With attendance at WTM Africa exceeding pre-pandemic levels, industry leaders say the continent’s tourism future is bright, with demand for African offerings at a higher level than ever.

A total of 577 exhibitors from 60 countries were at the event at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, with more than 9 200 pre-scheduled appointments and 80 hours of expert content sessions taking place.

“While WTM Africa 2022 was characterised by a sense of relief and gratefulness to be able to connect again after COVID, this year business was absolutely back in full swing,” said David Frost, CEO of SATSA, which had 30 members exhibiting at its stand.  

Frost said feedback from exhibitors had been overwhelmingly positive.

“They received a lot of interest from overseas buyers, and it wasn’t only about enjoying a packed schedule of meetings, but also about the quality of those meetings. The quality of buyers at the show was of a very high level,” said Frost, who stressed the value of face-to-face trade shows.

“By getting buyers over here and all in one place, you give them an opportunity to see a significant amount of not only existing product, but new product as well, which is a key advantage of trade shows.”

Megan De Jager, Portfolio Director of Travel, Tourism and Marketing at event organiser RX Africa, said the level of interest from both new and returning buyers was an indication of the growing demand for Africa’s tourism products.

“We focus on a mix between returning, key buyers, as well as new buyers. It was gratifying to see the return of buyers who weren’t present in 2022, and it was also exceptional that 63% of buyers were new. The growth from last year has been phenomenal.”

High-end market soaring

Both De Jager and Frost noted that WTM Africa had highlighted the particularly strong demand from the high-end market, led by the US and the UK.

De Jager said the interest from luxury travel stakeholders during the ILTM Africa trade show (which took place in Cape Town from March 31 to April 2), had rolled over into WTM Africa.

“When we organise these events, we match buyers to exhibitors, and the US came out tops for the luxury market by a long stretch, followed by the UK. During WTM Africa, our panel discussions dissecting key source markets were also some of the best-attended,” said De Jager.

She highlighted the example of partner company Gold Restaurant in Cape Town, which was seeing higher numbers of bookings than at any time before COVID.

“It’s no longer a question of, ‘we’re expecting business to come back in six or twelve months’. Bookings show that business is actually materialising,” said De Jager.    

Frost said while tourism had had a robust return to hubs such as Cape Town, it was important to market the offerings of other regions.

“Areas in South African provinces such as KwaZulu Natal, the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga also need to secure that solid mid-market business from the UK and Europe. They are a very important part of our tourism offering and having a good regional spread is imperative,” Frost said.

One of the key outcomes of the event was the release of the Africa Travel Week Trend Report, compiled in collaboration with ForwardKeys and Euromonitor International. The report highlighted trends such as sustainable travel, the marketing value of streaming services such as Netflix, enhanced accessibility, the value of the millennial and Gen Z markets, religious tourism and inclusive travel.

“The landscape is changing at such a rapid rate and the industry is seeing an unpredictable sales cycle, so the release of the Trends Report was something that was very important for us,” said De Jager.

Future prospects

While future prospects for the continent look bright, Frost stressed the need for a concerted joint public and private sector marketing drive for South Africa.

“It’s a case of resolving this problem of high awareness and interest but low conversions. There are ongoing issues around the perception of the destination and what we really need is a strong global campaign that puts South Africa on the map,” said Frost.

“There currently isn’t enough structured engagement between the public and private sectors. Together with the Tourism Business Council of South Africa, we’re looking for a proper engagement with South African Tourism, where we can sit down and come up with a game plan that all sectors of the industry can get behind and assist with resources.”

SATSA’s annual conference, taking place the weekend before Africa’s Travel Indaba in May, will be themed around the importance of such partnerships.  

De Jager said visa issues were a problem that was evident in the engagements with international buyers and exhibitors.

“The challenge of securing visas to South Africa was again brought to the fore. Some buyers were not able to attend due to not securing visas in time.”