African Adventure Specialists, a premium destination management company based in Nairobi, Kenya, has reaffirmed its commitment to expanding its presence in the Latin American market while strengthening its operations in Africa.
The company exhibited at this year’s International Tourism Trade Fair (FITUR 2025) in Madrid, Spain, courting buyers and participants with their products and services while showcasing their latest strategies for driving tourism growth between Africa and Latin America.
Speaking to VoyagesAfriq at the event, Andrew Kitema, Co-Managing Director of African Adventure Specialists, shared insights into their ongoing initiatives and future plans for both markets.
Breaking new ground in Latin America
The company has been making steady inroads into the Spanish-speaking world, with a keen focus on Latin America. In a strategic move to deepen its market penetration, African Adventure Specialists launched a representation office in Paraguay last November. This office serves as a hub for their growing operations in the region.
“We have a lot of plans lined up for 2025 and beyond,” said Kitema. “We are looking forward to bringing African tourism to the Latin American world through familiarization trips and by engaging agents who will visit Africa and sell the destination. Since 2022, we have been putting in significant efforts, and our numbers have grown from just 200 visitors in 2022 to about a thousand in 2024.”
Kitema attributes the surge in interest to the company’s dynamic market approach, which involves attending key travel shows across the continent. “Every month, we are moving from one country to another doing self-calls whenever have shows in Colombia, Argentina, Brazil and many other small shows in South American countries whenever they are happening. This has been our great moment and the rise in growth of numbers that we have been getting in South America.”
Expanding footprint in Africa
Beyond Latin America, African Adventure Specialists which has two more offices in Rwanda and Tanzania has ambitious plans to expand its reach within Africa. The company is setting its sights on Southern Africa, where demand for destinations within the region is rising.
“We have plans to expand into Southern Africa, especially to South Africa itself, to Zambia because we have quite a number of requests we are getting for Vic Falls, Zimbabwe and possibly, Botswana in the coming days.”
Bright prospects for African tourism in 2025
The African tourism sector is poised for remarkable growth, according to Kitema. Reflecting on FITUR’s evolving landscape, he noted a significant increase in African exhibitors. “It is growing and it will continue to grow immensely. Based on my experience on the previous years where, I saw like here in FITUR, we could have a few operators coming from different countries in Africa, now we see that the trajectory is changing – a lot of countries our here, a lot of tour operators even from my own Kenya who are participating in the show can only mean more growth and people to Africa” he observed.
Kitema also encouraged young people to explore career opportunities in the tourism sector. “It is an industry which is growing and it’s huge, so, I will ask them to join us; we are there for them and let them ask about anything they need to know about tourism, mentorship programmes and we will be there to help,” he assured.
This article was first published in the March 032 issue of VoyagesAfriq Travel Magazine
