CABO VERDE AWAITS YOU!

• São Vicente • Dr. Carlos Santos,

Minister of Tourism and Transport

United Nations World Tourism Organisation's (UNWTO) African Member States will work together to establish a new narrative for tourism across the continent. To better realize tourism’s potential to drive recovery the, UNWTO and its Members will also work with the African Union and the private sector to promote the continent to new global audiences through positive, people-centred storytelling and effective branding. With tourism recognized as an essential pillar for sustainable and inclusive development for the continent, UNWTO welcomed high-level delegates to the first Regional Conference on strengthening Brand Africa. The conference featured the participation of the political leadership of host country, Namibia, alongside public and private sector leaders from across the continent.

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili was impressed by the common determination by Africa to rethink as well as restart tourism. “African destinations must take the lead in celebrating and promoting the continent’s vibrant culture, youthful energy and entrepreneurial spirit, and its rich gastronomy”, he said.

On the back of a series of workshops and a Ministerial Think Tank, UNWTO’s African Member States unanimously endorsed the Windhoek Pledge on Advocating Brand Africa. Under the terms of the Windhoek Pledge, member states will engage both public and private sector stakeholders as well as local communities to build a new and, inspiring narrative for tourism across the continent. They will identify positive, human-centred stories, and through strengthened partnerships with the media, showcase them to the world, in addition to reaching new and diverse tourism source markets.

In the coming weeks, the UNWTO will work with all signatories to create a common roadmap towards establishing Brand Africa. This will include establishing common values and goals and identify funding needs and opportunities as well as providing branding toolkits for destinations, including guidelines and recommendations, training and capacity building in market intelligence, digital marketing and data management.

Alongside the conference, UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, held high-level talks on the restart of tourism with the President of Namibia, Dr. Hage Geingob, as well as with the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Netumbo NandiNdaitwah and also with the African Union Commissioner for Trade and Industry, Albert Muchanga

• UNWTO Secretary General Presenting plague to Dr Hage Geingob,

President of Namibia at the State House • Mozambique’s Minister of Culture and Tourism, Eldevina Materula

• Akwasi Agyeman, CEO of the Ghana Tourism Authority speaking at a panel session • Dr Carlos Jorge Duarte Santos, Cabo Verde’s Minister of Tourism and Transport contributing to the Ministerial session

• Dr. Damas Ndumbaro, Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, Tanzania • President Hage Geingob being ushered into the auditorium

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has opened its first Regional Office for the Middle East, bringing the United Nations specialized agency closer to its Members and advancing on its commitment to guiding the development of tourism in every global region. At a ceremony in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, UNWTO SecretaryGeneral Zurab Pololikashvili was joined by Her Royal Highness Princess Haifa Al-Saud, Deputy Minister of Tourism for Strategy and Investment, and the Kingdom’s Minister for Tourism, His Excellency Ahmed Al Khateeb to officially open the office. They were also joined by Tourism Ministers from across both Middle East and from every other global region, as well as by leaders from the private sector.

The new office will serve as a hub for UNWTO to coordinate policy and initiatives across its 13 Member States in the region. This includes a number of tourism projects and products, among them the new “Best Tourism Villages by UNWTO”, launched on the occasion of the opening of the Regional Office. Alongside this, Riyadh will also be home to an expanded UNWTO International Tourism Academy, providing opportunities for people of all backgrounds from across the region, including women and the youth. The UNWTO Chief said: “The first UNWTO Regional Office will be a centre of conversation, debate and decisionmaking and bring hope to many people across the region allowing them to enjoy the social and economic benefits only tourism can deliver. Work on the office began after the start of the pandemic, proof of our determination and the strong support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres congratulated UNWTO on the occasion, saying “I believe that this Office will help the Middle East region recover its tourism sector as well as support the growth of rural tourism development worldwide.” His Excellency Ahmed Al Khateeb, Saudi Minister for Tourism, added: “We are thrilled to host the new Regional Office in Saudi Arabia. This demonstrates our commitment to working with our partners at the UNWTO to develop a strong industry based on the principles of sustainability and opportunities for all, across the region and globally.” UNWTO also contributed expert insights to the Tourism Recovery Summit, organized by the Saudi Ministry of Tourism and held against the backdrop of the Regional Office opening.

