The President of Benin, HE Dr. Boni Yayi; Vice President of Uganda, HE Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi; and tourism leaders from Tanzania and the Gambia will attend a high-level event on Thursday, September 27, along with African heads of state, vice presidents, and ministers, as well as tourism leaders to participate in the seventh annual Africa Travel Association Presidential Forum on Tourism at New York University.

The discussion will focus on the benefits of tourism, particularly in relation to the economy, environment, and people and issues that affect Africa’s ability to leverage opportunities presented by tourism.

Participating will be the Hon. Ambassador Amina Ali from the African Union; the Hon. Fatou Mas Jobe Njie, Permanent Representative to the USA, Minister of Tourism and Culture, Republic of The Gambia; the Hon. Walter Mzembi, Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Republic of Zimbabwe; Prof. Mthuli Ncube, Chief Economist and Vice President, African Development Bank; Amir Dossal, Chairman of Global Partnerships Forum; Sarbuland Khan, Senior Counselor, UNWTO Liaison Office to the UN; Dr. Yaw Nyarko, Director, Africa House, New York University (NYU); and Edward Bergman, Executive Director, Africa Travel Association.

The forum will be held on the occasion of the UN General Assembly meetings and hosted and sponsored by NYU’s Africa House, offering Africa’s leaders an opportunity to speak about how tourism contributes to a country’s economic growth, tourism development priorities, and current challenges and how to raise the profile of tourism on Africa’s political agendas. Since 2006, more than 15 African countries have participated in ATA’s highest profile event in the USA, attracting over 1,400 participants, including representatives from the travel and tourism industry, the diplomatic community, NYU, the non-profit sector, and the media.