Jointly organized by Africa Tourism Partners (ATP) in collaboration with the United World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), preparations for the 3rd edition of the Africa Youth in Tourism Innovation Challenge and Summit are now at an advanced stage.
The Youth Summit is scheduled for 28 to 30 July 2021 and will be held in Accra, Ghana. As a pre-cursor, the Africa Youth in Tourism Innovation competition has been running from 10 May and closing on 15 June 2021.
So far, competition entries have been received from youth innovators from eight (8) African countries including Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Zambia. More entries are expected to come through before the competition closes. Top 5 finalists of the Africa Youth in Tourism Challenge will be introduced to industry leaders, mentors and potential funders and/or partnerships at the summit and announced through various media platforms.
Being a youth-oriented initiative, the Africa Youth in Tourism Innovation Summit and Challenge focuses on skills development and innovation methodologies for youth in leisure and business tourism as well as MICE. It also highlights the need of an ecosystem approach among tourism stakeholders to enable entrepreneurs to grow and develop. This being the 3rd year running, the Pan-African summit gathers youth, start-ups (in leisure tourism and MICE) and professionals to harness the potential of this sector by sharing insights, knowledge, experiences and opportunities.
According to Christelle Grohmann, Director at BDO South Africa, the youth challenge is a great opportunity for us the young generation to showcase our innovativeness by thinking outside the box and create something that can contribute to the tourism sector going forward. It is also a tool to inspire other youth to come up with new innovative ideas, explore their potential and overcome their limitations.
On the other hand, the summit will expose some of the opportunities available in the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions/Events (MICE) and bring possible solutions on how to navigate present and post covid-19 challenges.
Shortlisted Innovation Challenge competitors will have the opportunity to be supported and mentored to compete in the UNWTO Global Innovation Challenge. Participants in the Summit and competition will benefit in many ways such as:
• career guidance for fresh high school and university graduates interested in travel and tourism and MICE eco-system careers;
• Creating a new exclusive marketplace for African Youth and Start-Ups and SMMEs in leisure tourism, business tourism and MICE
• Gaining insights into supply-chain linkages, market access, funding, business recovery and continuity opportunities between start-ups established & big industry stakeholders across leisure and business travel as well as MICE;
• synergies amongst public sector entities (including National Tourism Organisations, Convention Bureaux and Conference Centres), start-ups, academia, corporations, investors, accelerators.
• The five (5) shortlisted competitors will participate in the finals of the Youth Innovation Summit and Challenge that will take place on the margins of the annual Africa Tourism Leadership Forum (ATLF) and Awards scheduled to take place in Rwanda later in mid-November.
For registration and enquiries, please contact Ms. Rejoice Chishamba at: rejoice@africatourismpartners.com / +27 (0) 11 318 1741 / +27 (0) 81 303 7030
