Cape Town, 31 March 2025 – WTM Africa is excited to announce a dynamic new content format for its upcoming event in just over a week. The reimagined programme introduces a series of theme-based mini-conferences designed to tackle the tourism industry's most pressing challenges when leaders gather in Cape Town from 9–11 April.
This approach is unique because most tourism conferences still rely on disconnected panel discussions a, making it difficult for attendees to piece together a full picture of key industry challenges and solutions.
By structuring content into cohesive learning journeys, WTM Africa 2025 ensures that delegates can explore a topic in depth, follow a clear narrative, and gain actionable insights rather than just hearing fragmented viewpoints. This model mirrors the way professionals actually learn - through context, continuity, and engagement - rather than isolated soundbites.
"African tourism faces complex challenges that can't be addressed in isolated conversations," said Megan De Jager, Portfolio Director at RX Africa. "By clustering related sessions, we're creating spaces where solutions can emerge."
Mayor Hill-Lewis said, "This restructured approach will give tourism professionals the context they need to truly understand complex challenges. Tourism has the power to drive economic transformation, and these focused discussions will certainly help inform the future of the industry.” He highlighted the Host City of Cape Town’s role: “Tourism is about job creation, infrastructure, and economic transformation. Cape Town is proud to provide the stage for discussions that will shape Africa’s future in global travel.”
WTM Africa 2025 runs from 9 to 11 April 2025 and will feature more than 100 experts participating in the content programme. The event spans three stages plus an interactive Brain Box for hands-on workshops and the innovative Super Reality Dome for selected sessions.
The flagship Africa Tourism Investment Conference on April 10 anchors the event's economic development focus, bringing financial institutions, developers and government officials together for a full day of structured dialogue. JLL Africa CEO Wayne Godwin will moderate discussions examining what investors seek from African tourism projects, with participation from Nedbank's Warrick Haskell, the IDC's Ken Ogwang, and safari industry leaders.
"Growing African tourism requires targeted capital – this summit directly connects projects with potential funders," said De Jager. "We expect real business conversations to happen here."
A dedicated Aviation Focus on April 10 confronts the continent's persistent connectivity challenges, with AASA CEO Aaron Munetsi and FlySafair's Kirby Gordon tackling pricing barriers and visa restrictions.
The Media & Narrative mini conference on April 9 examines how perception shapes destination success, featuring a frank panel discussion titled "Can African Destinations Thrive When Headlines = Headwinds?" with Wesgro's Monika Iuel and international journalist Omololu Olumuyiwa, followed by the Africa Travel Week Media Awards where the best African journalists will be recognised.
Responsible Tourism programming spans over two half days under the guidance of global expert Dr. Harold Goodwin, culminating in the WTM Africa Responsible Tourism Awards on April 10. Sessions address climate adaptation, greenwashing prevention, and nature-positive tourism models with Grootbos founder Michael Lutzeyer.
The Inclusivity & Diversity theme features TEDx speaker Ruth Rathblott's keynote on "Unhide & Seek: Building Inclusion and Belonging in Travel," alongside practical workshops on creating sensory-friendly African experiences and capitalising on diversity markets.
The highly anticipated State of the Industry panel on April 11 will be moderated by global travel intelligence leader Skift, whose Director of Insights Michelle Gounden will lead a data-driven discussion on African tourism's current position and future trajectory. The session will leverage comprehensive research from Euromonitor International, whose analyst Christy Tawii will present key findings on market trends, consumer behaviour and growth projections that will shape destination strategies in the coming years.
Wine Tourism emerges as a dedicated track on April 11, examining the sector's evolution and business potential with experts including Creation Wines' Carolyn Martin and Weltevrede's Steyn Fullard, complemented by tastings in a special Wine Activation area.
Southern Sun Hotels returns as the official hospitality partner for WTM Africa's Hosted Buyer Programme, sponsoring the exclusive welcome evening and networking events designed to connect international buyers with key industry stakeholders.
Full programme details available at https://www.wtm.com/africa/en-gb/conference-programme/programme.html#/sessions
-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: 4 to 6 November 2025 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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