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Kenya Airways positions itself to play key role in AfCFTA
BY DOMINICK ANDOH & NATASHA APPIAH
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ith the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) set to come into effect next year, Nairobi-based Kenya Airways says it has positioned itself to play a leading role in facilitating cargo and passenger transport within the
continent.The AfCFTA could create an economic bloc with a combined GDP of US$3.4 trillion. Once in place, intra-African trade is expected to grow by 33%, and Africa’s total trade deficit is expected to be cut in half.
The agreement is made up of 54 African countries merging into a single market of 1.3 billion people. It would facilitate the movement of persons and labour, competition, investment and intellectual property. Country Manager of Kenya Airways in Ghana, Anthony Safo, told AviationGhana that the airline is wellplaced to tap into the opportunity the AfCFTA presents. “Kenya Airways is clearly the African airline of choice. Even in this trying year, we still maintained what has now become the tradition of being the leading African airline in both Economy Class and Business Class as awarded by the World Travel Awards. With over 42 destination across the continent, Kenya is truly the Pride of Africa. “With AfCFTA in place now, our task is to simply continue playing the lead role we have been playing in intraAfrican trade. This we have done by partnering and sponsoring trade and business expos across the continent,
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Committee to resolve aviation land issues offers hope BY NATASHA APPIAH & ISAAC SETUGAH
A Technical Committee set-up by government to look into issues regarding the development of the Aviation Lands at La Transmission station (LA-Ts) and La Nkwantanang at Adenta has vowed to bring finality to the issues at hand. The 8-member Committee is made up of aviation experts, representatives from the Ghana Air Force, the National Communications PAGE 03
Robin Hayes to take over from Carsten Spohr at IATA Robin Hayes, CEO of JetBlue is now the Chair of the IATA Board of Governors (BoG), succeeding Carsten Spohr, Chair IATA BoG (2019-2020) and CEO of Lufthansa. Mr. Hayes will serve a term commencing immediately and ending at the conclusion of the Association’s 78th Annual General Meeting to be held in 2022. Hayes will serve an extended term as Chair covering two AGMs due the disruption to governance cycles necessitated by the COVID-19 crisis. PAGE 02
THE BOSS’ INTERVIEW Interview with Mr. Anthony Safo, Kenya Airways’ Country Manager for Ghana
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Committee to resolve aviation land issues offers hope Authority, National security and the Employment and Labour Relations. The Committee is expected to present its findings and recommendations in the coming months. Addressing the Committee members, Chief of Staff Ms.Frema Osei-Opare said the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has high and ambitious vision for the Aviation Sector and there is therefore the need to tackle problems that serve as threats to the President’s vision of Ghana becoming an aviation hub in the sub-region. Present at the inaugural meeting were high ranking officers of government, including Minister for Aviation, Joseph Kofi Adda, the Deputy Minister for National Security, Henry Quartey, Chief Directors for Aviation and Presidency among others. It would be recalled that domestic flights in Ghana were cancelled, following a strike action by workers of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) over encroachment and perforating of underground cables at its La Wireless Station near the AU Village in Accra.
According to the CAA’s workers union, the downing of tools, which started at 3pm local time on Wednesday, October 14, 2020, is to press home the need for government to intervene and stop all on-going developments on the said 60 acre plus land located at an upmarket neighbourhood in Ghana’s capital, Accra. Background to the long-running
Kenya Airways positions itself to play key role in AfCFTA organising sporting events that bring business people together; and most importantly, providing the means in the form of our cargo service, to carry goods across countries. We have been doing this and more over the years, and will continue leading the way.” It is projected that the AfCFTA could generate US$6.7 trillion in combined consumer and business spending by 2030. Asked whether KQ is considering doing a lot more Cargo in West Africa, which is renowned for the production of various fruit and cash crops in the near future, Mr. Safo said: “We are already doing a lot more cargo. One of the biggest lessons COVID-19 has taught us is
to take a more detailed look at some of the services we used to offer and the hidden opportunities around us; and cargo has been an eye-opener.” Special Package for travel industry players. Kenya Airways has announced an incredible reward promotion for all travel industry players including: staff of travel agents, tour operators, media partners, travel managers of corporate institutions, hotel partners and airport/civil aviation partners. “With this promo, you get a discount of 75% if you belong to any of the groups indicated; and this is running till 31st January 2021. It is our reward for all travel industry players who stood with us during the trying times,” Mr. Safo said.
