Africa Travel Week (ATW) has unveiled a plan for a series of digital and live shows this year as uncertainty around Covid-19 continued to swirl around the hospitality sector.

WTM Africa itself will run as a 100 per cent virtual exhibition from April 07th-09th.

“The plan for WTM Africa has always been about offering value beyond the show floor.

“This year, we are focussing heavily on that, with a robust plan that offers significant ROI across 365 days, instead of three,” said Megan Oberholzer, portfolio director, travel, tourism and creative industries, at Reed Exhibitions Africa.

In addition to the virtual show in April, which consists of one-to-one meetings, content sessions and speed networking, ATW has lined up a collection of additional events throughout the year, which include:

• Educational content webinars from May to August.
• Africa Travel Week: Connect in the City Live from September 1st-3rd, including on-site experiences in the official Host City of Cape Town.
• A series of virtual masterclasses from September to November.

Oberholzer added: “Our plan takes on a blended approach where travel trade professionals benefit from connecting with their industry peers at face-to-face meetings later on in the year.

“Safety and wellbeing remain our number one priority and we will adjust this element of our offering accordingly.”

The blended format of WTM Africa throughout 2021 will also apply to its suite of sister shows including International Luxury Market Africa (ILTMA), International Business Tourism Market Africa (IBTMA), the Sports & Tourism Exchange (SETE), Africa Tourism Investment Summit (ATIS), Travel Forward and EQUAL Africa.

“Our industry is inspired to make travel happen again and we want to be a part of that journey to rebuild the travel and tourism industry in 2021 by being active with initiatives that help our industry connect throughout the year,” said Oberholzer.

“We need to keep the momentum up to ensure travel to Africa remains top of mind, which is one of the reasons why I’m delighted that we’re able to create a 365-day initiative.”