The VA TourismPodcast

Movenpick Hotel Abidjan General Manager Peter Hoesli opens up on VA Tourism Podcast

My guest today is the General Manager of the newly opened Movenpick Hotel Abidjan Mr Peter Hoesli. He discusses the reasons behind the decision to have the brand in Abidjan and the hotel’s rich footprint in sustainability and women empowerment. Peter will recount his first time in Abidjan in 1989 and what it means to him to be back managing a hotel in the west African country.
Peter Hoesli was born and raised in Berne, Switzerland. He started his career with apprenticeships in service and kitchen at the Hotel Bellevue-Palace in Berne and continued his career in the F&B and Front Office departments of several luxury hotels in Switzerland. Peter graduated from the hotel management school Centre International de Glion in 1986. At the beginning of 1989, he started his international career holding positions in Bermuda, Thailand and Malaysia before joining Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts in Cairo in 1998. He has been working for the company for 22 years in the Middle East – Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia – and since March 2020, he is the General Manager of Mövenpick Hotel Abidjan, a brand of the Accor group.

6th UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy put spotlight on Gastronomy and Rural Development

Ahead of next week's 6th UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism to be held in Bruges, Belgium, we caught up with a leading resource person at the event and Chief Tourism Market Intelligence and Competitiveness at UNWTO Sandra Carvao on what the festival seeks to achieve. She says this year's event is themed on Gastronomy Tourism and rural development and believes there is a huge potential to reinforce the relationship.
The 6th UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism will focus on the role of Gastronomy Tourism in Promoting Rural Tourism and Regional Development, closely aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 
Topics related to the role of gastronomy tourism in enhancing the reputation of destination, empowering local community, as well as strategies that can be used by farmers and small scale rural food producers in using their culinary heritage to directly and indirectly promote tourism and thereby make a positive economic contribution at the local and regional level will be discussed throughout the event.

Scrap PCR test requirement for vaccinated travellers to South Africa-CEO of TBCSA, Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa

My guest Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) is urging the government of South Africa to review its covid-19 protocols to exempt fully vaccinated travelers from presenting PCR test as a prerequisite for travels to the rainbow nation. He thinks South Africa will be competitive in attracting desirable travellers to its shores and in turn help accelerate the recovery efforts. Tshifhiwa also shed light on intra Africa travels and tourism’s quiet role in the African Continental Free Trade Area conversation
 

Noom Hotel Abidjan will introduce new standards of luxury which exceed the expectation of the modern day traveller - Jorgen Jorgensen

My conversation today is with the General Manager of Noom Hotel Abidjan Jorgen Jorgensen. Mr Jorgensen who has under his sleeve an impressive four-decade running leading global hotel chains says he is ready for the new challenge and optimistic that the Noom hotel will bring to the Ivorian and West African hospitality market new standards of luxury which will exceed the expectation of the modern-day traveller.
 Jorgen Jorgensen was born and raised in Denmark. He started his career at the Hyatt Hotel Group holding positions around the world for 26 years (Latin America, USA, Middle East, Europe).With this solid experience, he joined the Radisson Blu Group first in Europe then in Africa with the opening of the first Radisson in Libya. He was afterwards appointed West Africa Director of the Radisson Group and oversaw the opening of the brand's hotels in Abidjan, Bamako, and Freetown.
Since September 2021, he is now the General Manager of the Noom Hotel Abidjan Plateau, a brand of the pan African Mangalis group.

Exclusivité avec Suzanne Kabbani

L’épisode d’aujourd’hui est avec Suzanne Kabbani – Maitre Chocolatier & Fondatrice de Douceurs de Suzanne. Elle s’entretient avec Yasmine Fofana, présentatrice invitée et journaliste gastronomique, sur l’utilisation de cacao et de ses produits finis pour promouvoir la gastronomie en Côte d’Ivoire.
Travailler aux côtés des planteurs, contribuer au développement de son pays, faire valoir du chocolat « Made in Côte d’Ivoire » qui se définit par son caractère unique en termes de goût et d’histoire, voici certaines des motivations qui aujourd’hui poussent Suzanne Kabbani à aller encore plus loin. 
Découvrons ensemble son histoire.

Africa‘s Travel and Tourism Summit Café :Founder & CEO of Travel with Confidence Percy Koji talks SMME compliance and Public Private Partnership

The Africa Tourism Summit café is a dedicated conversation from the recently held summit at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg where panellists and speakers have been sharing their experiences of the event. Tourism Entrepreneur and Founder & CEO of Travel with Confidence PTY LTD Percy Morapedi Koji who presented a case on compliance for SMEs tells me, collaboration between Private and public sectors is vital and urged governments to create the enabling environment as an initiative to drive growth for small and medium-sized businesses.
 
Percy Morapedi Koji, Africa Economic Leadership Council’s (AELC’s) co-founder and chairman, is an astute South African businessman. He has more than 15 years of experience in the tourism industry, construction and property development, agriculture, mining and renewable energy. While his education and professional accolades are quite extensive, Percy has also shown his commitment and passion for uplifting the community and youth, his commitment to this cause speaks for itself as he is also the Founder of an NGO (Friends of Morokweng) which’s focus is to develop young leaders across society. His 10 years’ public service experience perfectly positions him, to lead AELC and its members in maximising on the opportunities they seek, to grow in their respective businesses, while simultaneously contributing to a flourishing African economy.
Percy’s story though still in its beginning stages continues to inspire many youths, particularly entrepreneurs (upcoming and aspiring) in the community and this is where he draws his inspiration from, to work tirelessly and diligently in building sustainable businesses with an international client base for the benefit of our community.

MKTE Talks: CEO of Kenya Tourism Board Dr Betty Radier discusses this year‘s Virtual MKTE and Kenya‘s Restart Strategy

My Guest today is the CEO of the Kenya Tourism Board, Dr. Betty Radier. Dr Radier does a post-mortem of the novel virtual magical Kenya travel Expo. She tells me, they were encouraged by the participation of the travel trade and highlights the touchpoints of Kenya’s restart strategy.

Africa‘s Travel and Tourism Summit Café: Judy Kepher Gona applauds South African Tourism for taking a BOLD step to Restart Tourism

The Africa Tourism Summit café is a dedicated conversation from the recently held summit at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg where panellists and speakers have been sharing their experiences of the event. My Guest is Sustainability Champion Judy Kepher Gona from Kenya. Se narrows down on why tourism leaders and stakeholders should beyond the numbers to institutionalise sustainability as part of the new tourism normal. Judy applauds South Africa Tourism for taking the BOLD step to host the summit.