issue The land on which the La Wireless Station Aviation Training School in Accra is sited was leased by government on behalf of the GCAA from the La Traditional Council for a total of 99 years. As at last year, there were 27 years left on the lease. The lease has since been renewed for an additional 63years but with portions of the land reverting
back to the La Traditional Council. Developers, backed by the Council, have since started redeveloping portions of the land. It is this activity that caused damage to some underground cables of various Air Navigation Service (ANS) installations. This threatens aviation safety in the Accra Flight Information Region (FIR).
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Robin Hayes to take over from Carsten Spohr at IATA Rickard Gustafson, CEO of SAS Group will serve as Chairman of the BoG from the conclusion of the 78th IATA AGM in 2022 until the conclusion of the 79th AGM in 2023, following Hayes’ term. Additionally, Willie Walsh, former CEO of International Airlines Group (IAG) will become IATA’s 8th Director General from 1 April 2021. He will succeed Alexandre de Juniac, who has led IATA since 2016 and who will step down from IATA at the end of March 2021. “I am pleased to be ending my term as Chair of the IATA BoG with strong leadership in place to see IATA through the crisis and lead the industry towards recovery. I thank all the members of the BoG and Alexandre for their support over the 18 months that I have served as BoG Chair—particularly during the crisis period. That support enabled extraordinary efforts by IATA during the crisis. Those efforts have made our association even more relevant. With today’s leadership announcements we can be assured that IATA remains in good hands. Robin will be a strong leader for the BoG. I am confident
that Alexandre will continue to be an authoritative voice for the industry as he completes his term as Director General and CEO. And Willie will take up the mantle from April with the fierce leadership determination for which he is well-known,” said Spohr. On his part, Mr. Hayes said: “The expectations for IATA’s leadership are high. Managing through the crisis is, of course, at the top of the agenda. We must safely re-open borders and build back the vital global connectivity that has been lost in this crisis. There is a great expectation for aviation’s role in the global distribution of a vaccines when they are ready. Safely re-starting large parts of the industry after months of being grounded is a challenge that will require IATA to work with governments globally. And, in additional COVID-19 related work, we have a clear mandate to meet our 2050 goal to cut net aviation emissions to half 2005 levels; and explore pathways to net zero globally. I look forward to driving these priorities forward with the support of Alexandre, Willie, the BoG and all our members.” Hayes was named president of
JetBlue in 2014 and appointed CEO in 2015, a position that also encompasses subsidiaries JetBlue Technology Ventures and JetBlue Travel Products. He joined JetBlue in 2008 as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial
Officer after a 19-year career with British Airways. These changes at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) were approved by the 76th IATA Annual General Meeting (AGM).
