CMW talks with Megan Oberholzer, portfolio director at Reed Exhibitions, about the upcoming WTM Africa, 11-13 April 2022, and the current shape of the African MICE industry. Click here to read the feature in the CMW March/ April 2022 Magazine.
World Travel Market Africa (WTM Africa), 11-13 April 2022, is set to take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, South Africa, with the objective of creating an international platform for travel and MICE professionals to connect, network and do business.
Over the three days, WTM Africa will hold plenty of associated events that will look to provide wide-ranging content and opportunities for quality knowledge exchanges. Megan Oberholzer, portfolio director at RX Global (formerly Reed Exhibitions), which organises WTM Africa, states that the primary focus of the show is “all about recovery and stimulating travel on the African continent. Whether it be inbound or outbound.”
Oberholzer stresses the importance of “bringing in key speakers that are very well versed in the industry and providing them with the platform to look at future ways to recover and learn from the pandemic.”
Associated events held at WTM Africa include: The Africa Tourism Investment Summit (ATIS), Business Market Africa, EQUAL Africa, IBTM Africa, Travel Forward, and Sports and Events Tourism Exchange (SETE).
Oberholzer also says that it’s not just about creating a platform to generate revenue but emphasises the significance of data collection during the show. As the event physically brings together experts and stakeholders throughout the industry “for the first time in almost three years, it’s important to identify travel trends and create trend reports.”
Virtual and ATW365
While the majority of the show’s content is back in-person, WTM Africa will also be offering hybrid elements. “Before our live event, 4-5 April 2022, we’re going to be hosting virtual meetings and speed networking,” says Oberholzer. “We’re going to have different buyers attending the virtual meetings to the buyers that are attending the physical event. The reason for this is that we have buyers that are outside of the African continent.”
As some of these international buyers are not able to attend, Oberholzer still believes it’s WTM Africa’s responsibility to equally assist them in providing a platform for conducting business. For exhibitors, this is seen as a bonus: “They’re actually benefiting from 22% more meetings than they would have had at our live event in 2019. It’s all about writing business,” adds Oberholzer.
In addition to meetings and networking, the conclusion of the WTM World Responsible Tourism Awards will also take place at the virtual event. The six award categories focus on highlighting the achievements of organisations who are striving for global sustainability.
After the virtual show, WTM Africa will look to expand the longevity of the event’s content beyond its set dates. Through ATW365, WTM Africa will create a year-round itinerary of podcasts, webinars, masterclasses and content with the aim of connecting both inbound and outbound travel and tourism stakeholders long after the event.
“The plan for WTM Africa has always been about offering value beyond the show floor,” says Oberholzer. “This year, we’re focusing heavily on that, with a robust plan that offers significant ROI across 365 days, instead of three.”
Who’s who?
The portfolio director of Reed Exhibitions considers WTM Africa 2022 to have a strong balance between regional and international exhibitors. There are local provinces from South Africa, such Mpumalanga and Kruger, exhibiting. In the wider continental region of Sub Saharan Africa, countries like Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Tanzania are taking to the floor. While looking beyond mainland Africa, the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius, Maldives and Seychelles will also have exhibitor representation.
Oberholzer asserts: “Looking at our outbound markets, the biggest international exhibitor this year is India, which is incredible. We can see that travel between Africa and India is on the rise, and it’s an affordable destination.”
This year’s event also has a significant representation from the MICE industry. Not only has the show floor confirmed MICE exhibitors such as African Sun Hotels and Resorts, Wesgro and Seeza Network but “50 buyers have already indicated their interest in the MICE market, which is an increase on previous years,” states Oberholzer.
African MICE industry
During recent months, the MICE market’s recovery from the pandemic in southern Africa has taken a hit. “The return has been obviously stagnated, particularly when borders were shut from the emergence of Omicron discovered by scientists in South Africa,” indicates Oberholzer. “We saw a lot of cancellations. But as those borders have opened, it’s picking up across the board.”
Oberholzer highlights the importance of regional co-operation throughout the continent, in providing cross country incentive offerings during the pandemic. “You may have an incentive trip from South Africa that also moves into Tanzania. This shows how African countries have actually worked together and carried each other through the pandemic,” she says.
While it is vital for WTM Africa to offer virtual elements to its international exhibition, Oberholzer says the enormous appetite for returning to in-person throughout the continent. Last year, RX Global ran a sentiment study to understand attitudes towards event formats throughout Africa. “It was an overwhelming response wanting to return to in-person,” she says. “92% of our responses said they wanted face-to-face.”
Oberholzer believes that the pandemic was critical to underlining the industry’s desire for human connections: “People took it for granted. It’s that old adage, ‘you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.’ But as soon as you could see that even the smallest things were opening up, there was a huge shift towards in-person.”
