Africa Travel Week kicks off in Cape Town
Africa Travel Week, which attracts more than 5 000 delegates, kicks off in the city this week. Alan Winde, Minister of Economic Opportunities, welcomed the delegates to the Western Cape.
Africa Travel Week is an umbrella event which includes the World Travel Market Africa, the International Luxury Travel Market and the International Business Travel Market.
“We’re excited to once again host Africa Travel Week. In 2015, over 500 exhibitors attended World Travel Market Africa which drew over 4 000 attendees. The International Luxury Travel Market also generated a R41 million boost for Africa’s luxury travel industry in 2014 and resulted in over 4 000 business meetings among key players.”
There is a technology focus at Africa Travel Week, which is aligned to the Western Cape Government’s plans through Project Khulisa.
“In my budget speech last week, I announced that we would be harnessing the power of big data to grow our tourism sector. We will soon be launching a tourism data and real-time business intelligence dashboard which will provide us with the most recent trends and performance of the Western Cape tourism industry,” said Minister Winde.
Project Khulisa had identified the tourism sector as one of the Western Cape’s focus areas for the next five years.
“Tourism is our fastest growing sector and it’s creating jobs the quickest. There are currently 204 000 people employed in formal jobs and the sector is worth R17 billion. Under a high-growth scenario, this sector could add a further 100 000 jobs to our economy.”
For media queries, kindly contact:
Bronwynne Jooste
Tel: 021 483 3550
Cell: 060 970 4301
Email: bronwynne.jooste@westerncape.gov.za
