- WTM Africa returns to the Cape Town International Conference Centre from 9-11 April – as part of Africa Travel Week 2025.
- WTM Africa’s 2025 programme – under the theme ‘Ignite Africa’ – includes EQUAL Africa, , Africa Tourism Investment Conference as well as other bolt-on events, conferences, and awards ceremonies.
- Registration to WTM Africa includes access to content workshops, networking opportunities, and social events.
Cape Town, 27 November 2023 – Registration for one of Africa’s flagship travel events, World Travel Market Africa, is now open.
Taking place in Cape Town from 9-11 April 2025, WTM Africa brings together leaders in leisure tourism, luxury travel, LGBTQ+ travel, MICE/business travel, sport tourism, Tourism Investment, Responsible Tourism as well as travel technology – delivering meaningful networking and collaboration opportunities for the African tourism industry.
Mirrored on WTM flagship events like WTM London and the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, WTM Africa delivers a proven mix of hosted buyers, suppliers, media representatives, pre-scheduled appointments, networking and evening functions.
“Ignite Africa is the perfect theme for 2025,” says Megan De Jager, Portfolio Director for RX Africa. "We’re creating a space for real conversation, connection and collaboration, and bringing together the best minds in the industry to shape the future of African tourism."
To this end, the 2025 programme introduces focused ‘content clusters’ for the first time. Each ‘cluster’ combines keynote presentations from established industry experts and emerging voices, panel discussions, and practical workshops for attendees – covering hot-button topics like sustainable aviation, AI in tourism, and next-generation marketing.
New additions to the 2025 programme include:
A half-day aviation conference addressing industry challenges and opportunities
The Africa Tourism Investment Conference in partnership with JLL
A youth development section focusing on career opportunities and skills development for young adults in tourism as well as a special session highlighting young African leaders in tourism
In addition, attendees can expect:
An exclusive ‘State of the Industry’ report
Interactive ‘brain box’ sessions for skills development and knowledge sharing
Facilitated connections between buyers, suppliers, potential partners and media professionals
According to De Jager, WTM Africa 2024 achieved a 53% increase in attendees compared to 2023, with representation from 88 countries across the world. “But perhaps most exciting, is the number of SMMEs and industry newcomers that showed interest,” says De Jager. “The future of African tourism is bright – and WTM Africa is the perfect platform for those looking to connect with both tourism titans and pioneers. It’s the place to be if you want to learn, network, and celebrate the diversity and opportunity in our industry.”
WTM Africa is one of the cornerstones of Africa Travel Week and De Jager recommends that both visitors and media register their interest as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
This sentiment is shared by Cape Town Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis: “We cannot wait to welcome travel and tourism professionals from around the world to Cape Town for the World Travel Market Africa in April. This event has established itself as the premier travel and tourism expo on the continent and is key to unlocking African tourism’s enormous potential. It certainly means the world to us here in Cape Town. If the popularity and growth of the last WTM Africa is anything to go by, the 2025 event looks set to be the biggest and most well attended to date. I encourage all prospective delegates and exhibitors to register their interest sooner rather than later to ensure they don’t miss out.”
As Hill-Lewis mentions, early exhibitor registration is important. “Stands are in high demand,” says De Jager. “Potential exhibitors need to get in touch as soon as possible as space on our floor plan is running out. Chat to us about availability – and about pre-scheduling meetings with sought-after buyers and suppliers.”
For those in the business of luxury tourism, ILTM Africa is scheduled from 6-8 April at the Norval Foundation in Cape Town.
“It’s a new venue for ILTM Africa,” explains De Jager. “We’re celebrating art as a key component of luxury tourism and expect some of the world’s top-tier travel experience providers and international buyers with high buying power. As an invite-only event it is advised that exhibitors register their interest as early as possible!”
Attendees at WTM Africa 2025 can also attend concurrent events like Incentives, Business Travel & Meetings (IBTM Africa); EQUAL Africa powered by IGLTA; and Travel Tech at no extra charge.
“WTM Africa is made possible through our partnerships with the City of Cape Town, the Cape Town International Conference Centre and Lift Airlines,” concludes De Jager. “We can’t wait to welcome everyone to the Mother City – and show-off Africa’s tourism industry in the most exciting week of the year.”
