Tourism fundis gather in Cape Town
Africa Travel Week (ATW) was created to form a platform for the industry to connect and enjoy face to face interactions. The CTICC is playing host to this annual three-day event, this year taking place from 10 to 12 April 2024. The City of Cape Town has been a host city partner for the event since its inception in 2014. Celebrating a decade of growth and bringing industry leaders and tourism trial blazers together, the 2024 event does not disappoint.
Tourism creates jobs, it brings development and forms a sense of cultural exchange between foreigners and citizens. Sharing a country’s culture with tourists help strengthen communities.
ATW focuses on inbound and outbound markets for leisure tourism, luxury travel, LGBTQ+ travel, economic development, investment and the MICE/business travel sector as well as travel technology.
Events and exhibitions play a pivotal role in driving economic growth and fostering business tourism across Africa. In fact, in South Africa, travel and tourism contributes 8.6% to the economy and provides for 9.2% of total employment within the country.
The travel and tourism industry faces many challenges. For South Africa, as a developing country, following in the footsteps of the travel industries transformation, is only one of the challenges to overcome. South Africa has unfortunately become known for violent crimes and unrests. Tourists are being warned to avoid the central business districts of major cities after dark.
ATW 2024
The CTICC is a buzzing with data driven insights into the bounce-back of tourism on the continent, being delivered by industry speakers. From responsible tourism to milestones and shifts, ATW is the place to be for anyone in the industry wanting to discuss, find collaboration opportunities and join in conversations to find solutions to overcome challenges.
With over 9 500 pre-scheduled meetings and over 7 000 delegates from over 100 countries, WTM Africa has brought the world together to showcase, trade network, market and engage deal-making within the travel and tourism industry. WTM Africa is the continent’s leading and only B2B exhibition for both inbound and outbound travel and tourism market.
This year’s event showcases several high-demand industry and business topics, including responsible tourism, MICE and business travel, travel tech and artificial intelligence (AI), social media marketing, inclusivity and sports tourism.
The latest Africa Travel Week Trends Report will also be released on Friday 12 April 2024.
Since 2014 WTM hosted over 18 000 exhibitors and created 17 000 jobs. WTM Africa is a highlight on the event calendar, both for Cape Town and for tourism businesses and role-players on the continent.
“WTM has shown a year-on-year growth in the number of visitors to our city for these events as well as the impact they have had on the economy. The event organisers have laid out ambitious plans to further increase their figures and City of Cape Town aims to contribute to this expansion. We have demonstrated our commitment to this expansion by approving a three-year agreement to support Africa Travel Week until 2025. We are looking forward to welcoming all the visiting delegates to our city and sharing with them what Cape Town has to offer,” said the city’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
It has also resulted in approximately R200 million in foreign direct spend into the Cape Town economy. Annually, the event becomes the catalyst for business with deals worth around $450 million signed at World Travel Market Africa.
World Travel Market Africa will run until Friday, 12 April 2024.
Credit to Antrim Collection Sea Point for the accommodation.
Annette Havenga ©
