travel – Chanters Lodge Livingstone

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.”

21
AUG

Africa, Botswana, Namibia, tourism, travel, UNWTO2013, visas, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Clive Siviye Rocks ‘The Experience’

Meet Clive Siviye, Guest on the most recent edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George Kaufela Soulchild – that’s our regular Sunday night radio show airing on
Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station, from 20.30 – 21.30 hrs and streaming live. If Clive was a footballer he would probably be described in the media as ‘much travelled’! Why? Well he’d worked for Radio Chengelo, Sky FM, YAR FM and Falls FM – all local radio stations in Zambia, before he came to work for Zambezi 107.7 fm in Livingstone. Clive told listeners that he is a newscaster and current affairs presenter with the station, for whom he has worked for about four months. Was he happy at 107.7 fm? Yes, we got the impression that he was.

Interestingly, Clive told listeners that he had originally wanted to become a catholic priest, and with that calling in mind he had trained for more than four years with the Jesuits before deciding that perhaps the church as a career was not for him. Radio Chengelo, being a catholic radio station, made the link for him to be able to move into a career in journalism/broadcasting. In 2009 Clive was selected by the American Department of State for the award of a scholarship allowing him to leave for George Washington University in Washington DC to study investigative journalism for thirteen months. He had very much enjoyed his time in the States and had travelled widely. “Would you like to go back?” Asked Milli Jam and Clive agreed that yes, he would love to go back to do a Masters degree.

The music on the show was hot with a wide African influence – George dropped a brand new track from K’Millien – ‘Osa Limba Mutima’ back to back with Chefy’s smash hit ‘Foolish Me’ – a remix. Milimo (Milli Jam) chose Danny K’s ‘Brown Eyes’ with Davido’s ‘One Of A Kind’. We played Icona Pop’s number one recording ‘I Love It’ and the title track from Darius Rucker’s album ‘True Believers’. The oldie of the week was Ne-Yo’s ‘Miss Independent’ and the prize we give each week to the first person to text us telling us who’s the performing artist on the track was snapped up after the play had barely begun! My pick was Will.i.am’s ‘Bang-Bang’ and we closed with ‘Walk Like Rihanna’.

Clive told listeners that he was still single but that he had three sisters, one of whom is his twin and who are all married, he also has a younger brother. His musical taste revolved around ‘oldies’ and his favourite artist is Elton John. He is a Chelsea supporter and his favourite player Juan Mata. “They’re trying to sell him, Marinho does not like him” George told us! Kaufela is for Liverpool! Another string to Clive’s bow is that he is a fully fledged IAAF athletics coach and in his younger days was Zambia’s 400m champion.

Living in the tourist capital of Zambia he had experienced many of the tourist activities available but claimed to be ‘too tall’ for bungee jumping! A lame excuse we opined. Asked the inevitable final question of where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Clive said that he wanted to be married with children and working for Al Jazeera.

4
JUL

Africa, communications, education, entertainment, football, music, radioshow, religion, sport, travel, usa, Zambia

Bob, Cindy Orr and The Butterfly Tree

Meet Bob and Cindy Orr, both mathematics teachers from New Jersey, USA, and currently Guests at Chanters Lodge, Livingstone as well as volunteers with the Butterfly Tree Charity working out at Mukuni Village near Livingstone, Zambia. Bob and Cindy were Guests on the most recent edition of ‘The Chanters Lodge Experience with The Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela’, our regular Sunday night radio show on
Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station.

Bob and Cindy told our listeners that, founded in 2006 by Jane Kaye-Bailey, The Butterfly Tree Charity supports rural communities in Zambia decimated by the HIV and AIDS pandemic – providing safe water, feeding programmes and improved health and education facilities as well as an orphan sponsorship programme. Had they been teaching maths out at the village? We wondered, but this charming couple explained that they’d been busy interviewing and filming the children at the Mukuni Village School with the aim of making a video, and also to help them in the preparation of a programme for students. The video would also eventually be used for fund raising purposes back in the USA.

Bob and Cindy said that not only was this their first visit to Zambia but also to Africa and that they were thrilled with the experience thus far. While most of their time had been taken up out at the village they had had time for one or two tourist activities, namely a one day safari to Chobe NP in Botswana and the rhino walk that very morning in our own Mosi-o-Tunya NP in Livingstone. They had enjoyed both trips immensely especially being able to see the animals close up. “Any rhino, elephant and hippo in New Jersey?” We wondered. “Only in zoos!” The predictable reply.

