Press Release

African Ministers at the ITIC-WTM African Tourism Investment Summit call for Africa to unite

• African tourism ministers stress the growing importance of ecology and air connectivity for the development of the travel and hospitality industry
• Africa to unite to promote tourism under a single brand

The African travel and tourism industry has the potential to attract considerable investment if the continent works together as one destination, develops a more environmentally sustainable approach and enhances air connectivity. That was the overriding message of Tourism Ministers from across Africa during the International Tourism and Investment Corporation (ITIC) WTM African Tourism Investment Summit in Cape Town, South Africa mid-April.

Ministers of Tourism of Botswana, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Eswatini and South Africa called upon African countries to unite as a single brand and promote tourism through a common marketing campaign. This campaign could be kickstarted at the African Carnival in Botswana which will be held in September.

Close to 1.3 billion Africans are keen to discover their continent’s 54 different countries, gastronomies, music, and cultures. However, to achieve a flourishing regional African tourism industry, several obstacles need to be addressed. These obstacles include visas and air access, amongst others.

Najib Balala, Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife of Kenya, explained that only 26 African cities are currently connected through international flights. If African countries develop a co-ordinated and harmonised COVID-19 regional framework, improve their air connectivity, and open the skies, travel will become more accessible and affordable for African citizens.

“Africa drew 70 million tourists to its shores in 2019. We can get to 200 million visitors easily if we address these key issues”, stated Najib Balala.

For her part, Philda Kereng, Minister of Environment, Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism of Botswana, pointed out that green tourism should be fostered. “We have to conserve and preserve national resources, on the base of which we are developing and serving products”. She highlighted the fact that her country has revised its tourism policy to make it resilient to climate change. “Going green is the way for tourism development that is based on the natural resources,” she added.

The Chairman of ITIC and former Secretary-General of UNWTO, Dr Taleb Rifai, set the tone for further discussion panels by saying that “Africa is the future – without doubt. We’re all Africans. We all came out of Africa but Africa cannot be what it should be if the continent doesn’t work together.”

On the third and last day of the Summit, tourism project owners/ developers (from Botswana, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, South Africa, Zanzibar) were able to connect with investors. ITIC will continue to provide consultancy support for additional capital raising.

ITIC Group CEO Ibrahim Ayoub welcomed the collaboration from industry leaders at the Summit and called for the establishment of a Tourism Resilience fund to cater for future crises and to assist businesses while saving jobs.

He thanked all the Ministers, Speakers, Moderators, sponsors for their valuable contribution, with a special word to members of the audience for their participation and their successful networking with the different stakeholders.

ABOUT THE ORGANISERS:

ITIC UK

The London UK based ITIC Ltd (International Tourism and Investment Conference) acts as an enabler between the tourism industry and leaders of the financial services to facilitate investments in sustainable tourism projects, infrastructures and services that will benefit to the host countries and the local communities through social inclusion and shared growth. ITIC team undertakes extensive research to shed new light and perspectives on tourism investment opportunities in the regions in which we operate. In addition to our conferences, we produce high-quality documents and publications and add value to the brands of our clients by devising cutting-edge marketing strategies.

To find out more about ITIC and its conferences in Africa, Bulgaria, Dubai, London UK, and elsewhere please visit www.itic.uk

WTM Africa

Launched in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa.  In 2022, WTM Africa facilitated more than 7 thousand unique pre-scheduled appointments, an increase of more than 7% compared to 2019 and welcomed more than 6 thousand visitors (unaudited), the same number as in 2019.

Next event: Monday 3 to Wednesday 5 April 2023 – Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town http://africa.wtm.com/

Last call: Book your seat for the African Tourism Investment Summit

Cape Town, 07 April 2022 – This year’s African Tourism Investment Summit (ATIS) is expected to be the most ground-breaking and thought-provoking conference of its kind in 2022. The event is held in partnership with the International Tourism Investment Conference (ITIC) on 12 April during Africa Travel Week in the host city of Cape Town,

After two years of lockdowns and travel restrictions, the African tourism industry offers incredible investment and collaboration opportunities. The Summit will highlight these opportunities for ministers, mayors, investors, private equity firms, venture capitalists, decision makers, international buyers and travel professionals. It aims to unlock business translating into millions of dollars to boost Africa’s economy.

ATIS will examine Africa’s economic outlook, unveil investment opportunities for 2022, and address issues like air connectivity in Africa, the financing models of Africa’s new tourism projects and how tourism is empowering African women.

