Reawakening South Africa

THE Africa Travel & Tourism Summit held in South Africa this week discussed broad plans with the continent’s major stakeholders about how tourism and travel can be best “reawakened” from the damage inflicted by the pandemic.

The event had a limited inperson contingent to view the discussions, however it was beamed globally online so that tourism markets around the world could take note of what strategies Africa is considering to prepare for the travel rebound.

The gathering heard the African Union had drawn up the Continental Tourism Recovery Strategy, calling on major bodies such as the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank, UNWTO, and the WTTC to jump on board and provide technical expertise, resources and support.

One major pillar of the restart plan will be to “reimagine” Africa’s image to the rest of the world by leveraging the digital skills of the continent’s youth to access new business opportunities within tourism.

Another aspect will be to lobby countries like the UK to remove African nations from its red list, a categorisation South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Tourism, Amos Fish Mahlalela believes is unfair as the continent’s nations combined have fewer cases than the United States, India & Brazil.

“This perception is partly because of the slow rollout of vaccines and negative reports in the media,” he said.

Pictured: Panelists Zoe Molapisi, Kwakye Donkor and moderator Thami Nkadimeng.