Tripoli, September 9, 2005
Dear Fellow Eclipse Chaser,
This is the first of a new series of newsletters which will be sent from Eclipse-City regarding the Solar Eclipse 2006 in Libya. We trust that you will enjoy the contents.
On the 15th August 2005 the Libyan Government, through the Ministry of Tourism, finalized its official position regarding the Solar Eclipse 2006 in Libya. We attended the final meeting, held at the offices of the Ministry of Tourism and presided over by the Deputy Minister as well as the Product Manager from the Ministry.
The decisions reached by the Ministry were as follows:
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The Ministry confirmed its minimum standard requirements for any desert camp built for viewing the 2006 Solar Eclipse. All companies or individuals which intend building eclipse camps are required to meet these minimum standards,
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From the numerous tenders received by the Ministry for the building of Eclipse viewing camps in Libya, the Ministry chose only 4 Libyan companies who will be permitted to build eclipse viewing camps in Libya. All these companies met the minimum standards. Of the four companies, only one company, Winzrik Tourism Group, is a tour operator. The remainder are either catering companies, or local governments. The Ministry confirmed that only those four companies may now build eclipse camps in Libya. NO other company will be permitted to build any camp for eclipse viewing,
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All 4 companies had to confirm where they will be building their camps. The Ministry approved 3 different view site locations where eclipse viewing may take place. These are:
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Southeast of Waw an Namus,
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South of Jalu on the Kufra road,
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South of Tobruq, on the Al Jaqbub road.
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These 4 companies will be the only four companies that may apply for visas for guests from abroad coming to Libya to view the eclipse in 2006. There will be strict control in this regard, and all Libyan Embassies world wide will be advised of this, and will be obliged to adhere to this policy. Any person applying for a visa not from one of these 4 companies will have their visa denied.
Regarding the numerous rumours which have circulated in the market place about Ministry taxes and the like, to the best of our knowledge, the correct position is as follows:
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Due to the minimum standards that have been laid down by the Ministry of Tourism, in order to protect guests visiting Libya from poor quality and service, the Ministry calculated that in order for any company to comply with this minimum standard, any offer to a foreign company should be in the region of minimum € 1,200.00 per person. The Ministry calculated this amount very carefully, using a committee comprising the most prominent tour operators in Libya, Eclipse-City, as well as the Department of Security, the Department of Immigration and Customs, and the Department of Space Sciences and Remote Sensing. However, the Ministry went on to say that should any of the licensed companies be able to build a camp while still meeting the minimum standard, and construct such a camp for less than the amount mentioned above, this would be in order. Companies were warned that breaching the minimum standard would result in those companies closed down by the Ministry of Tourism,
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Each of the 4 companies licensed to build eclipse viewing camps will pay a levy to the Ministry of Tourism. This levy is similar to a bed levy charged in other markets.
Eclipse-City is pleased to announce that together with its exclusive ground operator partner in Libya, Winzrik Tourism Services Group, Eclipse-City will now be re-located from the Chad-Libyan border to the Waw an Namus region. This particular site has been awarded exclusively to the Winzrik - Eclipse-City partnership. No other operator will be allowed in this region. Waw an Namus has the longest and best viewing condition for the entire center line between Brazil and Siberia. Over and above offering the Waw an Namus location, Eclipse-City will also host a few other groups at the South-of-Jalu location, which they will share with two other Libyan operators.
Winzrik Group has contracted with the Libyan Military who will provide certain infrastructure and security for Eclipse-City. This is exciting news indeed. Guests will now fly into Waw al Kabir Airport by charter flight, and transfer to smaller aircraft for a short 25 minute flight to a specially constructed desert airstrip 150 km southeast of Waw al Kabir, and 50 km from Waw an Namus volcano. The camp will be constructed directly on the eclipse center line, and will have 4 minutes 6.3 seconds of totality. The region will be patrolled by the military for security, and the military will provide internal camp security as well.
Waw al Kabir military airport is one of the longest in Libya, and can take flights as big as a Boeing 747. This airport was used extensively by the Paris - Dakar Race organizers, and the apron has been known to take 28 aircrafts all at the same time, during the race. Eclipse-City is also very excited about the new plans and during a reconnaissance trip to Waw an Namus in late August by military helicopter, all infrastructure, view site location and the like were inspected and approved by both the military and ourselves.
The advent of the new location has also meant that Eclipse-City is able to reduce some of its costs, and consequently, it’s selling price to the market. Please consult my Web site for more details and the Eclipse-City Web site for bookings.
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