Gorongosa Community Project | Envirotrade

In case you missed the eNews/twitter/Facebook news from my company AB Holidays - here is the great new community initiative we are moving ahead with in partnership with Solis IO - our ground handler in Mauritius.

Every passenger we book - every time our partner travel agents book a customer, every friend you refer to Mauritius helps reduce carbon and help the community in Gorongosa, Mozambique. Click here to find out more http://bit.ly/cb82O7

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V Australia | What a shame........

Another old blog review...... Jenman Safaris | Into the Australian Market | Competition on the Africa route from Australia

Well – the world cup is over | views are mixed on its success and the world moves on to other things. My old blog post was written just after my last trip to South Africa and just before the World Cup.

So.....the Jenman Safaris – product is going great !! Lots of interest – lots of great bookings and lots of great adventures for our clients. V Australia on the other hand..........I don’t know what else to say.......what a shame.

World Cup over, ex Qantas boss appointed new chief – and out the door goes the Johannesburg route and the Phuket route ex Melbourne with a new “corporate” focus on the Abu Dhabi route.

Now Australians are back again to where we started. SAA ex Perth and Qantas ex Sydney. Get ready for expensive tickets to Africa again !!

With renewed passenger interest in the Australian route for Air Mauritius, thanks to returning to Sydney – and Air Austral continuing to be strong in the market place, we hope and aim to push the fact that these two offer something more than just a flight : the opportunity to experience something new and exciting on the way to Africa ( Mauritius or Reunion Island ) as well as great product and affordable fares.

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Indian Ocean Tourism | Working together...........

I recently released some news - on a new page on my website titled : MTPA and IRT to work together . This was in response to a media article put out by the MTPA signalling discussions between the two bodies to work cooperatively towards creating a better holistic tourism approach for th two islands. With a strong drive to China and India 

I wanted to spread some news, highlight some of the differences between the two destinations and working with the tourist boards. I pointed to my companies travel brochures ( Mauritius - Reunion -  distributed to travel agents across Australia ) and our Reunion Island famil review flyer ( we hosted a Air Austral, Flight Centre, independants famil) and the amazing Saachi and Saachi produced IRT tourism video.

Our Mauritius travel brochure is full of hotels - with all the main hoteliers being strong partners of ours.

The Reunion Island brochure which features more Reunion Island content than any other travel brochure we can find - anywhere - showcases some of the smaller and more traditional types of tourism. Especially with the Village Creole program in Reunion Island. Check out Air Australs new radio clip for the Australian market

We work closely with the IRT - to the extent that good numbers of Australians now know of Reunion and consider it and Mauritius as a popular tourist destination.

The MTPA on the other hand is a totally different kettle of fish. Air Mauritius, the national airline, have 4 flights a week ex Australia to Mauritius. The airlines has invested in the route and is working hard to ensure it is sustainable.

With the airline and our hotel partners support we do our best to market the destination - and send tourists to Mauritius. See our recent product ad's in The Age, the Australian and Community News in Western Australia.

This year alone we have sent lots of tourists to Mauritius. Numbers from Australia are up 33.5% | Yet we hear nothing on the ground in Australia from the MTPA. Not even a meeting.

We hope that the MTPA support situation can be rectified soon - so that a collective, wholistic approach from Australian tour operators selling Mauritius ( Above and Beyond, Beachcomber, Fiesta Holidays , Wildlife Safari ) can generate the required tourist numbers to sustain 4 flights a week from Air Mauritius and 2 flights a week from Air Austral.

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Madagascar | Island Ark

I love Madagascar - and i love finding out great new things about the place.Thanks to @Asistentravel

I especially love it when i find a new video !! Storyteller Media have done a great job in putting together this video : Madagascar Island Ark : Before it's too late....

Check out it - leave a comment.

Posted by AB Holidays | 07 September 2010 | Like this post? Use our share buttons to tell your friends !



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Mafia Island | Tanzania | Island and Beach lodges

I recently wrote a blog titled, Ras Mbisi | The Home of Barefoot Luxury which received lots of views and retweets !! Thanks

As a result of some of the content i was then tweeted by @Mafiaisland - which is Peter - who along with his daughter and wife own and operate Lua Cheia Beach Lodge and Kinasi Lodge

WOW - both of Peters properties look fantastic. I will definatley be visiting both on my next trip to Africa.

What is so amazing about visiting somewhere like Mafia Island is your priorities really change. At the end of the day - a cool swim, a cold beer and dinner is pretty much all you need. This is my kind of place.

Check out Peter's main website www.mafiaisland.com  - which links to both his lodges.

Peter writes a great blog if your really interested in real island life - from someone who lives there !!

Sunset Bar at Lua Cheia

Kinasi Lodge

Posted by AB Holidays | 07 September 2010 | Like this post? Use our share buttons to tell your friends !


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Ras Mbisi | The Home of Barefoot Luxury

Blog Update | Ras Mbisi Lodge | New video !!


Well done Michelle - great video, i love it. Follow @RasMbisi for whats happening on this Mafia Island paradise.



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This week i checked one of my new Twitter followers ( @RasMbisi ) to find she is the owner of Ras Mbisi Lodge in Mafia Island, Tanzania -

This coastline is a part of the world so rarely visited by Australian tourists. The travellers who do get up there are there generally for safari, in Kenya and Tanzania or to visit Zanzibar.

This is certainly a place i would visit to chill out and relax for a while in isolated simplicity. Can you imagine the fishing and snorkelling ?

There are a whole load of activities you can do - sunset cruises to help you unwind, and excursions to local attractions include Chole Island, Chungaruma lakes, Mlola Forest, and the Marine Park located in the Chole Bay area.

There is fishing, snorkelling, diving, sea kayaking, sailing in n’galawas with local boatmen as well as heaps of other great things to see and do.  Fancy a dhow safari around the islands ?

There are places like this of all shapes and sizes all up and down Africa's east coast. Mozambique has some stunning deluxe properties, accessed through Pemba in the Quirimbas Archipelago. Kenya has pockets of beautiful developments, as does Tanzania.

Then there are the islands of the Seychelles, Mauritius, Reunion, Comoros and Mayotte and Madagascar

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