Africa Travel Week has received the full backing and support of the Western Cape province and the City of Cape Town following a strategic partnership announced in Cape Town on December 3.
In terms of this, the province, the city and Reed Travel Exhibitions, through Thebe Reed Exhibitions, will co-fund the inaugural event to be held at the Cape Town Convention Centre from April 28 to May 3, comprising the Incentives, Business Travel and Meetings (IBTM) Africa event, the International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM) Africa and World Travel Market (WTM) Africa. Western Cape Finance, Economic Development and Tourism MEC, Alan Winde, confirmed that the province was finalising a financial contribution of R1m for the first year, while the City committed R8,67m over the next three years, according to its executive director of Tourism, Events & Marketing, Anton Groenewald.
Speaking at the partnership announcement, CTICC CEO, Rashid Toefy, said Africa Travel Week’s entry into a market, until now dominated by SA Tourism’s annual Indaba, had not been without controversy “It is going to really shake up the market,” he predicted. 
However, WTM Africa Exhibitions Manager, Polly Magraw, said the intention was not “to rattle cages”, but to provide competition and choice. She said Reed Travel Exhibitions had done its research over the past three years and had identified a market niche. “We genuinely believe the time is right for Africa to take a greater presence on the international tourism stage.” Reed Travel Exhibitions was investing in Africa for the long-term, she said. “We are here to stay.” She said the vision was for Africa Travel Week to be a catalyst for economic growth, to be a showcase for Africa, give its travel industry a voice and level the playing field. 
She said Africa Travel Week would be unique as, for the first time, it would offer three Reed Travel Exhibition events in one week in one destination combining leisure, luxury and corporate tourism… “which is an indication of how much the organisers believe in the destination,” she added.  
Some 500 vetted travel buyers will attend, with special focus on buyers from emerging markets such as Scandinavia, Central Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America (in particular Brazil).  Also expected were 4 500 trade visitors, 200 global media representatives and 2 000 exhibiting personnel.