WTM Africa has received the full backing and support of the Western Cape Province and the City of Cape Town.
WTM Africa is part of Africa Travel Week, which will be managed by the newly formed Thebe Reed Exhibitions in conjunction with Reed Exhibitions, and will be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) from April 28th to May 3rd 2014. The event will comprise three co-located shows – ILTM Africa, IBTM Africa and WTM Africa, encompassing Africa’s inbound and outbound markets for general leisure travel, luxury tourism, and the MICE/business travel sector.
CEO of Cape Town Tourism, Enver Duminy endorsed WTM Africa. “World Travel Market is a leader in travel conferencing and exhibitions and it is an honour for Cape Town to host the first WTM Africa. We are looking forward to interacting with trade, exhibitors and buyers from the continent and across the globe. This is also a chance for us to put Cape Town in the spotlight during our fascinating year as World Design Capital 2014 and on the occasion of our marking twenty years of democracy.”
Citing the benefits such an event can bring to the city, Councillor Grant Pascoe, Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events and Marketing, added: “The benefits of hosting an event of this magnitude are boundless, not only for Cape Town but for the region and the continent. Cape Town will have the world leaders in luxury and business travel on our doorstep for a full week, including some 500 top travel buyers, 4 500 trade visitors, over 200 global media representatives and 2 000 exhibiting personnel. Through Africa Travel Week, including WTM Africa, we are actively looking to position the City as a holistic destination that is more than just tourism. Cape Town is open for conferencing, trade, business meetings, leisure travel and so much more. The event also presents the City with a fantastic opportunity to showcase our new design inspired tourism products to international buyers in the year that Cape Town celebrates being the World Design Capital 2014.”
“This event comes at an opportune time in light of the resumption of the centre’s expansion plans, which will double the CTICC’s exhibition capacity by 2017. Reed Travel Exhibitions decision to launch into Africa in partnership with Thebe Reed Exhibitions starting with Africa Travel Week will have the effect of raising Cape Town and South Africa’s profile as a leading global exhibition and trade fair destination in the emerging markets”, says CTICC Chief Executive Officer, Rashid Toefy.
The three events during Africa Travel Week will welcome more than 5000 travel and tourism buyers from Africa and beyond to the City of Cape Town and over 700 tourism companies to exhibit from around the globe.
Richard Mortimore, CEO Reed Exhibitions added: “The host city for a Reed Travel Exhibitions’ event is a valuable and strategic partnership to the development and success of our shows. We are therefore delighted to be working alongside the City of Cape Town and also welcome the support we have from Cape Town Tourism. We expect Africa Travel Week, including WTM Africa, to provide a real economic impact for the City through the number of participants we expect across all of our events who will no doubt experience Cape Town as both a business and leisure destination.”
WTM Africa takes place on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 May 2014.
