The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Africa’s Travel Indaba

  • ‘Africa’s Travel Indaba’ witnesses record attendance

    Delegates from 80 different countries recently stormed Kwazulu Natal Province of South Africa for the 2018 edition of Africa Travel Indaba. The annual event which was once again held in Durban experienced a significant rise in participation from last year’s event with 23 African countries in attendance this year.

    According to the organisers, ‘Indaba 2018’ was positioned as a call to action to focus on the success of the continent as a whole, urging its people to go out and tell Africa’s story to the world. To this end, the event was rebranded from simply ‘Indaba’ to ‘Africa’s Travel Indaba’ highlighting a passion for Africa.

    This was announced by South Africa’s newly reinstated National Minister of Tourism, Derek Hanekom.

    The minister in his message at the official Welcome Networking Function said; “Tourism growth, and sharing the benefits of tourism, contribute to replacing poverty and despair with prosperity and hope. Africa’s Travel Indaba is the ideal springboard for further growth.”

    He further spoke about Travel and Tourism being the fastest growing sector in the world.

    To further strengthen existing partnership and collaboration within the continent, South African Tourism’s West African hub hosted 26 delegates from Nigeria and Ghana at the Africa’s Travel Indaba. Among the West African tourism delegations were President of the Tour Operators Association in Nigeria, Mr Kwesi  Eyison ,The President of the Tour Operators Union in Ghana, Alhaji Rabo Saleh, Federation of Tourism Association of Nigeria ,The President of The Travel Agents of Nigeria , Mr Bankole Bernard, CEOs of travel agencies and a host of others.

    The West African trade and media delegates who arrived South Africa days earlier were treated to an activity-filled exploration of South Africa. The delegates enjoyed a variety of experiences including, quad biking, power boating on the Kysna lagoon, and picnics at Cape St.Francis. They also explored Tsitsikamma Nature reserve and the very brave went bungee jumping.

  • ‘Africa’s Travel Indaba’ witnesses record attendance

    Delegates from 80 different countries recently stormed Kwazulu Natal Province of South Africa for the 2018 edition of Africa Travel Indaba. The annual event which was once again held in Durban experienced a significant rise in participation from last year’s event with 23 African countries in attendance this year.

    According to the organisers, ‘Indaba 2018’ was positioned as a call to action to focus on the success of the continent as a whole, urging its people to go out and tell Africa’s story to the world. To this end, the event was rebranded from simply ‘Indaba’ to ‘Africa’s Travel Indaba’ highlighting a passion for Africa.

    This was announced by South Africa’s newly reinstated National Minister of Tourism, Derek Hanekom.

    The minister in his message at the official Welcome Networking Function said; “Tourism growth, and sharing the benefits of tourism, contribute to replacing poverty and despair with prosperity and hope. Africa’s Travel Indaba is the ideal springboard for further growth.”

    He further spoke about Travel and Tourism being the fastest growing sector in the world.

    To further strengthen existing partnership and collaboration within the continent, South African Tourism’s West African hub hosted 26 delegates from Nigeria and Ghana at the Africa’s Travel Indaba. Among the West African tourism delegations were President of the Tour Operators Association in Nigeria, Mr Kwesi  Eyison ,The President of the Tour Operators Union in Ghana, Alhaji Rabo Saleh, Federation of Tourism Association of Nigeria ,The President of The Travel Agents of Nigeria , Mr Bankole Bernard, CEOs of travel agencies and a host of others.

    The West African trade and media delegates who arrived South Africa days earlier were treated to an activity-filled exploration of South Africa. The delegates enjoyed a variety of experiences including, quad biking, power boating on the Kysna lagoon, and picnics at Cape St.Francis. They also explored Tsitsikamma Nature reserve and the very brave went bungee jumping.

  • Africa’s Tourism Indaba beckons

    Plans have been concluded to hold what has come to be known as one of the largest global travel trade show for the continent, Africa’s Travel Indaba. With tourism businesses from 21 African countries and 12 African tourism authorities already confirming their attendance, conveners of the showcase, South African Tourism say that it is working to secure further countries

    Speaking on the upcoming showcase, Sisa Ntshona the CEO of SA Tourism and organisers of Africa’s Travel Indaba says that tourism in Africa is a sunrise sector for many African countries, and this is reflected in the wider range of exhibitors at the show each year.

    Ntshona says that tourism is also driving job creation in Africa with an estimated 6.5% of all employment on the continent being in the sector.   These figures are based on Africa currently attracting just 5% of global travellers.

    “South African Tourism has a vested interest in collaborating and partnering with other countries to create desire and demand for Africa and is part of the 5 in 5 country strategy for growth.

    “The future success of tourism as an economic driver depends on the presence of policies and continental strategies for trade and investment that meet the needs of the sector and an overall business environment that is conducive to growth. It depends too on the abilities of all players from across the continent to meet, engage and support initiatives and the three-day Africa’s Travel Indaba is one of the key places to start that conversation,” says Ntshona.