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THE BOSS’ INTERVIEW MR. ANTHONY SAFO, KENYA AIRWAYS’ COUNTRY MANAGER FOR GHANA
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enya Airways (KQ) is one of the most important flag carriers on the continent, driving the tourism sector of the East Africa country. Given KQ’s important role in regional and continent-wide connectivity that drive trade and investment, Mr. Anthony Safo, Kenya Airways’ Country Manager for Ghana shares his thoughts on how the airline is positioning itself to play a significant role when the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) comes into force next year. He spoke with AviationGhana’s Dominick Andoh. AviationGhana:: Post-COVID-19 lockdown, how would you assess the West Africa aviation market? Anthony Safo (AS): I believe this region has recovered better than most for several reasons, key amongst those being the longestablished practice of intra-regional travelling. Travel traffic has generally been reduced significantly, but the general traffic between Accra and both Freetown and Monrovia, Accra and Lagos, Abidjan and Dakar etc. has not suffered as much as has happened elsewhere. Apart from that, West Africa has a considerably growing leisure market and is also fast becoming a preferred travel destination. As a result, traffic both in and out of the region has grown over the years. This trajectory was halted during the lockdown era, but is gradually picking up momentum. Lastly, West Africans love to see other parts of the world; and so travel to the rest of Africa, Europe, the Americas and the East is gradually picking up as well, whether the
“We are happy to announce an incredible reward promotion to all travel industry players who stood with us during the trying times. These include staff of: Travel Agents, Tour Operators, Media Partners, Travel Managers of Corporate Institutions, Hotel Partners and Airport/ Civil Aviation partners. With this promo, you get a discount of 75% if you belong to any of the groups indicated; and this is running till 31st January 2021.”
travellers are trading, on corporate business or just visiting family and friends. AviationGhana:: Demand has been low, how’s Kenya Airways coping in Ghana with such dampened demand? AS: Low demand was expected for the industry in general. In order to thrive within this not-sodesirable situation, we continually sought relevant information from stakeholders and used this in planning. Our first action was to reduce capacity commensurate with reduced demand; then monitor growth in traffic and respond with capacity changes as required. We have also been very strategic with pricing AviationGhana:: Post COVID-19 lockdown in Ghana and Kenya
respectively, has KQ resumed all of its routes? AS: When countries around the world begun lifting travel restriction, our first concern was when our home country would be opened for travel. Immediately that happened, we begun resuming flights into countries that had borders opened and then gradually brought on other destination as and when their borders opened. With the exception of a few, we have resumed flights on most of our routes. AviationGhana:: What is the COVID-19 protocol in place in Nairobi? AS: As is prudent, we are constantly educating our clientele on the need to adhere to the precise protocol in place at your destination. We also check to ensure that you have met these requirements before we allow you to board our flights. We are intentionally working together with the government and health authorities across destination countries to ensure adherence to the right procedure in pursuit of health and safety. AviationGhana:: On the Nairobi-Accra route, are there any promotional offers to stimulate demand? AS: On the Nairobi-Accra route and beyond, we are happy to announce an incredible reward promotion to all travel industry players who stood with us during the trying times. These include staff of: Travel Agents, Tour Operators, Media Partners, Travel Managers of Corporate Institutions, Hotel Partners and Airport/Civil Aviation partners. With this promo, you get a
discount of 75% if you belong to any of the groups indicated; and this is running till 31st January 2021. AviationGhana:: The AfCFTA is coming into effect next year and airlines are crucial to the success or otherwise of the agreement. How’s KQ positioning itself to play a leading role, especially in West Africa? AS: Kenya Airways is clearly the African airline of choice. Even in this trying year, we still maintained what has now become the tradition of being the leading African airline in both Economy Class and Business Class as awarded by the World Travel Awards. With over 42 destination across the continent, Kenya is truly the Pride of Africa. With AfCFTA in place now, our task is to simply continue playing the lead role we have been playing in intra-African trade. This we have done by partnering and sponsoring trade and business expos across the continent, organising sporting events that bring business people together; and most importantly, providing the means in the form of our cargo service, to carry goods across countries. We have been doing this and more over the years, and will continue leading the way. AviationGhana:: KQ considering doing a lot more Cargo in West Africa, which is renowned for the production of various fruit and cash crops in the near future? AS: We are already doing a lot more cargo. One of the biggest lessons Covid-19 has taught us is to take a more detailed look at some of the services we used to offer and the hidden opportunities around us; and cargo has been an eye-opener.
