The VA TourismPodcast

Enhanced e-Visa Platform for Nigerian Travellers to South Africa goes Live

In today’s episode, the Chief Operating Officer of South African Tourism Nomasonto Ndlovu discusses the newly introduced Enhanced e-visa platform for Nigerian travelers to South Africa. The SAT Executive also reflects on the latest tourism recovery figures as well as feedback on their just-ended roadshow in Ghana and Nigeria.
 

Maldives invites Africa to experience the sunny side of Life

My Guest today is the CEO and Managing Director of Maldives Marketing and PR Corporation Mr. Thoyyib Mohamed. He tells me the joint efforts of the island’s tourism industry have seen the destination accelerate its recovery efforts. Mr. Mohamed invites Africa and the world to come and experience the sunny side of life.
Thoyyib Mohamed has over two decades of extensive experience in management, strategic planning, marketing, and international networking, with an emphasis on fostering creativity for executive managers. 
Being appointed to his current portfolio by H.E. President of Maldives in 2018, he played an instrumental role in navigating MMPRC to market the destination through the pandemic. Under his leadership at MMPRC, Maldives achieved the highest tourist arrival figure in Maldives history and Maldives won the position of the World’s Leading Destination for two consecutive years amidst the pandemic
A Bournemouth University graduate with a Master of Arts in Broadcast and Film Management, his career began in the broadcast field. Later he held various high-profile positions in the government such as the Chairman of MMPRC and the Minister of State for Tourism, Arts and Culture.
 

The Fascinating Africa by Bus Story

In today’s episode, the coordinator of Africa by bus project and lecturer at the University of Johannesburg Maipato Caroline Mmako says the aim of Africa by bus initiative is to expose the University of Johannesburg students to different African countries and cultures.
Maipato Caroline Mmako Lecturer, Coordinator and Learning Development facilitator at the University of Johannesburg. Passionate about student success and advancement, she believes that learning has to happen both inside and outside the classroom and that’s why she jumped on the Africa by Bus initiative and has been the only lecturer to have taken more than 180 students on the Africa by Bus trip. 
I believe that young people deserve the opportunity to travel and see the world, this opens and changes one’s perspective about it. Learning about new cultures and experiencing them allows for our people to be global citizens and more accepting of the differences and similarities we share as people. My favourite say is “if it involves young people, count me in”

Ojimah’s ecosystem of solutions will empower communities and change the dynamics of travel in Africa- Mike Tavares

My Guest today is Mike Tavares, Founder of Ojimah, an African multi-channel online tourism platform. Mike is optimistic that Ojimah’s ecosystem of solutions is poised to empower African communities and change the dynamics of travel worldwide by facilitating a win-win situation for all industry players, travellers, and destinations.
A dynamic, results-oriented leader with a strong track record of performance in Tourism and Hospitality worldwide. Mike is well versed in dealing with multiple stakeholders at the highest level of both industry and government level.
After graduating with a master’s degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management at the University of Coimbra in Portugal, Mike started his career by working for the Portuguese National Tourism Board. Years later, he made his way up to hotel management in brands like Radisson and Intercontinental in the United Kingdom.
Mike then decided to embrace a new challenge and took a new role as Corporate Director of Hotel Operations, being responsible for the operations of the 18 hotels within the portfolio of HCI. With international exposure, Mike and his team created Ojimah, a multichannel platform aimed at developing the economy of Africa through sustainable tourism.
 

CEO of Zimbabwe Tourism Authority Winnie Muchanyuka talks State of Tourism in Zim

On the sidelines of the recently held Africa Youth in Tourism Innovation Summit in Windhoek, Namibia I had an exclusive conversation with the newly appointed CEO of Zimbabwe Tourism Authority Winnie Muchanyuka. She talks about the state of tourism in Zimbabwe, the upcoming Sanganai world tourism expo and the industry’s preparedness of the industry as the sector bounces back.

