The VA TourismPodcast

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.
 

Africa‘ Travel and Tourism Summit Café:Unpacking Youth Inclusion as a Driver for Sustainable and Ethical Tourism in Africa

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 guests are four of the panellists who discussed in detail the subject matter of youth inclusion as a Driver for Sustainable and Ethical Tourism in Africa. Meet Kim Whitaker-Co founder at Kwela Women, Francine Zana-Director of Exclusive Hospitality Concepts in Port Elizabeth, Elvis Silayo, founder of travel agency Lokaday in Tanzania and Luze Klooppers, the founder of Recycling Lab in Namibia

MKTE Talks:Reigniting the Magic of Travel at MKTE 2021with Amanda Margison

My guest today is Co-founder of On show solutions Amanda Margison. On-show solutions is the organizer of East Africa’s Flagship travel show the Magical Kenya Travel Expo. This year’s edition has gone virtual and with few days to the event, Amanda walks me through what participants and exhibitors should expect at this important gathering.
As co-owner of On Show Solutions, Amanda Margison brings a keen operational mind to the company.  Over 20 years of dedicated exhibition experience has put Amanda at the forefront of logistics in the business events field, working passionately with industry colleagues.
Amanda worked on a range of sporting, military, air force and navy-related events before finding her niche in tourism. She has successfully delivered world-class shows such as Indaba, Meetings Africa and Magical Kenya Travel Expo. With management skills to coordinate large-scale projects, suppliers and staff teams, Amanda’s organisational skills enable her to focus on the finer details of each project.

Organizers impressed with First Day at Africa’s Travel and Tourism Summit

On the first day of Africa’s Maiden Travel and Tourism Summit, the Chief Convention Bureau Officer of the South African National Convention Bureau Amanda Kotze-Nlapo gives her impression and reveals South Africa’s massive plans to get Africa's meetings sector ready for an accelerated restart.