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ICAO launches manual on testing and crossborder risk management ICAO issued a bulletin on Monday November 23, announcing its new Testing and Cross-border Risk Management Measures Manual (Doc 10152), developed by the members of the dedicated CAPSCA group it established in 2009 for the prevention and management of public health events in civil aviation. The new publication is available free of charge on the UN agency’s COVID-19 online portal, along with the comprehensive guidelines, tools and resources it has been putting at countries’ disposal since the onset of the pandemic. “This new risk management manual is designed to help countries assess and include personal tests as part of their overall air transport public health responses to COVID-19,” commented ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu. “It’s accelerated development through ICAO’s CAPSCA group has been a prime example of the effective collaboration it has established among ICAO, the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the European Centre for Prevention and Disease Control (ECDC), and others,” she noted, “and I must also appreciate here the important contributions to
this publication made by the World Health Organization (WHO), and by aviation medical and health experts from both governments and industry.” The CAPSCA team’s work on the testing evaluation document was initiated earlier this year, and guided by the Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) established by ICAO’s
diplomatic governing Council. Composed of experts from 16 governments, theWHO, the UNWorld Tourism Organization (UNWTO), regional bodies, and industry groups, the CART task force had requested that ICAO provide countries with updated guidance supporting the effective evaluation of disease testing
options for air travellers. “The CART has recently published its updated Phase II response and recovery guidelines to States,” highlighted ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano. “These include its new Recommendation 13, which stresses the importance of the risk assessment tools which this manual contains for evaluating new testing solutions, while underscoring as well that tests are still not universally recommended by public health authorities as a routine health screening method.” ICAO’s global traffic monitoring has recorded that air travel passenger demand dropped by 90% at the onset of the pandemic in April of this year, and it presently estimates that overall 2020 passenger totals will be down by 60% compared to 2019. Resources issued by the ICAO CART and Secretariat are currently assisting and aligning countries’ pandemic responses in air transport, including their innovating of public health corridors and similar travel bubble solutions between specific international destinations. (Source: ICAO)
IATA calls for reopening borders with testing and without quarantine The International Air Transport Association (IATA) 76th Annual General Meeting (AGM) unanimously resolved to urgently call on governments to re-open borders to travel. IATA is proposing systematic testing of international travelers which would permit the lifting of border restrictions and provide an alternative to current quarantine rules. Quarantines essentially kill demand for air travel and governments need to immediately consider the drastic socio-economic effect this is having. International air travel continues to be down 90% on 2019 levels. Current estimates are that as many as 46 million jobs supported by air travel could be lost and that the economic activity sustained by aviation will be reduced by US $1.8 trillion. “People want and need global mobility. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Takeoff measures make flying safe. But border closures, movement
restrictions and quarantine measures make travel impossible for most. We must manage how we live with the virus. But that does not have to mean
destroying aviation, risking millions of jobs, crippling economies and tearing apart the international social fabric. We could safely open borders today
with systematic COVID-19 testing,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO. In its resolution the AGM also reaffirmed the industry’s continuing commitment to implementing globally agreed biosafety protocols; encouraged governments to implement guidance developed by ICAO; and asked governments to ensure that aviation staff and international travelers are prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination once safe and effective treatments become available and health care workers and vulnerable groups have been protected. The AGM also reinforced the vital role of air transport in facilitating the global response to the pandemic, including the timely distribution of medicines, testing kits, protective equipment and eventually vaccines around the world.
