Kate

FCM’s new next-generation technology suite, FCM Connect, gives travellers, bookers and managers critical safety and duty of care support via 'Secure'. Secure is a comprehensive risk management solution customised to each client’s requirements. Its features include itinerary-based traveller tracking; colour-coded risk mapping; flight tracking for aircraft incidents or cancellation; real-time security alerts; and high-level country and city risk ratings. In addition, Secure...

From 1 June, guests travelling to Singita Sabi Sand lodges in South Africa can now make use of a newly launched private jet service, with Federal Airlines offering direct non-stop access from O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. The experience begins on the tarmac at ORTIA, where guests are personally met airside as they disembark their commercial flight. A VIP passport...

Hilton has signed a management agreement with UA Hotel Company to open a 207-room Hilton Garden Inn in Umhlanga, Durban on South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal coast. Hilton Garden Inn is the group’s “select services” brand and the hotel is expected to open in 2020. The new hotel will be part of Umhlanga Arch, a significant mixed-use development under construction in Umhlanga’s Ridgeside...

AccorHotels has announced a strategic partnership with the South Africa-based Mantis Group, a collection of privately-owned, managed and branded five-star properties and lodges located around the world, across all seven continents. The agreement sees Accor acquire a 50% stake in the Mantis Group. The partnership is accompanied by the launch of the Community Conservation Fund Africa (CCFA), a non-profit organization that...

Travelport and Priceline.com have announced that they have signed a long-term renewal agreement for Travelport to continue providing pricing, booking and ticketing technology and content to Priceline. The renewal comes approximately 20 years after the two companies signed their first agreement for Priceline to process reservations through Travelport’s GDS. Throughout the past two decades, Travelport and Priceline have worked together to...

RwandAir and Question Coffee have announced a partnership to serve Rwandan specialty coffee on all RwandAir flights, with over two million cups to be offered in the next two years. This partnership allows passengers the opportunity to support small holder women farmers and their families in Rwanda, and in this way RwandAir will be connecting the world with locally grown...

Fortis Hotels has launched its own signature South African hotel brand. This, after operating several Protea hotels around the country for many years. With that comes the launch of six Fortis-branded hotels: Fortis Hotel Capital (Pretoria), Fortis Hotel Manor (Pretoria), Fortis Hotel Malaga (Waterval Boven), Fortis Hotel Witbank (Witbank), Fortis Hotel Highveld (Emalahleni) and Fortis Hotel Evander (Secunda). The group will continue...

Virgin Atlantic is betting big on South Africa, adding a second daily service into Johannesburg and reaffirming its commitment to a market its been serving for over 21 years. The airline’s head of its Middle East & Africa region, Liezl Gericke, was, unsurprisingly, happy to host editor Dylan Rogers for a coffee in Johannesburg, to expand on this announcement...

The Lufthansa Group and Tourvest Travel Services have unveiled the first New Distribution Capability (NDC)-capable Direct Connect solution in the South African market. As the first TMC in South Africa to fully implement Direct Connect, Tourvest will receive Lufthansa Group content using a new NDC-capable distribution channel. Editor Dylan Rogers sat down with Dr Andre Schulz, Lufthansa’s General Manager...

As opposed to a ‘standard’ hotel group, Preferred Hotels & Resorts is what the hospitality industry likes to call a ‘soft brand collection’ and a global portfolio of independent hotels. Member hotels get access to Preferred’s expertise and support services, while still maintaining their individuality, as explained by CEO Lindsey Ueberroth and Executive Vice-President Saurabh Rai over lunch in...

BACKGROUND: Air Mauritius used its 50th birthday to introduce the A350-900 aircraft to its fleet, making it the first operator in the Indian Ocean and the second in Africa to take on this aircraft. The interior of the A350 is spacious, with decent headroom, has been fitted with new seats in both cabins, and is equipped with wi-fi. The...

BACKGROUND: Formerly an old cattle farm west of the Kruger National Park, Makalali Private Game Lodge is now a premiere wildlife-viewing destination. Previously owned by Three Cities, aha Hotels and Lodges, the tourism property management company of Tourvest ’s Accommodation and Activities division, took it over around four years ago. I stayed at the Makalali Main Lodge, which was...