The overarching objective of the ongoing Africa Travel and Tourism Summit (ATTS2021) is to revive travel and tourism confidence among tourists and visitors to Africa.
This is particularly important to consolidate what the continent has chalked in mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the travel and tourism industry. This is according to the Acting CEO of South Africa Tourism Ms. Sthembiso Dlamini. Speaking at the opening of the Summit, she said that the summit will address the perception that travelling and doing business in Africa is not safe because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Africa’s Travel and Tourism Summit was conceived from a need to create a property that will demonstrate and highlight the continent’s tenacity and holistic abilities. It needed to be a springboard to restart and rebuild the tourism sector amidst the COVID-19 pandemic through knowledge and partnerships.
I can assure you, our numbers as a continent are much lower than many of the developed nations. This negative perception was driven mainly by the heightened global media focus on the continent” Ms. Dlamini stated.
ATTS2021 is offering industry players and its stakeholders an opportunity to meet and engage on the challenges and opportunities that affect the advancement of tourism on the continent.
The 3-day event is also providing a platform for governments on the continent, industry associations, country tourism authorities, organisations and industry experts to collaborate and engage in dialogue around issues and policies affecting tourism.
“All I ask you to bring to the table is your curiosity and questions so that we can understand how tourism has shifted in Africa and help us re-engineer packages for a new kind of traveller – a traveller that will be conscious about health, safety and the protection of our planet.
The future of travel and tourism is going to be very different to the pre-COVID era. And we best prepare for it. There is no better place to start preparing than here, at Africa’s Travel and Tourism Summit,” Ms. Dlamani assured.
ATTS2021 is being held both physically and virtually across three cities – Durban, Lagos and Johannesburg simultaneously.
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