• Home
  • Post a press-release
  • Visibility packages
  • Subscribe email updates
  • Event Calendar
  • Contact

For Immediate Release | Official News Wire for the Travel Industry

Where press releases are breaking news

  • Home
  • Post a press-release
  • Visibility packages
  • Subscribe email updates
  • Event Calendar
  • Contact

American Tourist Kidnapped in Uganda: African Tourism Board in action with expert Dr. Peter Tarlow

April 3, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Not only leopards were roaming Queen Elizabeth National Park today, but criminals who kidnapped an elderly American tourist in the park today, and put the well-organized travel and tourism industry in Uganda on edge.

The Uganda Ministry of ICT & National Guidance issued this statement:

Yesterday, Tuesday 2nd April 2019 four armed men not yet identified between 5,00pm and 7,00pm staged an ambush and kidnapped an American Tourist with his Ugandan driver near Katoke gate in the Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Four other four tourists who were left abandoned and unharmed later contacted the base (lodge) and were quickly moved to safety.

A joint operation by the Uganda Police, Uganda Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) and Uganda Wildlife Authority Game Wardens is underway to locate and rescue them.

The priority at this point is to locate, rescue and bring them back safely.

eTN talked to Lilly Ajariva. She is a Ugandan conservationist and tourism expert. She is the Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda Tourism Board, the Ugandan government agency that is charged with promoting the country as a tourism destination. She was appointed to that position on 10 January 2019.

When asked why an American Tourist was picked by the kidnappers, Ms. Ajarova thinks the selection was based on the age and not the nationality.

eTN reached out to Dr. Peter Tarlow, head of safertourism.com 

Dr. Peter Tarlow

Dr. Peter Tarlow is also the security and safety expert for the newly-founded African Tourism Board and will be speaking at their launch event in Cape Town next week. Peter is scheduled to meet with UTB CEO Lilly Ajarova to discuss any assistance the Africa Tourism Board can give in this situation.

Dr. Tarlow told eTurboNews: “The tragic kidnapping that recently occurred in Uganda should not be seen as indicative of overall safety in Uganda.

“Very much to the contrary, Uganda has been known over the decades to be a safe and secure destination. Unfortunately, there are bad people in every part of the world and travel implies risk.

“However, Uganda cannot afford to rely on its recent past but must show the world what it is doing in the future.

“Despite the fact that the situation is very fluid and the facts, at midnight Uganda time is still unclear, there are a number of things that Uganda can do immediately and in the short and long term to mitigate the damage to its reputation.

“These suggestions come from my long-term work with Aruva after the Natalie Holloway case and with kidnapping issues both in Mexico and in Latin America.”

With limited data, the African Tourism Board security expert suggests the following, and as more data becomes apparent, additional information will be provided.

We urge Uganda Tourism Officials to:

1)  Tell the truth. Under no circumstance, minimize, become defensive or refuse to accept the severity of the situation. Do not lie to reporters.

2)  Have one person be the tourism spokesman or woman and funnel all information through that person.

3)  If the information is not yet known, state that facts and then state that there will be regularly-scheduled updates. Give specific times and locations.

4)  Have the military of a police officer standing next to the spokesperson to indicate that this is a serious matter.

5)  Make sure that it is clear that the government is working with all foreign embassies and updating them on a regular basis.

6)  Indicate that Uganda is working with the visitors’ families and will do everything that is needed to help the family.

7)  Announce that there is a special unit at work (assuming this unit exists) that deals with hostage rescue and recovery. If it does not exist, then contact friendly foreign governments that have experience in this matter.

We hope for the short term that Uganda:

1)  Announces that the country is doing an update on its risk management.

2)  Gets articles in the media that speak about Ugandan positives.

3)  Indicates that the perpetrators will be found and that they will suffer the full consequences of the law.

4)  Opens a foreign visitor hotline so that all visitors can get up-to-date information.

5)  Announces that the Ugandan tourism police will be opening (or strengthening) their tourism police unit and that they will receive additional training.

6)  Make it clear that Uganda tourism is working with international boards such as the African Tourism Board  (ATB) and that there will be exchanges of information between the African tourism bureaus through the ATB.

Juergen Steinmetz, the interim chair of the African Tourism Board, said: “We are standing by to assist Uganda and are in touch with UTB and our security expert Dr. Peter Tarlow. We will be meeting with Lilly next week in Capetown and hope this crime will be resolved at that time and that our fellow American tourist is returned safely. I am confident Dr. Tarlow can be of great assistance to Uganda Tourism and for the African continent when it comes to safety and security.”