Namibian’s Ambassador to Spain and the UNWTO with residence in Paris, France, Albertus Aochamub has received applause from the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Zurab Pololikashvili for his tireless efforts in the hosting of the Brand Africa Conference in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic in Windhoek, Namibia. the UNWTO SC and his team to the land for the brave in November 2020 and again in June 2021. Mr Pololikashvili in his closing remarks at the Brand Africa conference said, ‘’Ambassador Albertus has been a great supporter of UNWTO and as we moved around the globe to lead the tourism recovery efforts, he facilitated our visit and played a pivotal role in the hosting of the Brand Africa Conference. We are happy to have you as a wonderful Ambassador of Namibia and Africa at the UNWTO’’

A popular stereotype in the hotel and tourism industry is that people who work in this sector do not require any formal education. The general perception of vocational roles such as chefs or waiters within the sector is that these roles have no long-term ability to grow into impactful careers that significantly contribute to tourism sectors. The result is a very limited emergence of higher education institutions that invest in the quality hotel and tourism education and, as a consequence, a growing H&T industry hampered by the lack of personnel with the quality and capacity to cater to this growth. This reality is even more pronounced in African countries that have only recently begun to develop their tourism industries. In 2016, the New Times Rwanda published an article on the shortage of trained personnel in Rwanda’s hospitality and tourism industry, commenting on how this scarcity has resulted in local companies depending on international skilled personnel for jobs that could be occupied by locals. Vatel Rwanda Just 2 years after the publication of this article, Vatel Hotel, and Tourism Business School established a campus in Rwanda. The School’s mission is to help bridge the skills gap by providing the highest standards of education in H&T locally. The Vatel Group of schools comprises 50 campuses spread across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa. With over 30 years of experience in developing professionals for the H&T industry, Vatel is ranked amongst the top 10 hospitality schools in the world. Since its inception, Vatel Rwanda has trained 43 students for managerial positions through its Bachelor’s degree program in International Hotel Management and is changing the narrative within the local industry. Over the course of their degree program, they have acquired intensive hands-on work experience, preparing them to undertake executivelevel roles immediately upon completion of their studies. Vatel students are actively contributing to the H&T industry, not only as skilled employees but also as solution providers, with some students having chosen to become entrepreneurs and have launched their own ventures in the H&T industry." Learning Model Vatel’s unique learning model consists of a progressive mixture of theoretical learning and professional experiences. Each year for the 3-year duration of the degree program, students are exposed to a mix of theory and practical applications, with an additional 4 months mandatory" "internship in hospitality establishments at the end of each school year. As part of the curriculum, Vatel students acquire core operational, legal, financial marketing, and linguistic skills for their field. They also learn crucial managerial techniques and leadership skills. Their placements in renowned hospitality establishments for their practical applications enable the students to acquire on the job training and provides them with the opportunity to put into practice the theoretical knowledge they have received in class and to suggest new and innovative ways to improve the job processes that they encounter in the industry. A testament to the importance that Vatel places on practical learning has been the establishment of Nyurah, a high-end restaurant where Vatel students are exposed to various roles ranging from Executive Chefs to Food and Beverage managers. Nyurah serves as a culinary center of excellence, where the students get to work alongside fine-dining experts who teach and mentor them to achieve their career goals.

• Eldevina Materula, Mozambique’s Minister of Culture and Tourism

Mozambique is a tourist’s heartthrob that provides everything from wanderlust adventure to traditional Southern Africa safaris and long swathes of over 2500km of pristine, untouched beaches ideal for holidaymakers who revel in sun and sand for all year-round summer rendezvous.

