My conversation today is an exclusive chat with the CEO of Africa's Eden Tourism Association, Jillian Blackbeard. She tells me the main objective of Africa’s Eden is to drive travel and tourism that positively contribute to society and the local/regional economy. Africa’s Eden is a private sector-driven organisation representing Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, undertaking an ambitious destination marketing strategy and campaign at all levels of the tourism supply chain.   Jillian's passion lies in African tourism and Conservation, she has been leading the industry for over 10 years specifically in marketing, first for a Southern African hotel and resort chain, followed by 5 years as director for marketing and product development at Botswana Tourism Organisation, followed by Director for Africa for The World Travel and Tourism Association. She is now the CEO of Africa's Eden Tourism Association, the first purely private sector driven organisation representing Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, undertaking an ambitious destination marketing strategy and campaign at all levels of the tourism supply chain. Jillian's passions extend to conversation, managing the Tlhokomela Endangered Wildlife Trust for 5 years and continues to support projects that link tourism with conservation. Over the past years, she has spoken at international conferences and events on the importance of intra-African travel and opportunities and challenges for the sector across the African continent.

In today’s episode, the Acting CEO of Botswana Tourism Organization Keitumetse Setlang at the recent WTM Africa show in Cape Town revealed the ambitious Strategy for Diversification and Growth for the Southern African Nation. She also gave an update on the country’s MICE Strategy which she describes as cardinal to their tourism drive

Today’s conversation is an exclusive chat with the newly appointed Executive Director of Zambia Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Studies (ZITHS)Mrs. Anne Kaoma-Sibanda. On the sidelines of the just-ended 2nd Travel, Hospitality, and Tourism Education Summit held in Lusaka, Anne tells me ZITHS is committed to using initiatives such as the summit to help address the gaps in the human resource base of the tourism sector. Anne outlines her vision for the country’s leading hospitality institution and how partnerships will help ZITHS  adapt to the fast-changing needs of the sector.  Mrs. Anne Kaoma-Sibanda brings a wealth of experience in the field of tourism and hospitality. Her background in human capital development coupled with a strong leadership acumen, aligns perfectly with the current strategic vision of reclaiming ZITHS’ rightful position as an educator of choice in the region and beyond. Mrs. Anne Kaoma-Sibanda holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business and Psychology and a Master of Business Administration. As Executive Director, Mrs. Kaoma-Sibanda plays a pivotal role in steering ZITHS toward new heights of hospitality education in Zambia through strategic vision coupled with the commitment to fostering growth and educational innovation to contribute significantly to the success of the institute and the hospitality industry at large.

In today’s episode, the founder of Essence of Africa Amanda Margison unpacks the reasons behind the launch of the continent’s latest travel show. Taking place from 2-4 October 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya, The Essence of Africa show a collaborative work between Onshow Solutions and ATTA is a private sector-led initiative focused on expanding the potential of tourism across Africa by bringing together the right global buyers and committed local sellers.

The recently held 2024 ITB Berlin saw Africa turn up in style showcasing a diverse and wide range of offerings for the continent’s key source market at the marquee travel show. On today’s podcast recorded on the final day of the show, I spoke to the Director General of Destination Marketing at Tourism Seychelles Bernadette Willemin on her impressions of the show. Sales & Marketing Manager of Malawi’s Blue Zebra Lodge, Jen Dunlop-Jones expressed excitement following an overwhelming show of interest in their products and La Reunion’s Jerome Manicom who was happy to use ITB to announce his maiden B2B event. Natalia Rosa, a Project Lead at SADC Tourism Business Council Tourism Alliance concludes this conversation by sharing insights into the alliance’s significant strides and ambitious initiatives.

Today’s episode recorded on the margins of ITB Berlin 2024 unpacks Safari 2 GO, a revolutionary approach to planning a trip to Namibia. The platform, part of the Gondwana Group is a comprehensive online travel gateway. The Group CEO of Gondwana Gys Joubert says their newest product was inspired by the demand from smaller players and stand-alone adventurers to discover the land of the Brave.

Ahead of this year’s Kriol International Jazz Festival to be held in Praia, Cabo Verde from 4-6 April, I had an exclusive chat with the lead organizer of the event Djo da Silva. He tells me this year’s event will celebrate the fusion of kriol culture and music in style with musicians and groups from all parts of the world.

My conversation today is with the General Manager of Air Botswana, Lulu Rasebotsa. She is optimistic the financial assistance given them by the  Government of Botswana coupled with their plans to relaunch new routes with a new fleet will make the airline competitive and boost the country’s tourism drive.

In today’s episode, the Acting CEO of Namibia Tourism Board Bonnie Mbidzo on the sidelines of last week’s ITB Berlin tells me, the travel trade has expressed their excitement about Namibia’s diversified tourism products. He opens up on his short to medium-term plans and finally looks forward to welcoming delegates for the AviaDev to the land of the brave.

Today’s conversation explores the enormous opportunities the Central Eastern European outbound market offers to African destinations. Managing Director of Travel Advance, Paddington Tucker currently at Onshow’s CEE roadshow in Budapest takes a deep dive into this growing market. Paddington Tucker is the owner and founder of the Travel Advance Group, a destination marketing agency with reach across Central Eastern Europe and staff based in Poland, Czechia, Hungary and Romania. Since 2014 Travel Advance has consulted to numerous tourism boards looking to understand this dynamic region and grow tourism arrivals. Paddington started his career promoting African safari products across the world and since 2010 partnered with Onshow Solutions on the Africa Showcase project in German-speaking markets and CEE.