More information on African Tourism Board: www.africantourismboard.com
More information on Safer Tourism: www.safertourism.com

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: amp, and, announce, announces, appointed, April, assist, assistance, ATB, authority, base, based, board, boards, Breaking Travel News, Bureaus, Cape, Cape Town, Capetown, caption, case, CEO, chair, charged, chief, chief executive, chief executive officer, Clear, come, contact, continent, Corporate News, country, crime, criminals, damage, Data, date, deals, decades, defense, Destination, Discuss, doing, Dr, Dr. Peter Tarlow, driver, Edge, embassies, eTN, eTurboNews, event, exchanges, executive, experience, expert, facts, families, Family, Feature, fluid, following, Forces, foreign, foreign visitor, found, friendly, full, future, game, Gate, government, Government Affairs, governments, guidance, head, help, hope, hostage, hotline, ict, ICTP, ID, immediately, in, Industry, information, interim, International, issued, issues, IT, January, joint, joint operation, Juergen, kidnapped, kidnappers, kidnapping, known, later, Latin, Latin America, launch, law, Lilly, Limited, locate, locations, lodge, Make, management, matter, media, meet, meeting, men, Mexico, military, ministry, moved, Ms, national, national park, nationality, needed, newly, News articles, number, officer, officials, only, open, opening, operation, out, over, park, past, People, police, police officer, position, priority, promoting, Queen, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth National Park, receive, recent, recovery, refuse, regular, reputation, rescue, Risk, risk management, safe, Safety, safety and security, said, scheduled, secure, Security, security expert, selection, serious, short, show, situation, speak, Special, standing, State, statement, Steinmetz, suffer, suggestions, Tarlow, term, The Africa, The World, things, through, time, times, TN, to, TO BE, today, told, tourism, tourism board, Tourism Destination, Tourism Industry, tourism officials, tourism police, tourist, tourists, town, Tragic, training, Travel, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, travel and tourism, travel and tourism industry, Travel Destination News, Travelwire News, truth, Uganda, uganda tourism, uganda tourism board, Uganda travel news, Uganda wildlife, Uganda Wildlife Authority, Ugandan, Ugandan government, unclear, underway, up, update, updates, urge, UTB, visitor, visitors, We, week, were, WHO, Why, wildlife, Wildlife Authority, woman, work, working, World, yesterday

U.S. State Department tells tourists Brunei is safe, except for death by stoning

April 2, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

The U.S. State Department is telling American travelers, Brunei is one of the safest countries in the world to visit. Brunei safer than the Bahamas, Germany or Indonesia, and way safer then Turkey.

The U.S. embassy, however, states: Criminal penalties for some offenses are harsher than in the United States. This is a clear and misleading understatement:  When traveling to Brunei the State Department wants travelers to read through a 1767 page document provided by the Brunei government outlining all details of the Syariah Penal Code. This law will be implemented as of April 3, 2019. Regardless the State Department tells U.S. Citizens, the country remains a level one “no threat.” visitors destination.

Why is the U.S. Embassy not telling American tourists, that Brunei actually is ready to stone American travelers to death if they are part of the LGBT community? Is this part of the harsher penalty for the crime of sexual orientation?

The embassy website states:

  • Non-Muslims may be arrested for khalwat (close proximity between the sexes) under the Sharia Penal Code provided that the other accused party is Muslim. Khalwat may include activities from holding hands or public displays of affection to sexual activity. U.S. citizens are also subject to khalwat laws.
  • Extramarital relations between a Muslim and non-Muslim may be considered a crime in Brunei.

eTurboNews asked the State Department and received this response:

The U.S. Department of State has no greater responsibility than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas.  We are committed to providing U.S. citizens with clear, timely, and reliable information about every country in the world so they can make informed travel decisions.  We routinely update our Travel Advisories and country-specific information for all countries based on a comprehensive review of all available safety information and ongoing developments. At a minimum, we review Level 1 and 2 Travel Advisories every 12 months, and Level 3 and 4 Travel Advisories every six months.  We also review and update Travel Advisories and country-specific information on an as-needed basis, based on developing security and safety information.

