Mango Launches Apps

Mango has become the first South African domestic carrier to offer an App on the Apple platform. The product is available from the App Store. 

The airline plans to make the App available across most other mobile platforms during the next couple of months. In October last year, Mango launched the country’s first airline mobi-site with a booking functionality.

 Users will be able to book, pay, change flights, receive updated airline communication and participate in promotions, among others functions. An information wallet will also allow users to store generic travel detail for future ease-of-use. 

Since the launch of its mobi-site, Mango has logged in excess of 30,000 flight queries via the platform. Currently usage via Apple platforms dominates device types used, ranking at 60% of enquiry volume.

New Property for Nairobi

One of Asia’s most prominent hospitality groups, Dusit International, will be opening a new hotel property in Nairobi, Kenya in the third quarter of 2013.
DusitD2 Nairobi will be the group’s second property on the African continent, after the Dusit Thani LakeView Cairo, Egypt. The new property is located at 14 Riverside, an exclusive development in downtown Nairobi.
Flanked by high-end residences, universities, government offices and embassies, dusitD2 nairobi looks to be well located, offering a mix of all-day dining outlets, meeting facilities, a spa and terrace bar. The 17th of January saw the signing of the hotel management agreement between Nairobi-based Cape Hotels, Ltd and Dusit International, who will oversee the hotel’s operations.

Though this is the company’s second location on the continent, it is its first in sub-Saharan Africa. The company first entered the African market in 2009 with the opening of Dusit Thani Lake View. This latest venture marks a progression from the company’s operations in the Middle East.
“The favourable growth prospects and infrastructure of Kenya’s capital city provide an excellent foothold from which to further develop our brand on the African continent,” said Dusit International Managing Director and CEO, Chanin Donavanik.
 “In concert with our international expansion plans, we aim to solidify our presence in Africa and explore opportunities in locations such as Masai Mara, Mombasa, Dar es Salaam and Kampala.”

ITMSA Event

 The Institute of Travel and Meetings Southern Africa (ITMSA) is hosting a forum and its AGM at the Protea Hotel O.R. Tambo on the 21st of February. The forum is titled ‘What is Meetings Management?’ Strategic Meetings Management (SMMP) is the current global term used to manage meetings, conferences and “events” – in some instances it will also include incentive travel.
 By definition, it is the process of consolidating group travel, meetings and event planning into a centralised function, strategically determining how total spend, volumes, standards, suppliers and risk can be managed more effectively to align with the company strategy, maximise on resources and have a positive impact bottom line.
 The South African business environment, and in particular global companies, have started to explore this initiative in the hope that they can achieve the same results as with corporate travel management. It is, however a new and evolving initiative and still at the beginning stages, with a great deal of work to be done to achieve the full benefit.
The ITMSA will have two expert panels, with panellists including corporate travel buyers and SMMP industry specialists, who will be on hand to answer questions as well.
 Registration and breakfast are at 07h30, with the forum commencing at 08h00. The AGM will take place at 09h30. The forum is free for ITMSA buyer members, whilst the supplier member fee is R350. ITMSA connect members will have to pay R450, whilst non-members will have to pay R550. For more information, contact nicky.duplessis@itmsa.org.

KQ Celebrates 36 Years

For its 36th birthday, Kenya Airways has lined up a series of activities and events, including rewarding loyal customers with various prizes. KQ launched its first flight in February 1977, following the break-up of the East African Community and disbanding of East African Airways. With only six aircraft when it was launched by the Kenyan government - four inherited from the collapsed regional airline and two leased ones - the airline has since been privatised, and grown its fleet and route network significantly. Today, Kenya Airways flies to over 50 destinations across the world and operates a fleet of 41 aircraft. During its 36 years of existence, Kenya Airways has achieved several milestones, including striking a strategic partnership with KLM in 1995; issuing an Initial Public Offering in 1996; and the Rights Issue in 2012. In terms of passenger safety, Kenya Airways achieved the International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit certification in 2005, making it the first airline in sub-Saharan Africa to do so. The 36th anniversary comes as the airline implements its 10-year growth plan, ‘Project Mawingu’, which aims at operating a fleet of 119 aircraft from 35, along with increasing its destinations from 58 to 115 routes, by the end of 2021. Kenya Airways is also part of the Sky Team, a global network of 19 international carriers, having joined in 2007.