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Airlines to post US$118.5 billion net loss for 2020-IATA
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he International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced a revised outlook for airline industry performance in 2020 and 2021. Deep industry losses will continue into 2021, even though performance is expected to improve over the period of the forecast. A net loss of $118.5 billion is expected for 2020, deeper than the US$84.3 billion forecast in June. A net loss of $38.7 billion is also projected for 2021, a figure deeper than the US$15.8 billion forecast in June). IATA projects that performance factors in 2021 will show improvements on 2020; and the second half of 2021 is expected to see improvements after a difficult 2021 first half. Aggressive cost-cutting is expected to combine with increased demand during 2021, due to the re-opening of borders with testing and/or the widespread availability of a vaccine) to see the industry turn cash-positive in the fourth quarter of 2021 which is earlier than previously forecast. Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General said: “This crisis is devastating and unrelenting. Airlines have cut costs by 45.8%, but revenues are down 60.9%. The result is that airlines will lose $66 for every passenger carried this year for a total net loss of $118.5 billion. This loss will be reduced sharply by $80 billion in 2021. But the prospect of losing $38.7 billion next year is nothing to celebrate. We need to get borders
safely re-opened without quarantine so that people will fly again. And with airlines expected to bleed cash at least until the fourth quarter of 2021 there is no time to lose,” 2020 The COVID-19 crisis challenged the industry for its very survival in 2020. In the face of a half trillion-dollar revenue drop (from $838 billion in 2019 to $328 billion) airlines cut costs by $365 billion (from $795 billion in 2019 to $430 billion in 2020). “The history books will record 2020 as the industry’s worst financial year, bar none. Airlines cut expenses by an average of a billion dollars a day over 2020 and will still rack-up unprecedented losses. Were it not for the $173 billion in financial support by governments we would have seen bankruptcies on a massive scale,” said de Juniac. All major operational parameters in the passenger business were negative: • Passenger numbers are expected to plummet to 1.8 billion (60.5% down on the 4.5 billion passengers in 2019). This is roughly the same number that the industry carried in 2003. • Passenger revenues are expected to fall to $191 billion, less than a third of the $612 billion earned in 2019. This largely driven by a 66% fall in passenger demand (measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometers/RPK). International markets were hit disproportionately hard with a
75% fall in demand. Domestic markets, largely propelled by a recovery in China and Russia, are expected to perform better and end 2020 49% below 2019 levels. • Further weakness is demonstrated by passenger yields which are expected to be down 8% compared to 2019 and a weak passenger load factor which is expected to be 65.5%, down from the 82.5% recorded in 2019, a level last seen in 1993. Operational parameters for cargo are performing significantly better than for passenger but are still depressed compared to 2019: • Uplift is expected to be 54.2 million tonnes in 2019, down from 61.3 million tonnes in 2019 • Cargo revenues are bucking the trend, increasing to $117.7 billion in 2020 from $102.4 billion in 2019. A 45% fall in overall capacity, driven largely by the precipitous fall in passenger demand which took out critical belly capacity for cargo (-24%), pushed yields up by 30% in 2020. “Cargo is performing better than the passenger business. It could not, however, make up for the fall in passenger revenue. But it has become a significantly larger part of airline revenues and cargo revenues are making it possible for airlines to sustain their skeleton international
networks,” said de Juniac. In 2019 cargo accounted for 12% of revenues and that is expected to grow to 36% in 2020. 2021 Airline financial performance is expected to see a significant turn for the better in 2021, even if historically deep losses prevail. The expected $38.7 billion loss in 2021 will be second only to 2020 performance. On the assumption that there is some opening of borders by mid-2021 (either through testing or growing availability of a vaccine), overall revenues are expected to grow to $459 billion ($131 billion improvement on 2020, but still 45% below the $838 billion achieved in 2019). In comparison, costs are only expected to rise by $61 billion, delivering overall improved financial performance. Airlines will still lose, however, $13.78 for each passenger carried. By the end of 2021 stronger revenues will improve the situation, but the first half of next year still looks extremely challenging. Passenger numbers are expected to grow to 2.8 billion in 2021. That would be a billion more travelers than in 2020, but still 1.7 billion travelers short of 2019 performance. Passenger yields are expected to be flat and the load factor is expected to improve to 72.7% (an improvement on the 65.5% expected for 2020, but still well below the 82.5% achieved in 2019). The cargo side of the business is expected to continue with strong performance. Improved business confidence and the