The music on the show was great as usual. We opened with new tracks from Redfoo (of LMFAO fame) and Wiley. Kaufela’s Zambian selections were Roberto’s ‘Eponaba’ and Starn’s ‘Wachimfya’. No translations available! Milli Jam dropped Robin Thicke’s smash ‘Blurred Lines’ back to back with Ne-Yo’s latest ‘Keep Talking’. Our oldie of the week was Beyonce’s ‘Halo’ and the prize we give to the first person to text us the name of the performing artist was quickly snapped up. My pick of the week was Estelle’s ‘Call These Boys Up’ for the Chanters Girls at the lodge.

Bob and Cindy told listeners they had been married for 27 years and had a son and a daughter David 21 and Kate 25 respectively. No grandchildren as yet. We wondered if they had been affected by horrible hurricane Sandy that hit New Jersey recently and they told listeners that although they had lost some 25 trees on their property, otherwise theirs had been a lucky escape, compared to the decimation suffered by other people. The couple were looking forward to seeing the Victoria Falls before they left for the USA and hoped to make a return visit to Zambia in 2014. Music wise Cindy said she loved jazz, Bob that he was more into 60’s and 70’s rock.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years from now, Bob told listeners that he hoped to still be teaching maths but also being helpful to people in Africa in need of clean water and other assistance. Cindy said she hoped to be travelling, developing her second career as a poet, as well as making a return visit to Zambia.

We wished them the best of luck and thanked them for appearing on our show.

21
JUN

activities, Africa, Chanters, charities, Chobe, education, entertainment, guests, livingstone, radioshow, seniors, travel, usa, victoriafalls, Zambia

From ‘The Wilderness’ to ‘The Experience’!

Wondering about the headline? Wonder no more! It’s simple! The Guest on the most recent edition of ‘The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela’ was Carol Princess Buuse Hamaimbo who works for Wilderness Safaris as a tourism consultant here in Livingstone. ‘The Experience’ is our one hour long weekly Sunday night radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The show airs at 20.30 hrs CAT for an hour and is a lively mixture of local and international music as well as chat with our Guest of the week. Streams live too on 107.7’s website (currently under reconstruction).

Carol told listeners that she’d been working for Wilderness for six years since completing her certificate and then Diploma In Tourism Studies at LIBES (Livingstone Institute for Business and Engineering Studies). She loved her job and said that the most exciting part was never knowing what different Guests would want. She told us she felt that being attentive and giving sufficient attention to detail were the most important parts of the work. Milli Jam noted that Carol had been guesting recently on Kaufela and E-Vibes’ morning breakfast show on 107.7 fm and asked if she had ambitions to be a radio presenter. She replied that before taking to the tourism industry she had thought about a career in journalism, and did not rule out going into radio later in her career.

The music on the show was exciting, fresh and new. We opened with ‘This Is What It Feels Like’ from the hugely popular Dutch DJ Armin van Buuren featuring Trevor Guthrie, back to back with Alexis Jordan’s stomping ‘Acid Rain’. George chose Chef 187 ft Mosh Money – ‘Foolish Me’ and Petersen Zagaze’s – ‘Nakupokolola’ for his local tracks. Milli Jam played Cody Simpson’s ‘Pretty Brown Eyes’ and a track from Drake. Our oldie of the week where we give a prize of a dinner for two at the lodge with drinks to the first person to text us the name of the performing artist was a Petersen track and ‘Mohammed’ won. My pick of the week was Chris Malinchak’s ‘So Good To Me’ – a hit with Kaufela.

Carol told listeners that she was not married but was dating. She loved listening to music in her free time and favoured Zambian tracks, Rhumba and R&B. She was very active on Facebook and from time to time went clubbing with friends. An Arsenal supporter she made us laugh by claiming that Manuel Almunia was the reason she supported the Gunners. Odd that the former Arsenal keeper was in the news that very day as the result of a fantastic save he made playing for Watford in an important play off match. As for tourist activities Carol has done most of them, but had never bungee jumped and did not intend to!

It was a good show with lots of interaction with listeners on Facebook while we were on air and we were delighted that we had an on-line audience in UK enjoying and participating in the show. Asked where she would like to be and what she would like to be doing 10 years from now, Carol said that she hoped to go back to school soon to study marketing but that by 2023 she hoped to be finished studying and to have started her own business either in tourism or marketing. “Marriage and children”? We wondered. “We’ll see how it goes” Carol replied.

