Blogger collaboration panel with Velma Corcoran (Cape Town Tourism), Michael Bean (BrandsEye), Mariette du Toit-Helmbold (Destinate) and Keith Jenkins (iambassador). Image courtesy of Andre Beukes.
The 2nd annual World Travel Market Africa (WTM Africa) concluded on 17th April 2015 after three days of networking, presentations/panel discussions and events. iambassador is proud to have been a part of WTM Africa – presentations and panel discussions on blogger collaborations as well as a photo contest were organised by iambassador. The sessions were some of the most popular at WTM Africa, attracting large crowds of bloggers and tourism industry professionals.
Press release from WTM Africa.
Business boomed in Cape Town as the 2nd WTM® Africa concluded a well-received, quality 3 day event
“We have been very happy with the WTM® Africa 2015 as we’ve had a lot of very good business meetings. What I was particularly pleased with, was the opportunity to meet new industry professionals who are fresh into the African market.”– Kate Berg from Cederberg Travels, Inbound Tour Operator
The 2ND annual World Travel Market® Africa (WTM® Africa), which forms part of Africa Travel Week, concluded on Friday, 17 May 2015, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), delivering another impressive show which successfully contributed to the economic impact on the continent’s tourism sector. With more than 570 exhibitors, 82% new buyers from over 45 different countries, more than 7600 prescheduled appointments before the show began, as well as an 18% increase on 2014 visitors and 39% increase on overall travel professionals at the show, WTM® Africa certainly meant business this year, with remarkable results recorded. All numbers stated are prior to the official audit.
Visitors and exhibitors who participated in the 3 day event have praised this 2nd edition as an overwhelming success, providing them with excellent opportunities to enhance the development of travel and tourism in Africa, and to contribute to business development in the region with the advantage of a local presence combined with a global appeal. The WTM® Africa halls at the CTICC were abuzz for all three days with participants taking opportunities to engage in valuable business conversations, meet new contacts, exchange ideas and share best practices.
The South African government significantly expressed their support with Ms Tokozile Xasa, Deputy Minister of Tourism joining the Executive Mayor of Cape Town in the ribbon cutting ceremony which opened WTM® Africa on Wednesday, 15 April 2015. “The City of Cape Town believes that Africa has a lot to offer the world. We believe that events such as Africa Travel Week and WTM® Africa create unrivalled opportunities and new initiatives between the private sector and government,” commented De Lille.
Building on De Lille’s sentiment, Xasa said, “As government, we play a crucial part in creating an environment that is conducive for businesses to flourish. Our mandate can be most effectively carried out by creating robust partnerships between government and business. We continue to work in partnership with product and service owners in the tourism sector to find ways in which we can strengthen the quality of our destination offering, and the ease with which you can conduct business.”
Carol Weaving, MD of Thebe Reed Exhibitions, expressed her delight regarding the success of the show and receiving the support from the SA government and the City of Cape Town by saying, “It was an absolute privilege to welcome the Deputy Minister from the National Department of Tourism and the Mayor of Cape Town to our event. WTM® Africa provides a platform for the travel and tourism industry to grow the economy in the region, and the partnership of the public and private sector is critical to the success going forward. We have been overwhelmed with the positive feedback we have received this year, and we look forward to taking this event from strength to strength in the future for the benefit of the industry and the economy in Africa.”
Echoing her statement, Craig Moyes, WTM® Portfolio Director said, “We are extremely pleased with the results and feedback from our second event here in Africa. Many exhibitors reported doing real business at the show which will benefit the economies of SA and Africa as a whole. This will only increase as we move forward to our 3rd event next year. These are exciting times for WTM and Africa Travel Week.”
Global travel professionals expressed their confidence in the show, particularly as a platform on which to network with the right industry professionals and generate sound business deals. Adding to the positive feedback was Nils Heckscher from Not Just Hotels. “I will definitely recommend my clients to come back to WTM® Africa next year. I enjoyed the fact that the appointments were so well matched. I’m delighted to have had all of these appointments, it’s worked wonderfully.”
“WTM® Africa 2015 was a huge success for the Indian Tourism Board. We were afforded the opportunity to engage with a variety of local travel professionals, further expanding the Incredibly India Brand directly to a trade audience. This is a wonderful platform for us to network with the right industry professionals and form lasting business relationships. We look forward to being back at WTM® Africa in 2016,” said Manas Ranjan Pattanaik, Director – India Tourism Johannesburg
The Speed Networking sessions held on Wednesday and Friday were immensely successful, with exhibitors queuing to make sure they interacted with the selection of prestigious buyers from around the world. In addition to this, the conference programme was extremely popular, added Chardonnay Marchesi, WTM® Africa’s General Manager. “In most sessions there was standing room only, and the technology and blogging sessions were particularly well attended. Social media interaction really took off this year too with an average of 3000 tweets over the 3 days of the show. We were trending on Thursday!” concluded Marchesi.
Responsible Tourism was high on the agenda for WTM® Africa 2015. This was further enhanced by the 11th Responsible Tourism (RTD11) conference running alongside WTM® Africa on the 15th and 16th of April. RTD11 presented an opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved in Cape Town, South Africa and elsewhere around the world, documenting good practices applied by different producer groups, as well as set the agenda for change for the next 10 years.
WTM Africa forms part of Africa Travel Week which comprises of three co-located industry events namely International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM) Africa, International Business Travel Market (IBTM) and WTM Africa.
WTM® Africa 2016 will be taking place from 6 to 8 April at the CTICC. Save the date and avoid disappointment by booking your space today.
For WTM® Africa 2015 pictures, please click here.
To find out more about the WTM Africa visit www.wtmafrica.com.
We also invite you to like WTM Africa’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/wtmafrica and join us on twitter by following @WTM_Africa – #WTMAfrica