important role that air cargo should play in vaccine distribution is expected to see cargo volumes grow to 61.2 million tonnes (up from 54.2 million tonnes in 2020 and essentially matching the 61.3 million tonnes carried in 2019). A continued capacity crunch due to the slow reintroduction of belly capacity from passenger services combined with a higher proportion of time and temperature sensitive cargo (vaccines) will see a further 5% increase in yields. This will contribute to strong performance in cargo revenues which are expected to grow to an historic high of $139.8 billion. Challenges to Recovery While the industry will see improved performance in 2021 compared to 2020, the road to recovery is expected to be long and difficult. Passenger volumes are not expected to return to 2019 levels until 2024 at the earliest, with domestic markets recovering faster than international services. Several critical challenges need urgent attention: Debt Levels and Financial Support:
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Airlines are surviving on financial life support from governments. Even after $173 billion of government support of various kinds in 2020, the median airline has just 8.5 months of cash to survive. Many have far less as the industry enters into the critical winter period, which is characterized by weak demand even in normal times. While cash burn has diminished from the peak of the crisis, airlines are still expected to burn an average of $6.8 billion/month during the first half of 2021, before the industry turns cash positive in the fourth quarter of 2021. “The financial damage of this crisis is severe. Government support has kept airlines alive to this point. More is likely needed as the crisis is lasting longer than anyone could have anticipated. And it must come in forms that that do not increase the already high debt load which has ballooned to $651 billion. Bridging airlines to the recovery is one of the most important investments that governments can make. It will save jobs and kick-start the recovery in the travel and tourism sector which accounts for 10% of global GDP,” said de Juniac. Closed Borders/Quarantine: The biggest factors impeding the industry’s recovery are travel restrictions and quarantine measure that effectively prevent a meaningful revival of travel. The most immediate and critical solution is the safe re-opening of borders using systematic COVID-19 testing. Longer-term, the widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccinations should enable borders to remain open without testing or restriction, but the timeline for vaccine availability is uncertain. “We have the ability to safely reopen travel with systematic testing. We cannot wait on the promise of a vaccine. We are preparing for efficient vaccine distribution. But testing is the immediate solution to meaningfully re-open air travel. With 46 million jobs at risk in the travel and tourism sector alone because of plummeting air travel, we must act fast with solutions that are at hand. We have fast, accurate and scalable testing that can safely do the job. The airlines are ready. The livelihoods of millions are in the hands of governments and public health authorities. Governments understood the criticality of a viable air transport sector when they invested billions to keep it afloat. Now they need to protect those investments by giving airlines the means to safely do business,” said de Juniac. Confidence “The numbers couldn’t get much worse. But there is a way forward. With the continued financial support of governments to keep airlines financially viable and the use of testing to enable travel without quarantine, we have a plan to overcome the worst
feature immediately. And longer-term the progress on vaccines is encouraging. Most importantly, people have not lost their desire to travel. The market response to even small measures to lift quarantine is immediate and strong. Where barriers have been removed, travel rebounded. The thirst for the
freedom to fly has not been overcome by the crisis. There is every reason for optimism when governments use testing to open borders. And we need to make that happen fast,” said de Juniac. Regional Summary While all regions are impacted by
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the crisis, those airlines with larger domestic markets or with large cargo operations are performing better. The differences between the regions become more exaggerated in 2021 with Asia Pacific and North American carriers seeing the most significant reductions in expected losses.
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Gambia: Barra, a possible long-term tourism asset In his ongoing annual tourism facilities tour, Minister of Tourism and Culture, Honorable Hamat NK Bah, has counselled people of North Bank Region (NBR) not to sell their lands in exchange for money, as that will not last forever. “You can have lease agreement with whoever that is interested, as the next site of beauty of The Gambia is here, Barra,” the Minister advised. The yearly tour involves an inspection of some ongoing tourism projects situated across destination Gambia. Minister Bah who was addressing the Chief, Alkalo and Governor of NBR shortly after his inspection of DK Jawara Resort; situated in Barra closer to Fort Bullen, on his first day of the 2020 winter tourism facilities tour further encouraged people of North Bank to protect their lands and not to sell them.