17
MAY

activities, Africa, education, entertainment, facebook, livingstone, music, radioshow, tourism, training, travel, Zambia

Heartspring Pulls At The Heartstrings On ‘The Experience’!

Heartspring is a Christian orphanage located in Livingstone, Zambia and is presently the home for 28 orphan boys and 32 girls. It is overseen by a Board of Directors composed of 8 Christian men and women from Livingstone. Jacob Sianungu is the Chairman of the Board. JL Brazell (pictured above with Janice Soudbash) originally met Jacob in Swaziland when they were both involved in a mission there and together started Heartspring. We were delighted to welcome JL (for the second time) and Janice as Guests on the latest edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild. ‘The Experience’ is our regular Sunday night radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station airing from 20.30-21.30 hrs CAT, and streaming live on the internet. (In this regard we were delighted to get a message during the show from Esmail Jasat in London who was listening to the stream).

Janice and JL told listeners that they were tired from dancing with the children at the Orphanage almost the whole of that day but that they had loved the interaction. They were delighted with the way the orphanage was growing and developing and they felt that the future was bright for the children in care. They emphasised that none of the children would be ‘thrown out’ of the orphanage at a certain age unless they had a secure future. Janice and JL were part of a group of six sponsors of the orphanage staying at Chanters Lodge, and in Zambia to check on the progress of the institution. JL, fund raiser supreme, told listeners that the best way to get people to help sponsor the project was to bring them over to show them the work being done. Janice lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico while JL lives in Kansas to be close to his grandchildren. We learned that both JL and Janice have been married to their respective partners for more than 50 years!

We opened the show with Zambia’s latest smash hit track ‘Sinjonjo’ by Zonefam which surely had the Chanters Girls dancing back at the lodge – and the children in the orphanage too if they were listening! Sinjonjo was played back to back with Charlie Brown’s ‘On My Way’. George featured tracks by Zambia’s JK and Salma. Milli Jam favoured Davido and Taylor Swift. George’s choice of Elton John’s ‘Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word’ as oldie of the week had everyone fooled and no-one won the prize we give each week to the first person to text us telling us who is the performing artist on the track! We won!

JL and Janice told listeners that they and their group had spent some days in Kruger NP in South Africa before coming to Zambia on this trip and had managed to see ‘The Big Five’. They had also visited Swaziland. It was Janice’s first visit to Zambia and she had been suitably impressed by Victoria Falls. She told listeners that she had a daughter living in Burkino Fasso whom she hoped to visit next year. Her son-in-law was involved with Living Water International in that country.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be ten years’ from now, JL said he would like to be driving his own car with grand-children in the back screaming and yelling, Janice that she hoped still to be in good health and travelling. We thanked them for their work with Heartspring and for giving up their time to appear on our show.

6
APR

activities, Africa, charities, children, education, entertainment, livingstone, music, radioshow, rsa, travel, usa, victoriafalls, Zambia

Jobless, Homeless But Live On The Experience!

No, not George Kaufela, Milli Jam or even me! But the Guests on the most recent edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela, our weekly Sunday night radio show airing on Zambezi 107.7 fm in Livingstone, Zambia. Australians Lyn and Malcolm Macdonald (pictured above with Milli Jam) explained to listeners that before setting off on their round the world trip which had brought them to this country, they had given up their jobs, sold the boat that had been their home and taken off! They’d arrived in Zambia a few days earlier, having taken the Tazara train from Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania to Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia. The journey takes days – the Macdonalds described it as ‘a great adventure’.

Malcolm had been a doctor specializing in tropical medicine in the far north of Australia, wife Lyn was a nurse by training, subsequently involved with public health. They had been living in Cairns and working in remote places mostly involved with treating Aboriginal people. They were also engaged in an humanitarian refugee programme. Our Guests told listeners that this was the first time either of them had been to Zambia. They had visited Tanzania as Malcolm had worked in that country more than twenty years ago and had wanted to go back and see old friends, which they had done. They had stayed for one night in Lusaka after their epic train journey, choosing Wayside Guest House with which they declared themselves to be very satisfied. They had flown to Livingstone on Proflight.

