Africa Travel Association Plans Washington Tourism Conference

The Africa Travel Association (ATA), in association with the Travel & Adventure Show, will hold its third annual tourism conference in Washington, D.C. at the Convention Center on Friday, March 5. The conference will begin with an evening networking reception on “Destination Gambia,” the site of ATA’s 35th Annual Congress, on Thursday, March 4.

The 2010 event looks to identify the key tourism trends that have allowed tourism to Africa to show growth in the recent years and aims to raise the visibility of Destination Africa and its diverse travel products that are well-suited to the North American market.

According to Edward Bergman, ATA executive director, “Africa continues to be a growing travel market, even during these difficult economic times, presenting industry professionals with an incredibly diverse range of travel products, like culture and heritage, sports and recreation, arts, adventure travel, faith-based travel, culinary tourism, sea and sun, and eco-tourism for their client base.”

This year, the conference offers two learning tracks: The first, Africa’s Tourism Agenda, focuses on the issues facing Africa’s travel industry today, such as airline access, sports tourism and the World Cup, and U.S. policy approaches to tourism in Africa.

The second, Professional Development, offers tour operators and other travel experts best practices and skills building with workshops on marketing and branding, social media and travel trade shows, as well as up-to-date information on Africa’s travel products. Special highlights include plenary on the Africa marketplace with travel industry leaders and experts on Africa.