Africa Travel Week (ATW) is shining the spotlight on inspirational local SMMEs through a new content series called ‘Emerging Africa – a focus on SMMEs’.

The platform is calling on all business owners within the travel and tourism sector to come forward and nominate their establishments for a chance to be featured on the ATW Connect website, as well as on the ATW social media pages.

While a number of local tourism businesses will be featured by ATW over the course of the next few months, only one will walk away with the grand prize – a 6sqm stand at the WTM Africa Travel and Tourism Expo, to the value of R31 635 (€1 860).

The winner of the grand prize will be announced following a random draw on February 1, 2022, with the sought-after expo set to take place from April 11-13, 2022 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Interested parties are encouraged to fill in a qualifying survey via Survey Monkey before submissions close on January 31, supplying details of a particular experience or product as offered by their business, along with key details regarding their ‘ideal’ customer, their establishment in general, and what makes their brand/product/experience stand out as an authentic African gem within the tourism industry.

Business owners will be required to answer insightful questions such as ‘What is your greatest hope for your business?’, and ‘What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs who want to get into tourism?’. They will also have to submit a quality photograph that best encapsulates their spotlighted experience or product for use in all potential dedicated blogs and social media posts.