‘We have chosen to concentrate on value creation than money with virtual hosting of Akwaaba this year’
For the past 15 years, Akwaaba African Travel Market, the first and largest travel fair in West Africa, has successfully been held in Lagos, Nigeria. Over the years, it has connected businesses, investors, government decision-makers and travel buyers to e
Congratulations on the successful hosting of Akwaaba in the last 15 years. This year marks the 16th edition of the travel fair, what mileage is this for the organisers?
Thank you for the encouragement. This was supposed to be a great outing based on the success of last year’s edition. We planned to build on the results of better participation for this year, which is the 16th edition of the travel fair, but Covid-19 came along.
Considering that the fair is holding virtually for the first time, will that disrupt the flow of the event and expected impact?
Virtual is not as powerful as a face to face encounter. You cannot build trust virtually like you do when you feel the person. But change is life and we have to adapt.
The impact of the virtual is two dimensional and so cannot have the same impact. The advantage here is that people can join the conference from everywhere.
What is the participation like, are countries and exhibitors also joining virtually?
We are not going the full hog of virtual exhibition. We are only having the conferences virtual. You cannot create the Akwaaba experience virtually. The noise, the faces, the feel and touch of Akwaaba cannot be replaced. For instance, how do you recreate the Jollofrice Tasting online? Of course, that is not possible. The reality is that life happens, and we have to adapt.
What impact is the virtual version going to have on revenue and participation, are you going to lose for not holding it physically?
There is zero income for us here. We are
actually spending money not expecting anything. We owe our audience a keepsake and that is why we are hosting the event despite the impact of the pandemic. There are models and platforms for revenue, but we have chosen to concentrate on value creation rather than money.
By now we would have hosted our three major events, which are; Bantaba, Accra Weizo and now Akwaaba. Moreover, we have not earned any money from our events this year because they did not hold due to the pandemic.
The travel fair is still being held for three days, do you think participants will stay through the three days?
We have asked people to pre-register to enable us to have a good idea of who is coming and who is not. But most people have registered for the 2 day virtual conference.
What are the excitements and unique offerings to expect in the virtual fair?
Outside the heavy caliber of our panelists, the excitement will come from the audience. The panelists are extremely high caliber.
With most international fairs being cancelled or held virtually, do you think face to face meeting will hold again and what impact will virtual conference make if the current health crisis persists?
Face to face meetings will come back with a bang because people are tired of not meeting again. If we announce a physical meeting for Akwaaba today, the hall will be full. People will still congregate because we are humans, and we shall meet soon.
Do you think MICE can leverage on virtual conference to bounce back?
Of course, MICE needs face to face meetings to bounce back. Online meetings require a different model. Considering what is on the ground, one wonders how massive convention centres, hotels among other enabling facilities will fit into the virtual landscape. Definitely, MICE will rebound because humans are hardwired.
Do you see recovery soon?
Yes. From December this year, things will definitely change.