The music on the show was appealing to various tastes. We opened the show with tracks from The Saturdays ft Sean Paul (‘How About Us’ number one in UK as we went on air) and Madcon. George chose Zambian music from Roberto featuring himself (!) and then a track by T-Sean. Milli Jam went for Alicia Keys and Jessica Sanchez ft Ne-Yo. He chose a track from Eric Benet as the oldie of the week and the prize of a dinner for two at the lodge was quickly snapped up! My pick of the week was Kodaline’s ‘High Hopes’. We closed with John Legend’s ‘The Beginning’.

Malcolm and Lyn described their first view of the Falls as ‘a bit of a fairy tale’. They had loved the full flow of water prevalent at this time of the year and described the experience as ‘spectacular’. They had climbed down to the Boiling Point as well going on to the main bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe, resisting the temptation to bungee jump – they had a myriad of excuses for not doing so! As one does have! They had rounded off their day with lunch at The Royal Livingstone which they had loved. They were looking forward to a microlight flight over the Falls as well as the sunset cruise on Lady Livingstone the following day. They were planning a few days in Botswana before flying back to Australia for a short break, then heading off for China and the Far East.

This lively, interesting and outgoing couple told listeners that they had been married for 12 years and that there had been nothing like love at first sight! Between them they had seven children and six grandchildren whom they adored! Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, they said they would like to be retired, living in tropical Northern Australia, raising chickens, growing fruit and vegetables and all the while spoiling their grand children.

Sounded like a good idea to us!

29
MAR

activities, Africa, Australia, Botswana, Chanters, Chobe, entertainment, Lusaka, medical, music, radioshow, Tanzania, travel, victoriafalls, Zambia

Mercedes & Miryam Angon Feel ‘The Experience’

Meet Mercedes and Miryam Angon (above) sisters and co-owners of Feeling Africa Ltd, their company that owns and manages North Luangwa Lodge in the North Luangwa National Park in north east Zambia. Mercedes and Miryam live in the house next door to Chanters Lodge in Livingstone, so they were naturals to be invited to appear as Guests on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela. That’s our weekly radio show airing every Sunday night on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station.

Miryam and Mercedes told listeners that they had established their business in Zambia two years’ ago and that they originally hailed from Madrid, Spain. They had left well paid and exciting jobs with MTV and Universal Pictures respectively to come to Zambia. “Why?” We wondered in astonishment. “Because we’re Spanish, crazy and love wildlife!” Was the answer. The ladies explained that their lodge is only open for six months per year, so they spend six months there and six months in Livingstone. Their lodge has four bungalows and prices start from around US$250-300 per person per night all inclusive of food, drink, accommodation and game drives. They described the North Luangwa as ‘wild and exciting’.

The music on the show was up to our usual high standard. We played tracks from Rihanna and Pitbull for openers before Milli Jam moved on with Zambian releases from Dandy Crazy and B1. Songs from John Legend and Kelly Rowland followed. This week’s oldie was Rihanna’s ‘Te Amo’ – much easier than last week and we had a flurry of text messages from listeners correctly telling us the name of the artist in the hope of winning dinner for two at the lodge. Patrick won. Our pick of the week was ‘When I Was Your Man’ a lovely ballad from Bruno Mars featured on his latest album ‘Unorthodox Jukebox’. We closed with Gabrielle Aplin’s No 1 ‘John Lewis’ hit the remake of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s ‘The Power Of Love’.

Miryam and Mercedes told listeners that they were single ladies without children and that they both loved music. One of the aspects of their previous lives in Spain that they really missed was going to concerts and shows as they used to receive free tickets. They had seen many top acts as well as meeting many stars like footballer Christiano Ronaldo and tennis ace Rafael Nadal. We asked them about bull fighting – they hated it. We asked them about tourist activities in Livingstone – Miryam had done the bungee jump while Mercedes likes white water rafting.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years from now, these bubbly, lively, interesting ladies said they wanted still to be in Zambia, single and ‘Feeling Livingstone’ their proposed new project. We wished them the very best of luck as the rain poured down outside the studio!

12
DEC

activities, Africa, Chanters, entertainment, entrepreneurship, innovation, livingstone, music, radioshow, Spain, travel, wildlife, Zambia

Bridge At Kazungula, Zambia

The Kazangula Bridge saga rumbles on. Here’s the latest from the Zambia Daily Mail.
Kazungula is the border crossing (above) between Zambia, Botswana and Zambia and is situated 75 kms from Livingstone.