Mount Grace Goes it Alone

 Mount Grace Country House & Spa in South Africa’s Magaliesburg, to the north-west of Johannesburg, is set to go it alone as an independent brand.
 The property, together with African Pride Hotels, has announced the conclusion of their five-year partnership, effective 1 February. Having collaborated with African Pride Hotels since 2008, the hotel operator extrabold Hotel Management said that it was confident that the time was right to position the hotel independently.
“The move to independently brand, sell and market the Mount Grace continues to be in line with our goal of establishing the hotel as one of the leading luxury destinations in South Africa,” said Managing Director Xander Nijnens.
Extrabold will continue its relationship with Protea Hotels through extended franchise agreements in respect of six Protea Hotels-branded properties. Mount Grace operations will continue to run under the current management team of extrabold.
Mount Grace has also recently expanded its sales and marketing team under the leadership of Chantelle Mogg.

Travelport Launches Business Intelligence Suite

Travelport has launched a new business intelligence suite - Agentivity - to benefit agents in the Middle East and Africa with handling data from anywhere in the world.
Agentivity brings together a wide range of tools that offer travel providers a unique and detailed insight into their agency’s activity, client behaviour, booking-related issues, and more.

The suite allows automation of corporate reporting by doing queue forwarding, corporate data mailing, as well as giving corporate clients direct access to their organisation’s booking data. Access is instant, online, and has data updates that are available 24/7 with no process changes for agents.
The process is fully automated and offers complete transparency over any bookings, and allows agents to address any problems timeously. Rabih Saab, President and Managing Director, Middle East and Africa, Travelport said Agentivity is an invaluable business service for busy travel agency customers by providing realtime data, 24/7, from anywhere in the world, and added that "it can significantly improve agent efficiency by aggregating data from multiple suppliers and sources in one place, as well as providing access to valuable customer data, such as advanced booking patterns.”
Agentivity was created for Travelport by Inside Group, a technology company that specialises in the travel industry.

ITMSA Travel Management Course

 It’s another busy year for the Institute of Travel and Meetings Southern Africa (ITMSA). It will be running a series of courses and events throughout 2013.
For starters, in conjunction with the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the ITMSA is running a ‘Fundamentals of Business Travel Management’ course at the Protea Hotel Wanderers in Johannesburg on the 14th of March. For most companies, travel is the second largest controllable expense.

In order to control the expense, you must know how to manage travel spend. The ‘Fundamentals of Business Travel Management’ course is GBTA’s starter course, focusing on the basics of business travel management. This course is designed as a guide to the primary components of managed travel.
 Attendees will learn how each component intersects with the required competencies and skill sets needed in business travel management. The course teaches participants to maximise cost containment, improve efficiency and create a managed travel culture in a company.

 Attendees will hear expert course facilitators on the subjects of travel safety and security, travel spending trends and benchmark metrics. An overview of business travel technology will be included, along with a comprehensive discussion on travel policy, savings opportunities and calculating the ROI of a managed travel program. The core curriculum looks at: an overview of travel management; managing the supplier relationship; security and risk management; travel technology basics; measuring success; trends; forecasting and reporting value.
The course is recommended for administrative assistants, co-ordinators, travel managers new to travel management, regional/district sales managers for travel suppliers new to travel management, and anyone needing to gain a better understanding of business travel management practices. The course fee, including final exam, is R2125.00 for GBTA/ITMSA members and R2750.00 for non-members. For further information, visit www.gbta.org/africa or contact nicky.duplessis@itmsa.org or jacky.maulgue@itmsa.org.