More than 6,000 delegates, including 1,000 international buyers and 1,000 exhibitors showcasing 350 products, were captivated as South Africa’s Tourism Minister, Patricia de Lille delivered her keynote address at the official opening of Africa’s Travel Indaba 2023.
Indaba boasts exhibitors from 21 African countries including 10 tourism boards, and 123 Small Business sponsored by the Department of Tourism at R11.7 million to feature at the trade show as part of transformation efforts.
With a captive audience, de Lille spoke passionately on the importance of the industry, highlighting the need “for collaboration and innovation to drive growth in the sector.”
The Minister said competition is essential for destination marketing and tourism. However, “it should be balanced with collaboration to avoid unhealthy practices and foster healthy competition based on quality and innovation.”
She noted that harmonising visa regimes and simplifying the application process is vital for unlocking Africa’s tourism potential.
According to de Lille, collaboration across the value chain is necessary to make it easier for visitors to move from one country to another, within the continent.
South Africa, she added, “is leading the way with visa waivers for several African countries and the rollout of an e-visa system to countries like Kenya, Nigeria, and Egypt.”
She promised that the goal “is to expand the e-visa system to 20 more countries, making Africa a more attractive destination for Africans and international travellers. For South Africa, we have seen, she said, “encouraging growth in our tourist arrival numbers between January and December 2022, where it reached nearly 5.8 million with over 4 million of those arrivals from African countries.”
This represents an overall inbound increase of 152.6% for South Africa compared to January to December 2021. She bemoaned the dearth of celebrating together as Africans, calling for a special event to bridge the chasm of geography, language and culture amongst Africans. “We must stop bickering, “she added firmly.
Africa’s Travel Indaba is one of the largest tourism marketing events on the African calendar and one of the top three ‘must visit’ events of its kind on the global calendar.
It showcases the widest variety of Africa’s best tourism products and attracts international buyers and media from across the world.
Africa’s Travel Indaba has won the awards for Africa’s best travel and tourism show. This award was presented by the Association of World Travel Awards.
The show started on Tuesday, 09 May 2023 and ends on Thursday, 11 May 2023.