On March 29 the State Department issued  the following paragraph linked from the page categorizing Brunei as a safe country:

“The Government of Brunei Darussalam will commence full implementation of the Syariah Penal Code (SPC) on April 3, 2019. The full SPC introduces new judicial procedures and punishments, including, for certain offenses and under certain evidentiary circumstances, amputation of hands or feet and death by stoning. The SPC applies regardless of an individual’s religion or nationality, although some sections of the law have specific applicability to Muslims. Brunei’s existing civil penal code and civil courts will continue to function in parallel with the SPC and Syariah Court.”

Scott Foster, president of LGBT Hawaii told eTurboNews:

“The response by the U.S. State Department is insulting and is putting LGBT traveler in danger. It should be the obligation for the U.S. government to protect Americans and not put them in harm’s way.
Death by stoning for LGBT travelers should be clearly visible alert on the State Department Brunei page and not hidden in a 1767 document. In no word is the State Department spelling out this danger to LGBT travelers.
The United States should immediately issue a travel warning to protect our LGBT travelers and citizens. The alert level for Brunei should be raised to 4, what means “DO NOT TRAVEL, or at a minimum to a level 3: “Reconsider Travel.”

Travel News | eTurboNews

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: Americans, and, April, arrested, Bahamas, based, Breaking Travel News, Brunei, Brunei Darussalam, Brunei travel news, citizens, Clear, close, code, commence, community, continue, countries, country, court, courts, crime, criminal, danger, Darussalam, death, decisions, department, Department of State, Destination, developments, document, embassy, eTurboNews, existing, Feature, feet, following, full, function, Germany, government, greater, Hawaii, Hawaii Travel News, hidden, immediately, implementation, in, including, individual, Indonesia, information, insulting, issued, IT, law, laws, LGBT, LGBT community, LGBT travelers, LGBTQ, linked, Make, march, May, misleading, months, Muslim, muslims, nationality, needed, New, News articles, Non, obligation, ongoing, orientation, out, overseas, page, Paragraph, party, penal code, penalties, penalty, president, procedures, protect, public, putting, raised, ready, received, relations, reliable, religion, remains, response, responsibility, review, s, safe, Safety, safety and security, Scott Foster, Security, sexual, SPC, State, State Department, State Department Brunei, states, stoning, tells, The Bahamas, the United States, The World, threat, through, to, told, tourism, tourists, tourists Brunei, Travel, travel advisories, Travel Destination News, travel warning, Traveler, travelers, traveling, Travelwire News, Turkey, U.S, U.S. State, U.S. State Department, United, United States, update, visit, visitors, warning, way, We, website, Why, word, World

Search




Recent Articles

  • Malta, in the Heart of the Mediterranean, Offers a Jam-Packed Schedule of Musical Events and Festivals in 2023 Starting with Il-Karnival ta’ Malta in February   
  • Keeping Seychelles as the top choice of holiday destination for Nordic travelers
  • Sandals Resorts delivers authentic vacations
  • Seychelles makes remarkable presence at Spain’s FITUR 2023
  • The St. Regis Venice celebrates romance
  • Luxury romantic Valentine’s Day package from Blossom Hotel Houston
  • Ministry of Tourism and Hidden Worlds launch student art contest
  • ITP Media Group visits Seychelles Islands for luxury experience
  • Spanish hoteliers commit to assist in building 2,000 homes for hotel workers
  • GTRCMC to strengthen ties with Development Bank of Latin America (CAF)

Subscribe to daily email update

RSS eTN Articles

  • What’s new in Nice France hotels
  • Former Grenada Tourism Authority official joins new team
  • Tourism Hero leads Odesa World Heritage Project by UNESCO
  • Booking Alaska Airlines flights with El Al Matmid points now
  • The New Saudi Arabia Stopover Visa : Stay up to 96 hours free
  • Malta offers jam-packed musical events and festivals in 2023
  • Las Vegas of the Alps: Liechtenstein rejects casino gambling ban
  • 32 people killed, 147 wounded in Pakistan suicide bombing
  • Travel alert: Americans warned of possible terror attacks in Turkey
  • Indonesia Tourism Minister invites World Travel Industry SMEs to Bali

Archives

  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • August 2016

Content

and Breaking Travel News Business CEO experience first free hotel Hotels in including Industry International International Travel News IT minister most New News articles only over People s said sandals The World through time to TO BE tourism Tours Transportation News Travel Travel & Tourism Organizations News Travel Destination News Travelwire News up We were WHO World World News year years

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in