The 2019 Africa Tourism Leadership Forum (ATLF) and awards will be held at the Durban KwaZulu-Natal Convention Bureau from August 29 to 30.

Convened by African Tourism Partners and themed ‘Stimulating Intra-Africa Travel through Thought Leadership’, ATLF is the only Pan-African public-private tourism leadership platform that is convened, led, and hosted by Africans in Africa.

According to Sihle Zikalala, Provincial Minister for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs in KwaZulu Natal, gatherings such as ATLF help bring industry developments to the fore and inspire stakeholders who work hard to build a sustainable travel and tourism industry in Africa.

“As the proud host of ATLF 2019, we look forward to welcoming all stakeholders from across the continent and the rest of the world, not only to this innovative event, but also to experience what South Africa and our beautiful province offer the world. ATLF is an African project that we must all be part of and support,” says Zikalala.

There will be a number of key focus areas for the ATLF this year, including the present and future imperatives of visas, e-visas and air connectivity; the outlook on the impact of business and MICE tourism on national economies; what it will take for Africa to harness the Chinese outbound travel market; how to embrace and optimise disruptive technological innovation for intra-Africa travel; delivering critical tourism and travel infrastructure with development finance institutions; a spotlight on wildlife and biodiversity conservation as strategic tourism assets in Africa; skills development and capacity building across the sector value chain and the practicalities of measuring return on destination marketing investment.