AFRICAN Travel Quarterly (Atqnews) has unveiled a shortlist of diaspora winners of the Africa Travel 100 Global personalities awards.
The award recognizes personalities of African origin, living in Africa or outside the continent, irrespective of their current citizenship or nationality that has been contributing to the development of the continent and its diaspora in the area of tourism and travel. This comes as the plan to launch a global tourism association for tourism players in Africa and the diaspora nears completion.
The African Travel 100 Global Personalities Award will take place during the 15th AKWAABA African Travel Market at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, on September 23. Akwaaba African Travel Market is from September 22 to 24.
The award is expected to honour personalities in the travel and tourism sector that have exemplified themselves in the industry and contributed to the growth of the sector in Africa and the diaspora. The event will be part of the First African Tourism Diaspora Conference 2019. The conference is expected to draw top tourism personalities from around the world to Lagos, Nigeria.
African Tourism Diaspora Conference 2019 is to mark the 400 years of slavery. Slavery is a very sensitive topic that has created an uncomfortable relationship between Africa and its diaspora. The conference is an opportunity to celebrate the merging of Africans, Americans, Caribbeans and the rest of the world during this memorable gathering expected in Lagos.
Africa with 54 countries and a population of 1.2 billion has an unbelievable tourist attraction. The Caribbean and African diaspora have a unique culture, rich heritage and beautiful destinations for tourists, hence the need to connect and combine these wonderful cultures and population, creating a huge global market.
The African Diaspora Tourism Conference presents a platform to discuss, initiate, dialogue and celebrate a new relationship. The recognition of Africa as a beacon of hope for African people living on the continent and in the diaspora to explore, relate and live using the African Diaspora Tourism Conference as the African platform for the foundation of this long-lasting relationship. Posterity will remember that the improvement was earned not by coincidence, but by conscious efforts to validate the struggles, strengths and linkages between African descendants on a pan-African scale.
The Africa Travel 100 Awards, now in her 18th year, has recognized over the years leaders, industry practitioners and the government officials who have promoted tourism and improved travel, using unique platforms and new information.
Among this year’s winners include: Mr. Edmund Barlett , Jamaica’s minister of tourism; Rosemary Sadlier , promoter of Black Cultural Heritage in Canada; Dr. Eugene Franklin, Chairman, Pan African Cultural Heritage Institute; Diallo Sumbry -, first ambassador of African-America Tourism to Ghana; Carol Hay, Director of Marketing Caribbean Tourism Organisation, UK and Europe; Professor Thomas Mensah – Ghanaian / American Pioneer in fiber Optic technology, Author “The right stuff comes in Black too”; Fabien Anthony- Chairman and Co-Founder Pan-African Council; Kitty Pope, Creator, Africa Diaspora World Tourism Awards; Eric Martin and Kent Johnson, founders of Black and Abroad; Cherae Robinson , founder, Tastemakers Africa; Macaulay Kalu, chairman, African Union 6th Region; Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao, African Union ambassador to the U.S; Carolyn Anderson , founder, Beyond All Border; Danny Rivers Mitchell , founder, Black Girls Travel Too; Kumi Rauf , CEO, I Love Being Black; Jessica Nabongo , Founder/ CEO Jet Black; Rozan Ahmed, Cultural Institute Creative Writer, and many others.
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