Focused on showcasing the incredible beauty and tourism potential of the African continent, WTM Africa has closed on another busy and vibrant day, with both exhibitors and buyers expressing how excited they were to be a part of this premier travel platform!
Chardonnay Marchesi, South Africa Portfolio Director for Reed Exhibitions’ Travel, Tourism & Sports Portfolio, says of the second day: “It’s always fantastic to see how WTM Africa allows attendees the platform to write productive business and make genuine connections that will indeed further tourism. We have received overwhelmingly positive feedback on our second day!”
WTM Africa 2018’s second day showcased the extraordinary potential of Africa as a destination for travellers through its popular Speed Networking sessions. Operating at full capacity, these sessions gave exhibitors the chance to expand the reach of their product through short appointments with potential buyers.
The host City of Cape Town were delighted to show WTM Africa’s prestigious Buyers the sights and sounds of the city too. Says Alderman Patricia De Lille, Executive Mayor City of Cape Town: “This year, as part of the City of Cape Town’s vision to create an enabling environment for the growth of emerging tourism enterprises and to ensure meaningful participation in the industry, the City of Cape Town took some of the world’s top tourism industry buyers on tours of Langa and the BoKaap, to get a first-hand experience of our local tourism gems.”
De Lille furthers: “In Langa, buyers enjoyed a walking tour of the Langa Quarter – which includes 13 streets and a nucleus of challenge will be to better share information moving ahead. We have the infrastructure and investment, now it’s about maximising on that!”
Running concurrently with WTM Africa, the African Business Travel Association (ABTA) Corporate Travel Forum highlighted the key trends, challenges and opportunities within corporate travel and allowed corporate travel professionals the chance to relay the current landscape of travel in their sector: “Partnership and collaboration has always been important to ABTA. We were delighted to partner with WTM Africa this year to bring an ABTA Corporate Travel Forum to our Cape Town Chapter and doing this alongside WTM Africa made perfect sense. Thank you to WTM Africa for the collaboration and we look forward to more in the future,” says Monique Swart, Founder of ABTA.
Select media in attendance at WTM Africa were treated to a media lunch at MAReSOL restaurant at the V&A Waterfront. The media also got an exclusive look at the all-new The Alba Restaurant, a elegant new dining experience on the water. This 72-seater restaurant operates in the Cape Town harbour, providing refined service and cuisine.
Exhibitors were rewarded for their efforts in creating engaging and productive stands at WTM Africa 2018, with congratulations going out to the following WTM Africa 2018 Stand Award Winners:
- Most Responsible Stand: Wesgro
- Best Stand Personnel: GOLD Restaurant
- Best Stand Feature: Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority
- Most Innovative Stand: Dream Hotels
- Best Stand Design: Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority
- Best Stand for Doing Business: Botswana Tourism Organisation
- Most Extraordinary Stand Festival Experience: CitySightseeing
Mauritius Tourism Promotion Agency had a full day of meetings at WTM Africa.
Raj Bhujohory, Chairman of Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA), says of WTM Africa: “It is a privilege to be a part of this truly global travel expo. It has also been a real eye-opener for us to meet and interact with people from all across the world. We have met such interesting people and had really constructive meetings that we are confident will result in increased arrivals to our beautiful tropical island.”
Don’t miss out! Friday, 20 April, marks the final day of WTM Africa 2018, travel trade professionals are still able to attend by registering on-site at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
The third day of WTM Africa 2018 will see discussions on technology and digital marketing’s influence on travel at the E-Tourism Africa Summit (ETAS) in partnership with E-Tourism Frontiers, the future and challenges of influencer marketing with iambassador, and current and future trends to expect in travel presented by Euromonitor.
For highlights from WTM Africa 2018, visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. Join in the conversation online using the hashtag #WTMA18.