Several critical topics will be covered by authoritative voices from across the continent’s tourism industry and ATIS is looking forward to welcoming a host of Tourism Ministers, including the Hon. Philda Kereng of Botswana, Hon. Najib Balala of Kenya, Hon. Moses M Vilakati of Eswatini, Hon. Memunatu Pratt of Sierra Leone and the Hon. Edmund Bartlett of Jamaica, as well as the Hon. David Maynier, Western Cape Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, to name just a few.

Seats are filling up fast for this year’s ATIS. The Summit includes a lunch and is free to attend for Africa Travel Week attendees thanks to proud sponsor Tourism KZN And Allegro Enterprises. However, registration is necessary as seats are limited.

“Don’t wait until the day,” says Martin Hiller, Creative & Content Director: Travel, Tourism and Creative Industries at RX Africa. “Although participation at the event is free of charge, registration is a must as it’s a highlight on the event calendar and space is limited.”

Click here to reserve your place now to avoid disappointment.

ENDS

Issued by: Big Ambitions

Contact: Claire Lathe

Tel: +27 84 245 2189

Email: claire@bigambitions.co.za

About World Travel Market

World Travel Market (WTM) Portfolio comprises leading travel events, online portals and virtual platforms across four continents, generating more than $7.5 billion of industry deals. The events are:

WTM Latin America takes place annually in São Paulo and attracts around 19,000 tourism professionals during a three-day event. The show offers qualified content, as well as networking and business opportunities. In its ninth edition – the first 100% virtual – WTM Latin America followed its focus on effective business generation and reached the milestone of 4,200 meetings held between buyers, travel agents and exhibitors.

Next event: Tuesday 5 to Thursday 7 April 2022 – Expo Center Norte, SP, Brazil

http://latinamerica.wtm.com/

WTM Africa launched in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. More than 6,000 travel industry professionals attend Africa’s leading inbound and outbound travel and tourism market. WTM Africa delivers a proven mix of hosted buyers, media, pre-scheduled appointments, on-site networking, evening functions and invited travel trade visitors.

Next event: Monday 11 to Wednesday 13 April 2022 – Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town

http://africa.wtm.com/

About ATW Connect: Africa Travel Week’s digital arm, is a virtual hub packed to the seams with interesting content, industry news and insights, and the opportunity to hear from experts on a variety of topics in our new monthly webinar series. All with the aim to keep all of us in the travel and tourism industry connected. ATW Connect focuses on inbound and outbound markets for general leisure tourism, luxury travel, LGBTQ+ travel and the MICE/business travel sector as well as travel technology.

https://atwconnect.com/

Arabian Travel Market (ATM), now on its 29th year, is the leading, international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. ATM 2021 showcased over 1,300 exhibiting companies from 62 countries across nine halls at Dubai World Trade Centre, with visitors from more than 140 countries over the four days. Arabian Travel Market is part of Arabian Travel Week. #IdeasArriveHere

Next in-person event: Sunday 8 to Wednesday 11 May 2022, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai

Next virtual event: Tuesday 17th and Wednesday 19th May 2022

https://www.wtm.com/atm/en-gb.html

Arabian Travel Week is a festival of events taking place within and alongside Arabian Travel Market 2022. Providing a renewed focus for the Middle East’s travel and tourism sector, it includes ATM Virtual, ILTM Arabia, Arival Dubai, Influencers’ events and activations, as well as Travel Forward. It also features the ATM Buyer Forums, ATM Speed Networking Events as well as a series of country summits.

https://www.wtm.com/arabian-travel-week/en-gb.html

WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend three-day exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry. Around 50,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international media visit ExCeL London every November, generating over £3.71 billion in travel industry contracts.

Next live event: Monday 7 to 9 November 2022 at ExCel London

http://london.wtm.com/

London Travel Week, brought to you by WTM London, is the one-stop-shop for event hosts and visitors to be able to shape the next 12 months of travel together. The festival of events supports the global travel and tourism industry through capturing invaluable news and enhancing industry connections.