THE design review of the US$259 million Kazungula Bridge will commence in February next year, the Road Development Agency (RDA) has said. RDA Kazungula Bridge Zambia project engineer Lazaros Nyawali said the 923-metre long bridge has a complex design and that it is important to ensure that a workable one is put in place. Mr Nyawali said this in Livingstone on Tuesday after RDA officials inspected rehabilitated roads in the tourist capital. (Which cannot have taken them very long! ed)

He said a consultant to review the design has already been identified and that the process will take six months after which the tendering process for the contractor to build the bridge will start. And Mr Nyawali said compensation and resettlement mechanisms for people who will be affected by the construction of the bridge are being taken care of. He said most people who bought land in the surrounding area where the bridge will be built have already been compensated and that 38 families in Lumbo village will be relocated.

“Prior to construction of the bridge, there are environmental issues which should be looked into. There is need to resettle and compensate people. This exercise should be completed before works on the bridge start,” he said. Mr Nyawali said the Kazungula Bridge is of strategic economic importance as it will facilitate the integration of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). He said the bridge will also enhance transport operations along the North South corridor which links mineral rich regions of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

The Kazungula Bridge project is a joint project involving the governments of Zambia and Botswana which have sourced financing from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Japanese International Corporation Agency (JICA).

JICA is financing 57 percent of the project while AfDB is contributing 31.5 percent. The European Union has provided a 1.8 percent grant to the two governments which are funding the rest of the project.

27
NOV

Africa, Botswana, infrastructure, tourism, transport, travel, zambezi, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Lodge Blog

This from TNooz grabbed my attention. Incidentally if you’re in the travel or hospitality business TNooz is, in my opinion, a daily ‘must read’. Why did this particular piece demand my immediate attention? Well, we’ve had a Chanters Lodge Blog since 2006, not so long ago I wrote to my son Ed and told him I was fed up with blogging and what with Facebook, Twitter and things I was considering giving up.

His reaction? Emphatic! “Dad, don’t!” “Why?” I wondered. His reply “Google love the updates”. The article below shows that Ed knows a thing or two. Something we knew anyway. Needless to say I still blog and our weekly radio show forms the hub of the blog and forms a good basis around which I post other interesting or amusing things about stuff.

The picture? Chipembele Wildlife Education Centre. Why? Because when I went to Google Images and searched Lodgeblog, this was the first picture to come up linked to our site – page 6 of the search – which could have been better but could also have taken much longer. The picture was posted in January 2010.

Here’s the piece from Patrick Landman.

“I can’t even begin to remember the number of times I have heard hoteliers talk about the need to get more direct business, preferably through their own hotel websites. Of course, this is something we want for all our hotels. We know that direct-sales brings a higher margin to the bottom line, rather than via reservations (with commission) to third party distributors like OTA or low net rate wholesalers and tour operators. But then why are so many hotel websites still, well, static when it comes to content, especially many of the independently-owned properties.

Hoteliers invest in a website and think that is it for the next three, four or even five years. They still view the internet as a business of online brochures apparently. Their website’s content is completely static or stagnant.

Why?

It is a well-known fact that search engines put a high value on dynamic and fresh content. They are looking for websites that are constantly adding new information relevant to their field or related to their brand. This should actually be fairly easy for a hotel. Tourism and travel is an amazingly dynamic industry, especially when looking at what is happening in a destination or the property itself. Websites, lest we forget, are a continual effort. The content of your hotel website needs to be dynamic. This is where a corporate blog comes into play.

It should be part of your communication strategy to your guests, as well as potential bookers. Moreover it is also a tool to build a network of connections engaging with your local community. Unfortunately it seems though there is some sort of industry disease, or apathy towards social media. Any creative effort of direct marketing in hotels is approached with distrust, fear and skepticism.

However, the reality is that you might spend a lot of money on your hotel website, but if you don’t have a blog much of it never changes. Your hotel website is dead. Hoteliers, please wake up, and start blogging now! Or else.

Ideas

But what to write? How to blog? If you don’t know, try it out. Make a blog using WordPress or Blogger, and integrate it. It’s as simple as writing an email. Honestly. In terms of topics, there should be no shortage of what you could write about. There surely are interesting events, festivals or trade-shows in your destination that your guests visit or attend. And how about some restaurant and bar tips? Find out which shops your guests like and make some more related recommendations.

Ah-ha, that should be easy, right? Really it is, I am even doing it right now. I am typing as I am thinking… It is as easy as writing an email or recommending guests staying at your hotel on what they can do in town. In short, become the online concierge of your hotel.

