(eTN) - Air Tanzania (ATCL) has finally received a new AOC – Air Operator's Certification – from the Tanzanian Civil Aviation Authority, after the previous permit had lapsed following the suspension and halt of all operations early this year.

BANGKOK, Thailand (eTN) - Fearing the worst for Bangkok over the last ten days, Thai government has sped up measures to protect the capital city from heavy flooding, which would have probably brought the country to a halt.

UGANDA (eTN) - The Greater Virunga Transboundary Committee meeting took place in Kampala last week, discussing closer cooperation and harmonized policies and responses to the conservation challenges faced by each of the participant members – Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), Rwanda Development Board (RDB) – Tourism and Conservation, and the Congolese Institute for Conservation of Nature – all of which share responsibility for the management of natural resources in the Virunga Mountains and their environs.

As many as 85 percent of tourists arriving in Uzbekistan are older belonging to the age group of 55 and above, indicating this country of Central Asia is becoming a popular destination among senior tourists.

(eTN) - A source in Juba has confirmed that Fly540 will launch a second daily flight between Nairobi and Juba between Monday and Thursday while Friday to Sunday will continue to see the regular daily departure.

La Palm Royal Beach Hotel has been adjudged Ghana's Leading Hotel at the just-ended World Travel Awards 2011 Africa & Indian Ocean ceremony organized in Egypt.

Google's recent spate of new product launches and acquisitions has undoubtedly raised many an eyebrow and pulse among travel's old guard intermediaries this summer.

(eTN) - Conservationists have taken heart when it was learned that the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will visit Tanzania in November on the occasion of the country's 50th Independence Day celebrations.

(eTN) - A tourist from Britain drowned earlier in the week off the beach in Watamu, where he went swimming in spite of strong if not categoric warnings of bad weather, high surf, and "off limits" guidance from the hotel and officials.

(eTN) - Kenya Airways (KQ) has confirmed that they have signed a long-term lease agreement with leading aircraft leasing company GECAS for the delivery of two more very long haul B777-300ER, at a press conference held at the InterContinental Hotel in Nairobi.

UGANDA (eTN) - It was confirmed yesterday that the outspoken CEO of Qatar Airways, Akbar Al Bakr, will be present at the launch of flights between Doha and Entebbe on November 2, when the inaugural flight will come to Uganda.

TANZANIA (eTN) - As part of events to mark its fifty years of self-governance, Tanzania invited and organized a special, diplomatic tour for foreign diplomats accredited in Tanzania to visit key tourist hot-spots, including the famous Serengeti National Park.

(eTN) - In another remarkable show of innovative spirit, the Rwanda Development Board - Tourism and Conservation in recent months developed a new trail, which will take visitors to the continental watershed, from where Africa's two most important rivers, the Nile and the Congo, are being fed.

(eTN) - The recently concluded JATA 2011, Japan's if not Southeast Asia's leading travel show, was once again attended by a delegation from Rwanda's tourism fraternity, ever keen to open new markets and attract visitors from that part of the world to come and see the attractions of “The Land of a Thousand Hills.

BANGKOK, Thailand (eTN) - Southeast Asia is bracing for more torrential rains with rivers submerging lands.

(eTN) - Tanzania was elected to the UN World Tourism Organization's (UNWTO) Executive Council it was announced at the General Assembly currently underway in South Korea with a term of membership until 2015.

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan - The 17th Tashkent international tourist fair, "Tourism on the Silk Road, 2011" will be held in the UzExpoCentre on November 2-4.

(eTN) - A fire swept through parts of Le Meridien's Grand Mauritian resort hotel in the Balaclava area of Mauritius yesterday, prompting the transfer of all guests to a sister hotel on the island and other properties with available space to accommodate them.

TANZANIA (eTN) - An American tourist has broke the record to become the oldest person to reach the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro and have his name entered in the Guinness World Records as the oldest known climber to reach the highest peak in the African continent.

(eTN) - Information came to light over the weekend that the Director of Environment in the office of the Vice President has, for all practical purposes, declared the Lake Natron Soda Ash Project as dead in the water in the absence of clearance by NEMC, Tanzania's National Environmental Management Council, which raised serious concerns way back in 2008.

(eTN) - The Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism last week officially opened the country's first National College for Tourism, a long-awaited institution to teach relevant hospitality and tourism courses to provide skills to young Tanzanians wishing to join the sector.

(eTN) - Dozens of tourists were reportedly blocked for some time on Saturday, October 8, 2011, enroute to the Masai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya as incensed locals demonstrated against the continued failure by the contractor to repair the crucial access road between Narok and the Sekenani entrance gate.

(eTN) - Nairobi will see the inaugural version of Kenya's own international tourism show go underway when on October 19 and 20 the industry will be showcasing the country's attractions from its sunniest side.

(eTN) - The Tanzania Minister for Education and Vocational Training, and notably not the Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, earlier this week launched a 7-member national "World Heritage Committee," causing both applause and bafflement among regular pundits.

UGANDA (eTN) - Information was provided over the weekend to this correspondent that the USAID-funded STAR project has partnered with the Mweya Safari Lodge in Queen Elizabeth National Park and UCOTA, the Uganda Community Tourism Association, to raise funds towards conservation education in schools neighboring the park in the wider area.

BANGKOK (eTN)- Since August, Thailand has been bracing for continuous rain.

(eTN) - Sources close to the Rwanda Development Board's Tourism and Conservation Division have confirmed earlier in the week that Gishwati Forest, featured recently in RwandAir's inflight magazine, INZOZI, has now been designated as a tourism attraction, confirming suggestions by this correspondent some months ago already that this unique forest could soon join the better known Nyungwe Forest as a national park, which would bring the total number in Rwanda to four.

UGANDA (eTN) - Entebbe International Airport remains the region's highest-priced handling location for airlines as dominant player ENHAS has to contend only with DAS Handling, which maintains itself through a handling contract from Kenya Airways (KQ) but not much more, and that one courtesy of a major row a few years ago between KQ and some of ENHAS' shareholders who had tried – and ultimately failed miserably – to establish a competing airline in Uganda.