Mice is a driver of talents and a way of spreading knowledge at an inexpensive level- Linda Pereira

My conversation today is about the opportunities that the meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (mice) offer for young people. Dr. Linda Pereira, an industry leader with over 3 decades of experience in business events says mice is a driver of talents and a way of spreading knowledge at an inexpensive level.
ays the MICE masterclass will be a refresher course and a learning curve for practitioners in the industry.
Linda Pereira is the senior partner and CEO of the L&I Communications Group. In addition to her long and respected career as one of the most influential voices in the Meeting Industry, she is also Executive Director of CPL Meetings &Events. Respected internationally as a speaker, consultant, strategic communication expert, writer, and as an educator, she has been an invited speaker in over 149 countries on all continents.
She is an expert in communication and corporate diplomacy and has vast experience in cross-cultural communication strategies, localization, and public speaking and as a master of ceremonies. 
 
She has worked on the major events which marked the last 30 years of modern history, from World EXPOs to Football and Sports Championships, various EU Presidencies, and major political events. She is also an invited lecturer at five different international Universities where she lectures on strategic meetings management and corporate diplomacy and protocol.
She is absolutely passionate about associations and sits on a variety of international association boards herself. Linda is also a consultant to a variety of international Governments and associations. She was considered one of Portugal’s five most influential people in the industry and has received various international education awards as well as the medal of honour for responsible entrepreneurship for her commitment to promoting culture and heritage and for Social Responsibility initiatives. 

Using Gastronomy to empower communities: the story of Chef Fatmata Binta

My Guest today is the Founder of Fulani Kitchen Chef Fatmata Binta. Chef Binta who has become the first African to win the Basque World Culinary Prize opens on her journey to achieving this noble prize in gastronomy and set sights on expansion of her projects aimed to bring change to the people of her community and also help grow the knowledge of African gastronomy in the world.
Founder - Fulani Kitchen Foundation / Executive Chef - Dine on a Mat
Chef Binta is an award winning chef born and raised in Freetown, Sierra Leone to first-generation Sierra Leonean Fulanis of Guinean descent. She is a modern day nomadic chef. Like her ancestors, Binta has traveled to many countries to explore different cooking techniques, ingredients and ways of life. At Fulani Kitchen, she combines her nomadic Fulani roots, classical training and love for rural life and nature to create modern dishes, while maintaining the simplicity and authenticity of Fulani culture.  By creating a traditional setting, discussing Fulani culture and serving ancient grains, indigenous spices and other exciting West-African ingredients in an interactive way, Binta triggers all senses and takes you to a whole new world. 
Food for Sustenance
Her passion to share African nomadic cuisine is based on her experiences as a child growing up during the darkest period of Sierra Leonean history- the civil war. She experienced first hand how food brings people together and pulls down walls. Many times during the conflict no one could go out to buy food or food was simply not available. She saw neighbors from different backgrounds contribute, share and prepare meals together to make something out of nothing.  The rice they could afford was filled with cockroaches which they had to hand pick, repeatedly wash and blend with bulgur in order to get enough to share for everyone. What she calls creating food for sustenance; learning to create totally new dishes with just a handful of ingredients, sharing and working together, was not only a life-saving skill in a war zone, it has actually made her the chef she is today. 
Fulani Cuisine Ambassador
Chef Binta presents herself as an ambassador for Fulani cuisine and she promotes fonio, an ancient super grain, traditionally grown and consumed in West Africa. Over the last couple of years, fonio, as a result of its similarity to quinoa, has gained more attention in international culinary circles. And rightfully so- it’s gluten free, extremely nutritious, requires minimal water to grow, has a shorter life cycle than its similar foods, is more disease and drought resilient and gives back more nutrients to the soil than other staple crops like rice and maize. This little grain might possibly be one of the answers to food security and climate challenges to come. Binta’s menu almost always features this super grain, fonio, as she continues to promote its value to her guests on the mat.

Instagram Teams up with UNWTO to empower Destinations in Tourism Recovery efforts

Following the renewed partnership between Meta and UNWTO and the launch of their latest program dubbed ‘’See the world through my eyes’’ the policy program manager at Instagram Asya  and Elizabeth Instagram‘s manager of politics, government, and civic engagement says  the project is expected to train young people and creators around the world on how they can become tourism ambassadors for their hometowns, and countries using Instagram's smart glasses Technology called Ray-Ban Stories.