African Tourism Board release quarterly events calendar

The African Tourism Board released the calendar of premier tourism events for the first quarter of the year, spanning from January to April.

Setting for execution of its tourism development roles this year, the released ATB Calendar of Events for the First Quarter of 2023 from January to April will start from January 9 to 16 with the Porto Novo International Festival in Porto Novo, Benin.

The second event in ATB’s quarterly calendar is the “Discover Gabon Launch” in Libreville, Gabon’s capital, on January 20, then the “Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo Kampala” from February 6 to 9 in Ugandan capital, Kampala.

The “Naivasha Festival” in Kenyan capital Nairobi will take place on February 20, and later the “Z – Summit Zanzibar is scheduled from February 24 to 26.

Branded as “Z – Summit 2023,” this international tourism summit has been organized jointly by the Zanzibar Association of Tourism Investors (ZATI) and Kilifair, tourism exhibition organizers in Northern Tanzania.

The Zanzibar’s high-level tourism and travel trade business and investment event has been organized with the aim of strengthening the growth of the tourism industry on the island, displaying investment opportunities and to exhibit the island’s tourism for investors and operators in the sector.

The Z – Summit 2023 will boost the growth of the tourism sector on the island.

ZATI Chairman Mr. Rahim Mohamed Bhaloo said that the Z – Summit 2023 is targeting to raise the number of tourists booked to visit the island reach 800,000 by 2025.

Mr. Bhaloo noted that the Z-Summit 2023 will also expose Zanzibar’s rich tourist resources which is a combination of marine, cultural, and historical heritages. The event targets to raise the Island’s aviation sector by attracting more airlines from Africa and the rest of the world to fly there.

Zanzibar depends on more than 27% of its annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on tourism.

He said that main beneficiaries of the summit are tourism service providers involving stakeholders from various countries in the world where 10 countries have already requested to participate in the Z-Summit 2023 to be held at the Golden Tulip Airport Zanzibar Hotel.

“Meetings Africa” is the other tourism event to be taking place in Johannesburg in South Africa from February 27 to March 1 and later the ATB and CTMB Destinations Conference in Cotonou, Benin, from March 16 to 18.

Africa and Europe Tourism Exchange will be the other ambitious tourism event in ATB’s quarterly calendar to be held in Rome, Italy, from March 28 to 30.

The last in this year’s ATB’s quarterly calendar of events is the famous World Travel Market (WTM) in Cape Town, South Africa, scheduled from April 3 to 5.

African Tourism Board is a pan-African tourism organization with a mandate to marketing and promoting all the 54 African destinations, thereby changing the narratives on tourism for a better future and prosperity of the African continent.