He continued that they should go in to lease agreement which will spell out necessary term including lease period and some other term of modalities. He said frantically that “once you sell it you cannot get it back and to avoid being a loser as buyer enjoys. Therefore, guard your lands, it is your asset. It is just an advised I have to give,” he said. The Minister went on that very soon lands will become more precious in NBR as the “government of Adama Barrow is bringing back what is missing, infrastructural developments to north bank which the Hakanlang Road is one of some important projects of this government.” With confidence, he expressed that it will make a great impact in the life of the people who live in the area and general Gambia people at. “So we are committed to that course and we will not leave any stones
unturned in getting to achieve our objectives in promoting the rural and domestic tourism in this part of the country because the time has come to get development to the people particularly tourism which carries 20 percent of our GDP,” he assured.
Minister informed the community that it’s presently winter tourism season in the country and despite the minimal cases of coronavirus pandemic recorded in the country the destination is still awaiting arrival of flights from various source markets.
UNWTO: Global Tourism Plastics Initiative Welcomes 26 New Signatories The new signatories include Booking. com, G Adventures, The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Inkaterra, TUI Care Foundation, deSter part of gategroup, and International Aviation Waste Management Platform, among others. They feature suppliers of guest amenities, on-the-go packaging and waste-management platforms, as well as accommodation providers (both large groups and SMEs), leading online tourism platforms, tour operators, and associations working at the destination level. The Global Tourism Plastics Initiative was launched in January 2020 and now counts on 46 signatories, illustrating how reducing plastics pollution in tourism remains a priority despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The diversity of the signatories highlights the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative’s potential to promote systemic solutions that can be implemented locally and scaled up globally. Tackling plastic pollution remains a priority for sector Within the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic, a circular
approach to the management of plastic items and packaging can avoid any increase in the use of singleuse plastics for hygiene purposes. It can also relieve pressure on waste management infrastructures and foster a more sustainable supply chain. In this sense, a circular economy for plastics is critical for the tourism sector to preserve and protect destinations and to recover responsibly from the current crisis. UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “Moving towards the circular economy is a strategic approach for the tourism sector. The Global Tourism Plastics Initiative can lead to the reduction of pollution and waste across all parts of the tourism sector and support a responsible recovery from COVID-19 that leads to more sustainability and resilience.” Elisa Tonda, Head of the consumption and production unit of UNEP, adds: “The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for urgent action on the climate, nature and pollution and waste crises which are driven by unsustainable consumption and production, but
has also provided with a window of opportunity to prioritize sustainability as part of a green recovery. This new group of signatories of the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative reflects the continued commitment of the tourism value chain to increase circularity in the plastic system and maintain their ambition to tackle plastic pollution, moving forward in a post-COVID world.” Recommendations informing recovery plans Earlier this year, a series of recommendations for the tourism sector to continue taking action on plastic pollution throughout the pandemic were released. These serve as a basis to develop COVID-19 recovery plans, revise standard operating procedures, and define plastic management strategies. The recommendations are now available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian. Gerald Naber, programme manager, New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, adds: “The signatories of the Global Commitment are
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making encouraging initial progress on delivering their targets towards a circular economy, but a substantial acceleration of progress will be needed to achieve the 2025 targets.” The Global Tourism Plastics Initiative forms part of the larger framework of the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment. Specifically, the Initiative acts as sectoral interface to the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, which recently released its Progress Report for 2020. The Global Tourism Plastics Initiative unites the tourism sector behind a common vision to address the root causes of plastic pollution. Developed within the framework of the Sustainable Tourism Programme of the One Planet network, the Initiative is led by the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Tourism Organization, in collaboration with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (Source: UNWTO)
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