The University of San Diego in the United States has compiled statistics regarding the popular trend of voluntourism, reporting that 40 percent of Americans travelling abroad are willing to include a stint as a volunteer in a developing country on their itineraries during extended trips abroad. A further 13 percent said they would gladly offer  Continue Reading »

This Tuesday saw a new report released by the World Economic Forum detailing 130 countries in the world and their tourism draws. The 2008 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness report studies selected countries and factors that make tourism development feasible and eventually lucrative, such as human and natural resources as well as infrastructure. Those at the  Continue Reading »

Two companies have joined forces to provide environmentally sustainable safari adventures in Africa. The TravelGreen program is an initiative produced by Sustainable Travel international, which will be implemented into the tours offered by Africa Adventure Consultants. AAC is the first company in the safari business to take on the challenge put forth by STI and  Continue Reading »

The Starwood hotel group and its brand hotels are popping up all over the world, and the group’s newest desired locale is in the North African country of Morocco, in the city of Marrakech. The group’s W brand will offer hotel and residence facilities to visitors to Marrakech, with 150 hotel rooms for rent and  Continue Reading »

Following the official opening ceremony in January, IHG has opened the doors to the Holiday Inn Cairo Citystars on its 750,000 square metre, 311-room property in Egypt’s capital. The hotel aims to attract the growing number of middle scale travellers to Cairo. InterContinental Hotels’ chief operating officer for the Middle East and Africa said, “Holiday  Continue Reading »

Kulula.com is a well-known player in the South African travel racket, and now the company is ready to expand its online services with Kulula Holidays. ON the website, Kulula will use the Sell-It Suite software to guide customers through the research and booking process, and will now be able to combine travel itineraries and flights  Continue Reading »

Emirates Airlines has announced it will sponsor yet another of the world’s premier golf tournaments, The Africa open. The airline is already the sponsor for the Dubai Desert Classic, and sponsoring the Africa Open shows how far Emirates’ commitment to the sport really is. Kicking off at the Fish River Country Club on the coast  Continue Reading »

South Africa knows what kind of potential it’s sitting on with its hosting of the next FIFA World Cup football tournament. Even neighbouring countries are building up their accommodation sectors and infrastructure to cope with the influx of international visitors. A new hotel is set to open in Johannesburg, the second Sandton hotel called the  Continue Reading »

The recent turmoil and upheaval in Kenya has kept tourists away, and rightfully so. The violence that has spread after December’s rigged elections has caused many Kenyan deaths and tourists have been wary to make the journey to the country. Most western countries issued a travel advisory advising anything but essential travel to Kenya be  Continue Reading »

The political turmoil in Kenya has turned the country’s state of peace into a bloody war, its citizens dying for the whims of power hungry leaders. On top of all this, the upheaval and flames in the streets are doing nothing for Kenyan businesses that rely on foreign tourism to make ends meet. “I think  Continue Reading »

Long, arduous and multi-country motorcycle trips have been the dream of many a traveller with a knack for gears, nuts and bolts, but not so many of us have been able to undertake such a mission; what with the extensive planning involving schedules, visas and food, let alone the wild cards of motorcycle maintenance and  Continue Reading »

A cursory glance at a newspaper or a couple of minutes in from of the news will no doubt inform you of the violence that has been plaguing Kenya this last week due to contested election results and the alleged rigging by president Mwai Kibaki. The British Foreign Office has advised against travel to its  Continue Reading »