The country, however, is largely unknown for its tourism draw and offer, a situation Culture and Tourism Minister Eldevina Materula hopes to reverse. Appearing on the VA Tourism Podcast, the Tourism Minister said her plans for tourism is to increase the industry’s contribution to GDP, ensuring an enabling environment for tourism investors to find the facilities and favorable conditions for their businesses to prosper. “… but above all, my big challenge is to place Mozambique on the international market. I also want my country to be on the African map of intra-African tourism and become a reference destination for Safari, sun and beach and cultural tourism. We are a people with a unique cultural mosaic that can be very well used to improve the lives of my wonderful people,” she divulged. Earlier in May this year, the Minister was in Spain where she met with the UNWTO Secretary-General and participated in FITUR activities including INVESTOUR all in a bid to court investments into her country’s tourism and promote the destination. Ms. Eldevina also attended the Brand Africa Conference in Namibia where tourism leaders and stakeholders met to explore swift recovery strategies for the continent’s tourism sector.

Many hotels, restaurants, and tourism services providers, according to her, have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the cumulative closure of 1,239 tourist establishments that affected 12,027 workers, with over 52.8% drop in international arrivals and a 95% drop in revenues.

“Due to this situation, it was necessary to readjust the annual plan to the new reality, which quickly led us to think and implement some initiatives to face the situation.“As a country, we reinforced the capacity of our operators to remain operational, keeping jobs through lines of credit, but unfortunately this was not enough due to the impact that COVID-19 had on the businesses,” Ms. Eldevina said.

She added that, “We have adopted measures to ensure that tour operators implement security measures to bring confidence to their customers and from that internal exercise, we introduced the clean and safe seal, an initiative that aimed to ensure that hotel facilities were safe, follow all protocol procedures to ensure a COVID-19 free facilities.” The country’s aviation sector, Ms. Eldevina said, had also taken a hit but is hopeful will bounce back with more international airlines expected to resume operations once the COVID-19 situation improves. Beyond this, the Minister wants travelers all over Africa and beyond to know that “Mozambique has so much to offer as a destination, this includes an underwater paradise teeming with untouched coral reefs, unique and diverse cultural experience, captivating history of the country and vibrant, bustling, cosmopolitan African cities and towns. “Personally I would say our unique selling points would be the beautiful combination of ocean and bush safari (unique to Southern Africa) that we offer in the southern region of the country,” she emphasised.

• Dr. Carlos Jorge Duarte Santos,

Minister of Tourism and Transport

Ghana’s Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal has stated that the government intends to train 30,000 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the tourism sector in the next three years. According to him, small businesses are unable to survive and ensure sustainability when founders suffer demise. “In Africa, 90% of businesses are all SMEs. But there is a challenge; only 50% of the tourism SMEs survive after the demise of their founders and it is not the best”, he posited. The Minister in his address on the 2nd day of the 3rd edition of the African Youth in Tourism Innovation Summit and Challenge also stated that “It is in this light that the President of Ghana will train 30,000 SMEs in the tourism industry. This will mean that it will build the capacity and strengthen the ability to compete and create jobs and equip young people” “In Africa, it is very important with a youthful population of 64% to 65%; as such, we cannot go without the support of the youth. However, the youth must also demonstrate that they are willing to take the bull by its horns”, he charged. He urged all young people to be passionate, obsessive, innovative, and creative. “It is not about thinking about past problems but instead what are the opportunities that lie before you and the government opportunities to support you.” The Minister revealed that government will provide a seed funding of GHC120 million for the initiative. The Regional Director for Africa, UNWTO, Elcia Grandcourt stated that “young people will play a key and active role in driving and playing a transformative transition of the tourism sector and in paving the way in future advancement within the real global scenario brought by Covid 19 pandemic.” According to her, ‘this is particularly true for us in Africa which is the youngest continent in the world with 60% of its population below the age of 25.’ She again said that capacity and training will be paramount if policymakers are to empower and cultivate the talents of the next generation of tourism professionals who will be required to identify instructive ideas and solutions in other to tackle the challenges the world is currently facing including building back better from the crisis. The three-day summit dubbed ‘Empowering African youth in Tourism through Innovation, Education, and Investments in a changed World’ was held in Accra and organized to encourage youth in tourism to take up the mantle of leadership in tourism through entrepreneurship and innovation. It also presented a platform for them to be innovative and be informed about trends in the aviation, tourism, travel and hospitality sector. Day two which took a more hybrid approach had sessions that bordered on accessing financial instruments for tourism start-ups, the future of travel and tourism, and the need to incorporate emerging trends such as Artificial Intelligence and other digital innovations that not only guarantee businesses’ survival but ensure that they are able to adapt to future changes. A key highlight of the day was the pitch by six finalists of the Africa Youth in Tourism Innovation Challenge who made a case for support for their start-up ideas in the presence of a jury of experts drawn from academia, finance, tech, and social sectors. The winner was to be announced on day three of the Summit.

• Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, Ghana's Minister of

Tourism, Arts and Culture

Ethiopian Airlines Cargo and Logistics Services and Liege Airport have announced that they have renewed their long standing partnership agreement until 2026. Liege Airport, Belgium’s largest cargo airport and the 6th largest cargo airport in Europe, will continue to be Ethiopian Airlines cargo hub serving as a freighter gateway between Africa and Europe for the next five years. Ethiopian Airlines Cargo and Logistics Services, Africa’s largest cargo network operator, has been working with Liege airport for its freighter operations between Africa and Europe. Ethiopian Airlines Cargo and Logistics Services Acting Managing Director, Mr. Enquanhone Minyashal said “We are glad to have renewed our partnership agreement with our long-standing partner airport at a time when we are registering tremendous growth in our cargo destinations and capacity. In collaboration with Liege Airport, Ethiopian Cargo and Logistics Services has been providing fast and secure cargo transportation services across Europe and beyond for the last 15 years of successful cooperation. In the next five years, we will work to transform our freighter operations to serve Europe better with our renewed commitment to Liege Airport. As the largest pan African carrier, Ethiopian Airlines will continue to strengthen its partnership with Liege Airport to boost its freighter operations between Africa and Europe.” Steven Verhasselt, VP Commercial of Liege Airport said “First of all, Liege Airport would like to wish Ethiopian Airlines and all its staff and partners a very happy 75th birthday. It is with great pride that we are part of Ethiopian’s success story for almost 15 years and LGG will continue to be Ethiopian Airline’s cargo hub in Europe. Looking back from the start to where we are today, Ethiopian has already operated 15,000 freighter flights into LGG, approaching an incredible 1 Million Tonnes of cargo carried. Still, Steven Verhasselt highlights, this is the past and can be considered as a very impressive start. Today, we celebrate the future. Ethiopian and LGG have renewed their partnership agreement that not only confirms the European Cargo hub in LGG for the next 5 years but also states that Ethiopian will become much more than an airline flying into LGG. In the future, a dedicated cargo hub can be established in Liege North, for which Ethiopian was the launch customer to start with. We are very much looking forward to this next step that will help Ethiopian to serve its customers even better. More than ever, LGG will be the hub for Ethiopian and the main freighter gateway between Africa and Europe.” According to the African Airlines Association’s (AFRAA) report, Ethiopian was ranked first by passenger and cargo traffic in 2020. Ethiopian carried 500 thousand tons of freight and 5.5 million passengers through its main hub, Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. Ethiopian recently has been honored with a gold award for the volume of cargo transported to and from Guangdong Airport in 2020 by Logistics of Guangdong Airport Authority Co. Ltd. at a seminar held in 2021 in Guangzhou. In the same month, Ethiopian Cargo and Logistics Services won the World Air Cargo Customer Care Award 2021 during the virtual Air Cargo Weeks Award program held on 05 May 2021. Ethiopian contributed to saving the world during the pandemic. So far the airline has operated 450+ charter flights of PPE shipment to combat COVID 19 and transported more than 30 million doses of vaccine to more than 24 countries.