The Tourism Investment Forum Africaä (TIFA) 2026 – Americas Edition will take place from 24–27 September 2026 in New Orleans, Louisiana, on the fringes of the International Arts Festival, one of the city’s premier cultural showcases. As TIFA expands its global footprint with its inaugural North American edition, the 2026 Forum is dedicated to profiling and promoting African destinations as investable tourism and film locations, strengthening Africa’s visibility, competitiveness, and access to capital in the United States and broader global markets.
TIFA has emerged as one of Africa’s foremost platforms for investment promotion, project visibility, and sector‑driven collaboration across tourism, hospitality, creative industries, real estate, infrastructure, and business events. Rooted in the philosophy of “a global platform for local action,” the Forum provides African destinations with a structured environment to showcase investment opportunities and engage investors.
The 2026 edition is delivered in partnership with the International Arts Foundation and the City of New Orleans, ensuring African delegates benefit from enhanced access, visibility, and operational support, including VIP access to sanctioned festival events, coordinated logistics, and amplified public‑relations exposure. This collaboration positions African destinations at the centre of a world‑class cultural, investment, and trade‑promotion platform.
Strengthening Africa–U.S. Investment and Cultural Corridors
TIFA 2026 will convene senior government officials, destination marketing organisations, film commissions, investors, development finance institutions, real‑estate developers, and cultural‑industry leaders. The Forum aims to deepen trade, investment, and cultural‑economy collaboration between Africa and the United States, leveraging New Orleans’ global reputation as a cultural capital with strong African heritage.
Delegations will represent a diverse range of African countries actively positioning themselves as competitive tourism and film investment destinations, including South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, Namibia, Botswana, and Mauritius. These destinations will showcase investment opportunities across their visitor and cultural economy sectors, highlighting a strong pipeline of market-ready projects in tourism, hospitality, and the creative industries.
Key Focus Sectors
The Forum will spotlight Africa’s most dynamic investment sectors by showcasing opportunities across tourism and hospitality, meetings and business events (MICE), real estate and precinct development, film and television production, travel technology, heritage assets, and enabling infrastructure. Together, these sectors demonstrate Africa’s readiness to attract investors, production houses, and strategic partners through investment‑ready destinations, mixed‑use precincts, film‑friendly locations, catalytic property developments, digital tourism innovations, and competitive business‑events capabilities.
Leadership Commentary
Mr Ernest Kelly
Chairperson, International Arts Foundation – “The International Arts Festival is proud to host TIFA 2026 on its fringes. Africa’s cultural and natural assets are extraordinary, and this forum provides a powerful platform to translate those assets into investment, production opportunities, and long‑term economic growth.”
Mr Frederick “Wood” Delahoussaye
Director, Mayor’s Office of Cultural Economy, New Orleans – “New Orleans has deep cultural ties to Africa, and we are honoured to welcome TIFA 2026. Our Sister City relationship with Durban, South Africa, further strengthens this partnership, as both cities share a strong reputation as vibrant tourism destinations and competitive film locations. This alignment makes for a natural and powerful collaboration, reinforcing our shared commitment to cultural diplomacy, creative‑sector development, and positioning New Orleans as a global hub for film, music, and tourism innovation.”
Mr Miller Matola
CEO, Millvest Advisory & Convenor of TIFA – “TIFA 2026 is designed to elevate African destinations in the U.S. market by showcasing them as investable, competitive, and ready for partnership. New Orleans offers the perfect environment for this engagement — culturally rich, globally connected, and committed to visitor and creative‑economy growth.”