To attend WTM Africa 2025 and bolt-on events visit: https://www.wtm.com/africa/en-gb/enquire.html
To exhibit at ILTM Africa 2025 visit: https://www.iltm.com/africa/en-gb/forms/exhibitor-enquiry.html
-ENDS-
Issued by: Big Ambitions
Contact: Sonnette Fourie
Tel: +27 81 072 2869
Email: sonnette@bigambitions.co.za
Now in its 32nd year, Arabian Travel Market (ATM) is the leading international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. Held annually at the Dubai World Trade Centre, ATM 2024 spanned 12 halls, making it the largest edition to date. The event attracted over 47,000 attendees and more than 35,000 visitors (including 6,000+ high-value buyers) and over 2,550 exhibitors and representatives from over 161 countries. In 2025, ATM will expand to 13 halls, growing across all sectors, and will continue to be a crucial gathering for the global travel and tourism industry. Arabian Travel Market is part of Arabian Travel Week. #ATMDubai
ATM takes place from 28 April to 1 May 2025, at the Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai.
https://www.wtm.com/atm/en-gb.html
Arabian Travel Week is a week-long festival of events from 28 April to 4 May, alongside Arabian Travel Market 2025. Providing a renewed focus for the Middle East’s travel and tourism sector, it includes Start-Up Competition, Influencers' Event, GBTA Business Travel Forums, and ATM Travel Tech. The event also features ATM Buyer Networking and a series of country forums.
https://www.wtm.com/arabian-travel-week/en-gb.html
About RX
RX is a global leader in events and exhibitions, leveraging industry expertise, data, and technology to build businesses for individuals, communities, and organisations. With a presence in 25 countries across 42 industry sectors, RX hosts approximately 350 events annually. RX is committed to creating an inclusive work environment for all our people. RX empowers businesses to thrive by leveraging data-driven insights and digital solutions. RX is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. For more information, visit www.rxglobal.com.
About RELX
RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. RELX serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs more than 36,000 people over 40% of whom are in North America. The shares of RELX PLC, the parent company, are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York stock exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX. *Note: Current market capitalisation can be found at http://www.relx.com/investors
World Travel Market (WTM) Portfolio comprises leading travel events and online portals across four continents. The events are Arabian Travel Market, WTM London, WTM Latin America and WTM Africa.
WTM London is the world’s most influential travel & tourism event for the global travel community. The show is the ultimate destination for those seeking a macro view of the travel industry and a deeper understanding of the forces shaping it. WTM London is where influential travel leaders, buyers and high-profile travel companies gather to exchange ideas, drive innovation, and accelerate business outcomes.
Next event: 5 to 7 November 2024 at ExCel London
WTM Latin America is held annually in São Paulo and attracts more than 29,000 tourism professionals during the three-day event. The event offers a qualified content combined with networking and business opportunities. In its most recent edition, in 2024, WTM Latin America maintained its focus on the effective generation of business and managed to secure the early scheduling of more than six thousand meetings that were held between buyers, travel agents, and exhibitors. WTM Latin America contents are available in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
Next event: 14 – 16 April 2025, Expo Center Norte, São Paulo, Brasil
latinamerica.wtm.com
WTM Africa launched in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. In 2024, WTM Africa facilitated more than 10 thousand unique pre-scheduled appointments, an increase of more than 8% compared to 2023 and welcomed more than 10 thousand visitors (unaudited), 25% more than 2023.
Next event: 9 to 11 April 2025 – Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town http://africa.wtm.com/
About ATW Connect: Africa Travel Week’s digital arm, is a virtual hub packed to the seams with interesting content, industry news and insights, and the opportunity to hear from experts on a variety of topics in our new monthly webinar series. All with the aim to keep all of us in the travel and tourism industry connected. ATW Connect focuses on inbound and outbound markets for general leisure tourism, luxury travel and the MICE/business travel sector as well as travel technology.
WTM Global Hub, is the WTM Portfolio online portal created to connect and support travel industry professionals around the world. The resource hub offers the latest guidance and knowledge to help exhibitors, buyers and others in the travel industry face the challenges of the global coronavirus pandemic. WTM Portfolio is tapping into its global network of experts to create content for the hub. https://hub.wtm.com/
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