Egypt February 2015

First glimpse of the Nile
First glimpse of the Nile

As part of our work in Africa we were lucky enough to host a briefing session in Cairo.  I’d never been to Egypt before but my curiosity was aroused when I watched the recent “Walking the Nile” TV program.  I hadn’t realised the extent that tourism had been impacted by the two uprisings in Egypt but at a lecture, given by Levison Wood (the man who did the walking in the named program) last week, he underlined the impact the estimated 400,000 lost jobs in tourism has had.  One of his slides showed a cruise liner that, before the problems, used to take many tourists up and down the Nile.  Now, beached and rotting, it served as a symbolic representation of the state of the industry and, perhaps, a modern monument to those jobs that have been lost.
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Africa – Ethiopia and Rwanda

My objectives this trip, when not sat in an airline lounge, taxi or airplane was visit Ethiopia to officially announce the launch of our conference to the media and then head off to Kigali to see if how developments in Rwanda were going for the new Radisson Blu Hotel & Convention Centre and the Kigali Marriott Hotel properties. Both of which are planning to open their doors for 2016.

Two very different countries and cultures with two very different experiences…

The comparative sky lines – the first from the Sheraton overlooking Addis and the second from the Marriott in Kigali
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