump while Southern and Mediterranean Europe rose 6 percent. Asia and the Pacific climbed six percent overall but was driven by South-East Asia which was up 12 percent while South Asia climbed seven percent. Mature markets such as the Americas ( 2%), South America and the Caribbean were at the end of the list. Which makes perfect sense since these markets already have robust travel.

No mention of Africa mind you…….

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The German Experience!

 
We (especially George) were delighted to welcome four German girls as Guests on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient ft Kaufela (George). The girls are pictured above – Filiz Mestanli and Rike Schulltheiss (left to right sitting), Susanne Thielen and Maria Pelzer (left to right standing), or Filiz, Rike, Sanni and Mary, to use the names they use! It was a big welcome back too to George who had missed three weeks’ shows on local leave – the programme always goes better with two presenters though of course Milli Jam had done a great job while George was away!

The girls told listeners that three of them had been in Zambia for about a week but Rike had already been in the country for some two and half months volunteering at the Christian Outdoor Centre of Chengelo School in Mukushi. Rike’s an old girl of the school having lived in Zambia until the age of 13 or so when her parents had been based in the country. She was brought up mostly in Mongu, Western Province, and was very happy to have come back to spend time in the country. Her friends, Sanni, Filiz and Mary were visiting Zambia for the first time and all the girls would be travelling on to Mongu when they left Livingstone the day after the show.

The girls told listeners that they were all students at Freiberg University in the South of Germany. All the girls were student teachers apart from Filiz who is a student social worker. For the most part they seemed to be at the end of, or approaching the end of their degree courses. They had been busy while they were in Livingstone, having spent a half day white water rafting the Zambezi, as well as doing the rhino walk, getting close to these beautiful beasts. They had also enjoyed a sunset cruise on the Zambezi on Lady Livingstone. Had they been clubbing while they’d been in Livingstone? They had not.

The music on the show was hot and latest, as usual. We opened with Ellie Goulding’s number one hit ‘Burn’ back to back with Lady Gaga’s ‘Applause’. George featured new tracks from Zambian star Danny, while Milli Jam chose a new track from Shaggy featuring Ne-Yo, as well as Justin and Jay Z’s smash ‘Suit and Tie’. Our oldie of the week was ‘Money For Nothing’ by Dire Straits but no-one won the prize we give each week to the first person to text us the name of the performing artist. We closed with Katy Perry’s ‘Roar’.

The girls told listeners that they were single and had no boyfriends waiting for them in Germany. Take another look at the picture – do you believe them? I didn’t! Music wise they said they liked Mumford and Sons and in terms of sport they liked rock climbing, canoeing and sports of that nature. Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years from now, all the girls said they would like to be married with a family. Mary hoped to be teaching in a good school and that Filiz would be working in the same place. Rike wanted to have a doctorate and a good job teaching in a university, Sanni to be healthy and to own a dog – they all hoped to have families and to be well settled.

It was great to have such apparently happy and bright but serious minded, ambitious young people on the show!

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Visas For Zambia

I suppose this Visa scenario would help a little but if the region really wanted to attract tourists they would issue visas for ‘bona fide’ tourists absolutely free! At the moment the charge to enter Zambia is US$50 pp single entry US$80 pp double entry. Multiple entry can only be obtained in advance from outside Zambia. At one time we had visa fee exemption for tourists who had advance bookings and it was great, I wish they would reinstate the system and then have it cover the countries mentioned below! Some hopes!

This piece is from Brian Hatyoka.

All five member countries in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) are expected to have uniform visas by December, this year, Zambia Tourism and Arts Minister Sylvia Masebo has said. KAZA-TFCA is potentially the world’s largest conservation area, spanning five southern African countries namely Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, centred around the Caprivi-Chobe-Victoria Falls areas.

Its goal is to sustainably manage the Kavango-Zambezi ecosystem, its heritage and cultural resources based on best conservation and tourism models for the socio-economic well being of the communities and other stakeholders in and around the eco-region through harmonization of policies, strategies and practices.

Ms Masebo said the common visa would be a milestone as it would allow for the free movement of people and goods within the five-member countries and ultimately promote tourism in the region. She was speaking at a press briefing at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport in Livingstone on arrival from Menongue in Angola where she and other delegates attended a meeting for KAZA Ministers of Tourism, Wildlife and Natural Resources.

“One of the points to note from the just-ended Angola meeting is that by December 31, 2013, it is hoped that we shall have the common KAZA-TFCA visa between five member countries. This will allow for free movement of people and goods and it will be a milestone for tourism promotion,” Ms Masebo said. She continued “We have come from a very successful KAZA-TFCA Ministers meeting in Angola. During the 20th session of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly in Livingstone, this month, delegates would be taken to KAZA-TFCA projects for Zambia where a lot of things have been done in the area of wildlife and on tourism in general.”

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Bridge At Kazungula

From Mmegi Online

The governments of Botswana and Zambia have announced the commencement of the first stage of construction of the Kazungula Bridge across the Chobe River.

The importance of the bridge to the two countries and the Southern African Development Community region cannot be gainsaid. When complete, the bridge will ensure that for the first time, the SADC region is connected by road. The Chobe River forms the only boundary between Botswana and Zambia and over the years, this has slowed down the movement of people and goods from the southern parts of the SADC region to the north.

The water boundary meant that besides the air, the alternative and popular transport link between Botswana and Zambia was through the ageing or unreliable ferries that were prone to breakdowns. This lead to a pile-up during peak periods when the number of trucks carrying goods to and from factories and ports of regional economic giant South Africa overwhelm the carrying capacity of the ferries. But with the construction of the bridge to replace the slow and unreliable ferries, things are likely to change for the better. The Chobe River is vital in the region because in the Kazungula-Kasane area, it straddles the border between Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Plans to build the vital bridge have been on the cards for approximately two decades. Initially, Zimbabwe was to be part of the project but because of its well-known economic and political problems, it was left out though it will benefit from the facility.

With loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB), it can only be concluded that the bridge will be completed in the next five years. We hope that all stakeholders will come together and put all mechanisms in place to curb corruption and any form of theft that a project of this magnitude may attract. We hope that each and every stage of the project will be monitored and fully accounted for. It is also our hope that the best contractors will be awarded the project to complete it within time and budget. We are tired of losing billions to overnight contractors who dump our projects midway leaving shoddy work behind. We hope the JICA and AfDB will use their position and influence to ensure that they get value for their money.

Once completed, this bridge will make trade within the SADC region and beyond, more endurable and less expensive, as compared to the current situation in which truck drivers spend nights in queues waiting for the pontoons to ferry them across the Chobe River. Some of these trucks carry perishable goods destined for distant customers, and it is a nightmare for the drivers to watch days and nights pass before they can cross to the other side of the Chobe River. The construction of the bridge comes at a time when experts on trade have advised that Africa needs to invest in infrastructure for faster economic growth.

Since the project is going to attract migrant workers from many countries, we hope that residents around the Kazungula-Kasane area will take care of themselves and make the project a blessing instead of a curse.

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