Record-breaking WTM Africa 2024 Signals Surging Interest in African Tourism
World Travel Market Africa (WTM Africa) wrapped up its 2024 edition with record-breaking numbers, demonstrating a significant surge in global interest towards African travel and tourism. This year saw a 40% jump in buyers compared to 2023, solidifying the event’s status as the continent’s leading travel trade show.
WTM Africa 2024 hosted 705 exhibitors and 5,752 industry professionals from 99 countries. The buyer attendance was notably diverse, featuring strong representation from emerging markets like Greece, Philippines, Switzerland, Singapore, Lithuania, New Zealand, Ghana, China, Japan, and Argentina. This influx of new buyers contributed to the impressive 10,505 pre-scheduled meetings conducted during the event. This expanded reach promises increased investment and awareness for African destinations worldwide.
“The enormous increase in buyers highlights the growing confidence and investment in Africa as a compelling travel destination,” said Carol Weaving, Managing Director, RX Africa. “WTM Africa is a serious business event, and our goal is to facilitate connections that lead to tangible growth for the African tourism sector. This year’s success underscores that commitment, and we are thrilled to see such a positive response.”
A highlight of WTM Africa 2024 was the inaugural African Media Awards, recognising exceptional reporting on tourism, travel, and hospitality in Africa. The awards celebrated the crucial role journalists play in promoting the continent’s destinations and experiences.
The renowned Responsible Tourism Awards, sponsored by the V&A Waterfront, also returned, honouring businesses and initiatives that prioritise sustainable and ethical practices within the travel sector. These long-standing awards align with WTM Africa’s commitment to driving positive change and promoting responsible tourism across the continent. The trophies for the Responsible Tourism winners were provided by Ngwenya Glass.
Additionally, WTM Africa 2024 featured the highly-anticipated Trends Report, providing invaluable insights into the latest industry developments. The event’s speaking programme was a resounding success and brought together the who’s who of the African tourism industry including among others representatives from Cape Town Tourism, Weeva, Singita, the TBCSA and many more. The speaking programme was sponsored by LIFT, who provided flights for speakers and hosted buyers.
New this year was the Brain Box, offering interactive sessions and hands-on learning opportunities for attendees. This innovative addition allowed industry professionals to engage with material in a more immersive and practical manner.
“We are incredibly proud to have launched the African Journalism Awards and introduced exciting new elements like the Brain Box,” added Weaving. “These initiatives, combined with our established programmes, demonstrate our commitment to driving innovation and elevating the African travel industry.”
As WTM Africa looks ahead to 2025, the event remains steadfast in its mission to facilitate business opportunities, foster meaningful connections, and showcase the diverse and captivating travel experiences that Africa has to offer.
World Travel Market (WTM) Portfolio comprises leading travel events and online portals across four continents. The events are Arabian Travel Market, WTM London, WTM Latin America and WTM Africa.
WTM London is the world’s most influential travel & tourism event for the global travel community. The show is the ultimate destination for those seeking a macro view of the travel industry and a deeper understanding of the forces shaping it. WTM London is where influential travel leaders, buyers and high-profile travel companies gather to exchange ideas, drive innovation, and accelerate business outcomes.
Arabian Travel Market (ATM), now on its 31st year, is the leading, international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. ATM 2023 welcomed over 40,000 attendees and hosted over 30,000 visitors, including more than 2,100 exhibitors and representatives from over 150 countries, across 10 halls at Dubai World Trade Centre. Arabian Travel Market is part of Arabian Travel Week. #ATMDubai
Next in-person event: 6 to 9 May 2024, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai
Arabian Travel Week is a festival of events taking place from 6 to 12 May, within and alongside Arabian Travel Market 2024. Providing a renewed focus for the Middle East’s travel and tourism sector, it includes Influencers’ events, GBTA Business Travel Forums, as well as ATM Travel Tech. It also features the ATM Buyer Forums, as well as a series of country forums.
WTM Latin America takes place annually in the city of São Paulo and attracts around 20,000 tourism professionals during the three-day event. The event offers qualified content together with networking and business opportunities. In this its ninth edition – there have been eight face-to-face events along with a 100% virtual one, which was held in 2021 – WTM Latin America continued to focus on effective business generation, and achieved the advance booking of six thousand meetings that were held between buyers, travel agents and exhibitors in 2022.
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: 10 to 12 April 2024 – 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.
WTM Global Hub, is the 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
RX is a global leader in events and exhibitions, leveraging industry expertise, data, and technology to build businesses for individuals, communities, and organisations. With a presence in 25 countries across 42 industry sectors, RX hosts approximately 350 events annually. RX is committed to creating an inclusive work environment for all our people. RX empowers businesses to thrive by leveraging data-driven insights and digital solutions. RX is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. For more information, visit www.rxglobal.com.
About RELX
RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. RELX serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs more than 36,000 people over 40% of whom 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.
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