Make sure that you create original content, though, and are not simply punching out lists and articles for the sake of blogging. Make the blog an extended arm of your hotels atmosphere and style. Give it a unique spin. Instead of focusing only on main attractions and points of interest, highlight personal recommendations, unknown gems and hidden secrets of your destination. Bars, restaurants and shops within walking distance of the hotel are always well appreciated.

Craft

I mentioned style before. Make it personal. Not just a simple tourist guide approach. Introduce some humor and fun, I am sure as a hotelier you have an outgoing character, and are used to being on stage. Do the same on your blog. Don’t be afraid of what people think. The mission is to set a tone and get noticed.

The angle you choose, accompanied by captivating headline, catches the interest of guests. Come on, admit it this title “If you don’t have a blog, your hotel website is dead!” surely got you to click and read some more. The objectives with integrating blogs into hotel websites are many. One is to ensure the dynamics in content creation for the hotel website, and for search engines continue to value the authority of our website in relation to our location.

Also it provides valuable tourist and destination information to our guests. Blogs provides hotels with original content to share on social media websites and allow properties to engage with local business and attractions on social media websites. Remember, do not write solely about destination-related information. Updates on what is going on in the property is also newsworthy. But these articles should not be in the style of a boring press release. It should be an authentic personal piece. Write it the way you would explain it to a friend.

Treat your guests less like a technical marketing object and more like a guest works amazingly well.

Furthermore, put your staff in the spotlight. Have them explain what they like about working at the hotel, and what their favorite places in town are. Add a fun picture so guests can recognize them during their stay (please, no boring head-shots! ). And how about the launch of a new seasonal menu in the restaurant?

Slow-burn

Blogging is a matter of practice – as you write more you get better at it. Find some other blogs and follow them. Search for inspiration online. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. But make sure you add your personal touch to it.

21
NOV

blog, Chanters, internet, travel, trends

Brian Suto & Jen Gase rock ‘The Experience’!

What do the average Washington DC investment adviser (with Charles Schwab ) and partner, an IT project manager, do on their Sunday night in Livingstone, Zambia just 10 kms away from the mighty Victoria Falls? Why, appear on the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela of course! That’s our regular Sunday night radio show airing weekly between 20.30 and 21.30 hrs on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. Joking apart we were delighted that Brian Suto and Jen Gase (pictured above), our Guests at Chanters Lodge, agreed to appear on our show. Lively and interesting Guests they were too.

Brian and Jen told listeners that although they’d only arrived in Livingstone at lunch time the previous day, on their first afternoon they’d already taken the sunset cruise on the Zambezi on Lady Livingstone which they’d thoroughly enjoyed. On the morning of the show they’d been to Mukuni Big 5 for the lion encounter and then walked out to Livingstone Island to swim in Devil’s Pool, which they described as ‘stunning’. The following day they were scheduled for a half day’s white water rafting before they left Chanters for the Zambezi Waterfront to link up with G Adventures. They explained that they were booked for an eight day camping overland trip with Gap, taking them from Zimbabwe to Johannesburg via Kruger NP. “Looking forward to it?” George, the host for the day, wanted to know. “We are” replied Brian “but I’m not too sure about the camping.” Jen gave a knowing laugh. “Washington investment adviser camping?” She seemed to be thinking, sure……

George wanted to know if the couple lived near the White House and our Guests said that they lived just 10kms away. Had they met President Obama? We wanted to know, they had not, but they hoped to and were delighted he had won the election. So were we. Music wise Brian told listeners he was into rap, whereas Jen liked softer music such as Mumford and Sons. On this show we featured tracks from The Wanted as well as Christina Aguilera at the top of the show. Zambian tracks were from T-Sean and Zone Fam, which we followed up with offerings from Lana del Rey and Keri Hilson. Our oldie of the week was Danny’s ‘Could I Be’ and we had a great response from listeners by text telling us who was singing the track – all trying to win dinner for two at the lodge. Vuuka won.

Asked where they’d met, Brian and Jen said it had been in Florida where they’d been working for the same company. “Was it love at first sight?” George wanted to know “not really” seemed to be the reply. They told listeners they’d been married for two years. Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing 10 years from now, Jen said she wanted still to have Brian by her side along with 2+ children, Brian seemed to want to be running a small lodge somewhere other than in America – as you do when you’re an investment adviser!!

15
NOV

Africa, Chanters, entertainment, livingstone, music, politics, radioshow, rafting, rsa, tourism, travel, usa, wildlife, Zambia

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