Next event: Friday 4 November – Friday 11 November 2022 – Around London

https://londontravelweek.wtm.com/

WTM Global Hub, is the new WTM Portfolio online portal created to connect and support travel industry professionals around the world. The resource hub offers the latest guidance and knowledge to help exhibitors, buyers and others in the travel industry face the challenges of the global coronavirus pandemic. WTM Portfolio is tapping into its global network of experts to create content for the hub.

https://hub.wtm.com/

About RX (Reed Exhibitions)

RX is in the business of building businesses for individuals, communities and organisations. We elevate the power of face to face events by combining data and digital products to help customers learn about markets, source products and complete transactions at over 400 events in 22 countries across 43 industry sectors. RX is passionate about making a positive impact on society and is fully committed to creating an inclusive work environment for all our people. RX is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.

www.rxglobal.com

RELX About RELX

RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. The Group serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs over 33,000 people, of whom almost half are in North America. The shares of RELX PLC, the parent company, are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX. The market capitalisation is approximately £33bn, €39bn, $47bn.*

*Note: Current market capitalisation can be found at http://www.relx.com/investors

Press Release

Key economic trends and topics will be discussed during the African Tourism Investment Summit on the 11th and 12th April in Cape Town to bolster investment in the continent

ITIC (International Tourism Investment Conference), in partnership with World Travel Market Africa, will hold a cutting-edge Summit on ‘Investing in Africa’s future tourism growth and prosperity’ from the 11^th to the 13th April 2022.

This event will be staged in a hybrid model (in-person and virtual) at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in South Africa, with the objective of supporting global but also regional investors in being the first movers to seize the new emerging opportunities of the recovering tourism industry of the African continent.

Chairman of ITIC and former Secretary-General of UNWTO Dr Taleb Rifai said, “During the pandemic, intra-African travel has been key for its survival. Investing in Travel and Tourism goes beyond its significant economic contribution. Investing in tourism, to me, is not just an extremely wise and correct business proposition; it is investing in the future of the planet, in the future of mankind, and after all, we all come out of Africa. Tourism is a force for good as well as peace.”

Several critical topics will be covered by authoritative voices of the African tourism industry, namely Tourism Ministers Hon. Philda Kereng of Botswana, Hon. Najib Balala of Kenya, Hon. Moses M Vilakati of Eswatini, Hon. Memunatu Pratt of Sierra Leone, Hon. Edmund Bartlett of Jamaica, Hon. David Maynier, Minister of Economic Development & Opportunities, Ministry of Finance and Economic Opportunities, Western Cape Government, just to name a few. Key tourism and financial services stakeholders will participate actively in the summit to boost investment and rebuild the future of Africa’s tourism industry.

“ITIC creates the conducive platform that enables investors and project owners or developers to connect and come up with mutually beneficial achievements that integrate the concerns of the different parties with respect to the preservation of the environment and cultural heritage as well as social inclusion and a fair return on investment”, points out ITIC’s Group CEO, Ibrahim Ayoub.

Moreover, one of the key differentiating elements this year will be the focus on regional cross-border investments. “We have already engaged in negotiations with financial institutions so that they can act as enablers of tourism projects that will benefit the people of Africa at large”, adds the Group CEO of ITIC.

“The African continent is brimming with opportunities, new ideas and innovative projects. Africa Travel Week is proud and excited to bring together project owners, developers, and investors to help make these projects a reality. We look forward to hosting key professionals in the private and public sector, who will highlight investment trends, industry challenges, and opportunities for our beautiful continent,” says Martin Hiller, Creative + Content Director: Travel, Tourism and Creative Industries at RX Africa.

On the 13th of April, B2B meetings between project owners or developers and the ITIC Team will be scheduled. The Investment team invites tourism projects owners or developers in quest of investment to submit their projects so that our team can screen them in the Deal Room it has set up at WTM. ITIC team will provide actionable advice in view of attendees striking mutually beneficial agreements and channelling investments into their projects.

Click this link to register your attendance at the Africa Tourism Investment Summit.

For more information, please contact Ibrahim Ayoub at ibrahim@itic.uk or call on his mobile / WhatsApp +447464034761

ABOUT THE ORGANISERS:

ITIC UK

The London UK-based ITIC Ltd (International Tourism and Investment Conference) acts as an enabler between the tourism industry and financial services leaders to facilitate investments in sustainable tourism projects, infrastructures, and services that will benefit the host countries and the local communities through social inclusion and shared growth. ITIC team undertakes extensive research to shed new light and perspectives on tourism investment opportunities in the regions in which we operate. In addition to our conferences, we produce high-quality documents and publications and add value to the brands of our clients by devising cutting-edge marketing strategies.

To find out more about ITIC and its conferences in Africa, Bulgaria, Dubai, London UK, and elsewhere please visit www.itic.uk

WTM Africa