The continent’s largest travel trade show, Africa Travel Week (ATW), returns to Cape Town from Monday, 11 April to Wednesday, 13 April 2022. The international event is the first major in-person travel show hosted on the African continent since the start of the pandemic, and a much-needed boost for local tourism.
Africa Travel Week brings together the world’s top travel professionals, buyers, exhibitors and media for an incredible showcase of Africa’s diverse offering and the enormous potential of tourism on the continent.
Headline shows over the three days include World Travel Market (WTM) Africa, the International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM) Africa, and the Africa Tourism Investment Summit (ATIS). The highly anticipated event will include all the highlights delegates have come to expect in previous events, including a robust speaker programme and associated events like the International Business Tourism Market (ibtm) Africa, EQUAL Africa, Travel Forward, the Sports and Events Tourism Exchange (SETE), and the Responsible Tourism (RT) Conference and Awards.
Established in 2004, the Responsible Tourism Awards showcases the best in responsible tourism, setting the compass for the global industry to take responsibility in creating sustainable travel and holiday experiences. The RT movement was founded in Cape Town 20 years ago and has grown to have influence around the world as more businesses and destinations have taken responsibility to use tourism to make better places for people to live in and visit.
‘The benefits of hosting an event like Africa Travel Week are immense, not only for Cape Town, but for the region and the continent as a whole. Africa Travel Week provides a wonderful platform for SMMEs in the travel industry looking to access international travel buyers. Tourism is an economic driver for Cape Town, generating employment, income and investment. The city remains an important and visible part of the global travel landscape and one of the most beloved tourist destinations in the world. As the City, we are committed to continuing to support and help grow the local tourism industry,’ said Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
EQUAL Africa will bring together travel suppliers and buyers as well as lifestyle brands targeting the LGBTQ+ community. For the meetings, incentives, conferences and events industry, there’s ibtm Africa and stakeholders working in the sports, events and tourism industries won’t want to miss SETE. Lastly, Travel Forward is the leading travel technology show where travel executives and innovative solution providers gain access to cutting-edge insights, open debate and unrivalled networking opportunities.
Tourism investments across the continent will be in the spotlight at the Africa Tourism Investment Summit, which WTM Africa will be co-hosting with the International Tourism and Investment Summit (ITIC).
Cape Town has been the Host City of Africa Travel Week since its inception in 2014.
This year, the City will once again participate as an exhibitor and have key officials and partners engaging on various speaker platforms.
Through Africa Travel Week, the City seeks to actively position Cape Town as the ultimate destination in Africa to Visit, Live, Work, Study, Play and Invest.
‘We are excited and look forward to welcoming our delegates from across the country and the globe back to Cape Town for Africa Travel Week. In addition to tourism, Cape Town is an ideal destination for events, business, arts and culture, and so much more.
‘With this event’s reach, I am confident we will see Cape Town’s tourism industry reach new heights in the year ahead. In 2018, more than 5 800 industry professionals from over 70 countries attended the show. Over just three days of on-site business, a phenomenal $451 million in revenue was generated for 2019. Already we have witnessed a great deal of recovery from the national lockdown. I’m happy to share that Cape Town International Airport is now welcoming around 25 000 passengers daily, 3 000 of them international. The industry is clearly looking up and I am confident that the local and global markets will recover to even greater levels,’ said Alderman James Vos, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth.
Megan Oberholzer, Africa Travel Week Portfolio Director, said: ‘Our partnership with the City of Cape Town is particularly noteworthy. We are privileged to be able to host a world-class event in a world-class city and can’t wait to welcome back all delegates to experience the best of Cape Town.’