    He adds that “There is no reason why the continent cannot double its share of the global tourism market in the next decade with a collaborative approach to the destination.”

    African country products confirmed for this year include established tourism players as well as developing destinations such as the Central African Republic, Sudan and the DRC.

    Registration is currently ongoing at Indaba’s website.

  • Africa’s Travel Indaba begins registeration

    Africa’s Travel Indaba begins registeration

    Registrations for Africa’s Travel Indaba 2018, rebranded to focus on continent’s world-class tourism businesses, now open

     

    Registration has opened for Africa’s Travel Indaba, which will transform Durban’s Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre into a lively hub of activity from 8 to 10 May 2018 under the banner Africa’s Stories, Your Success.

    Owned and managed by South African Tourism, Africa’s Travel Indaba has over the past 37 years established itself as the continent’s premier tourism trade show.

    “We are excited to be moving into 2018 with renewed energy and focus following the rebranding of the show as Africa’s Travel Indaba. This new positioning affirms that the show belongs to the entire African travel industry, and that at its heart is stimulating tourism and inclusive economic development on our continent,” said South African Tourism’s Chief Executive Officer, Sisa Ntshona. According to Ntshona, participants have many enhancements to look forward to at Africa’s Travel Indaba 2018.

    Africa’s Travel Indaba attracts about 7 000 delegates from all over the world, and last year the trade show bustled with more than 1 000 exhibiting businesses from 18 African countries, showcasing an array of travel and tourism offerings to almost 1 500 local and international buyers.

    Evelyn Mahlaba, General Regional Manager looking after the Africa region at South African Tourism, added that Africa’s Travel Indaba is an important business to business marketing platform that facilitates business growth for travel trade partners across the continent. Last year’s group of buyers achieved admirable business successes that we hope to build on in 2018 for the benefit of not only South Africa’s tourism industry but also for the continent as a whole.

    “We have managed to put together excellent educational for our sales staff with Sun International as well as all-inclusive travel packages that did so well that we sold them all. South African Airways gave us their ITX Fares for packaging and we managed to do an incentive trip for Standard Bank of 104 people to Durban – thanks to Indaba,” says Rob McConaghy, Managing Director at Ulendo Travel Group in Malawi.

    Love for Africa, Southern Africa Travel Specialist, operating out of Zimbabwe stated that business picked up because of their participation in last year’s INDABA. “Our business for 2018 is looking phenomenal and our bookings are up. We’ve signed deals with a few more properties in South Africa and have had quite a few of our current clients add South Africa onto their itineraries,” says Erica O’Donnel, Executive Director at Love for Africa.

    According to the Business Development Manager, George Ogola, The Continental Travel Group in Kenya was able to confirm a significant amount of bookings in 2017, across hotels, transfers, and excursions, which generated substantial profit for the company.

    Steffi Presske, Senior Travel Consultant/Director at Gondwana Tours and Safaris in Botswana expressed an interest to participate in Africa’s Travel Indaba again this year because it is the most important trade show for the company. The company was able to make many new contacts last year and deepen existing partnerships. They have grown immensely since 2017; almost doubling turn over and employing 2 more sales agents.

    Buyers from the following countries attended and participated at INDABA last year, Angola, Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

    Significantly, said Ntshona, the 2017 event saw more than 20 000 confirmed business matchmaking meetings taking place between businesses and travel buyers – up by 47% over the previous year’s figure.

    “This indicates that businesses are extracting value out of their participation in Africa’s Travel Indaba, with an online matchmaking system that closely pairs buyers’ needs with exhibitors’ offerings. This saves time and makes for a more efficient and productive trade show, where networks are expanded and business deals are sealed,” said Ntshona.

    “Taking pride of place will be our Hidden Gems pavilion, which will again showcase excellence among tourism businesses from all nine provinces in South Africa. These businesses may be small in size, but are big on authentic, unforgettable travel experiences. We will also be building on the success of last year’s Lap of Luxury pavilion to roll out the red carpet for a selection of South Africa’s exclusive five-star accommodation offerings, hosted by the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa (TGCSA),” Ntshona added.

    In light of the water shortage currently affecting the Western Cape (including the iconic city of Cape Town), Ntshona said: “For our industry specifically, we are taking charge and showcasing how we can meet the future now and create the ‘new normal’ in how we do tourism, sustainably and responsibly – something we have focused on for years. Even with the drought situation in the Western Cape, Cape Town and South Africa are still very much open for tourism business.”

    He said the country’s and the continent’s many tourism jewels would be on proud display at Africa’s Travel Indaba. “We invite everyone who is passionate about African travel and tourism development to come and see, meet, network, do business and be inspired at Africa’s Travel Indaba 2018. We look forward to being partners in propelling our continent’s tourism industry forward, together.”

    You can register online by visiting www.indaba-southafrica.co.za .