My Guest today is Safiyaa Akoojee, Founder and CEO of Fortunatus Advisory. Safiyya is a Dubai based South African Attorney & advisory professional, with more than thirteen years of law practice experience. In this conversation, she highlights the critical role of attorneys in the business of tourism and the right framework to attract the right investments to destinations. Safiyya will be speaking at the upcoming Tourism Investments Forum Africa scheduled for 10-12 April in Cape Town, South Africa. Safiyya is a dynamic, performance-driven professional who has held leadership posts in multiple businesses and provides global expertise with legal insights to advise businesses and executives alike. Safiyya has an acute business acumen and foresight allowing her to advise her clients on the intricacies of cross border transactions and offshore establishment. Having gained a significant amount of experience representing various businesses & industry sectors. Fortunatus Advisory has mandates representing clients in multiple diverse sectors of the economy including oil, gas & energy; travel, tourism & hospitality; food manufacturing; real estate & construction sectors. Representing high net worth clients through Africa & the Middle East, securing foreign direct investment, and advising on offshore strategy providing a complete suite of services, Safiyya is an astute legal & private advisor. Safiyya previously had success in completing foreign direct investment transactions, and practicing in commercial and corporate law matters, both litigious and non-litigious. Having successfully advised and represented international trade, company formation specialty, and offshore company strategy. Safiyya worked as Director of Thomson Wilks Inc. in association with DWF for thirteen years as the sole international attorney, focused on Middle East strategy & legal consulting. She speaks regularly at conferences on international investments and the international legal environment & regulations supporting business opportunities, whilst overcoming cross-border and governmental challenges, in an ever-increasing multicultural society. She has also served as President of the South African Business Council, Dubai U.A.E, and represented South Africa in procuring foreign direct investment. Safiyya holds multiple degrees in Bachelor of Arts (Law, International Relations, English), the University of Witwatersrand; Bachelor of Laws (LLB), University of South Africa; Post Graduate Certificate, Commercial & Corporate Law, University of London (awarded merit*); Post Graduate Diploma, Banking & Finance Law, University of London (awarded merit*); Masters of Law (LLM), Banking, Finance & Corporate Law, University of London

Ahead of the 2nd edition of the Tourism Investments Forum Africa (TIFA) to be held during World Travel Market Africa in Cape Town, South Africa from 10-12 April 2024, we caught up with the CEO of Millvest Investments, organisers of the event Miller Matola. He says this year’s edition will be riding on the successes that inaugural event chalked and the tourism industry is buoyed by the fact that the event is taking place at an important market place.

In today’s episode, a distinguished destination marketing expert and Founder & CEO of Globify Solutions, a full-service marketing agency Jacinta Nzioka has admonished African DMOs to outline targeted strategies in growing the interest of the continent in the US Outbound market. Jacinta believes Africa should look at niche products for the US market while enhancing its marketing and activations on the ground. Jacinta previously spearheaded the Kenya Convention Bureau (KCB) as its founder CEO for four years since 2019, following over two decades at the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB). During her tenure at KTB, she held key positions, including Acting CEO, and Director of Marketing for 9 years, overseeing global tourism marketing strategy and fostering sector revival for Kenya during crises. Her trailblazing destination marketing journey in Kenya and globally included driving impactful initiatives in leading Kenya’s entry strategy into Africa, and Asia as well as growth into the East and Central European region.  During her helm at KTB's Marketing function, the Board was recognized as Africa’s Best Tourism Board for 7 years consecutively.  As a marketing technical expert, Jacinta worked jointly with East African partner states to develop a regional destination brand, oversaw the relaunch of the destination brand Magicalkenya, and developed a domestic tourism TembeaKenya brand campaign both of which remain Kenya’s destination brand locally and internationally.

During the recent Southern Europe tour of Africa showcase in Madrid Spain, the VA Tourism podcast caught up with three African travel & facility specialists who made the trip with the Onshow team. The Director of Marketing at Sopa Lodges, Rosemary Muthoni, Lindie Strauss of NaC Helicopters, and Lana Carls from Wesgro all expressed excitement and optimism about the potential of southern Europe as a market for Africa to consider.

My Guest today is Chris Anagnostellis, a seasoned African tour operator and CEO of African Anthology. Chris tells me they’ve seen an increasing demand from the Spanish market inspite of the unavailability of direct air access between Spain and South Africa. He says the Africa Showcase platform is a more focused market gateway which has been rewarding for him and his business.

My conversation today is with two Spanish outbound tour operators Eduardo Garcia del Alamo and Lucia Diaz Jimenez. At the recent Africa showcase Southern Europe roadshow in Madrid, Spain the duo unpacks the opportunities and challenges with the Spanish outbound market. They believe the growing awareness of Africa in Spain as an alternative destination should urge stakeholders to work together to eliminate barriers hindering its growth.

In the inaugural episode of the VA Tourism Podcast for 2024, the Lady In Red team from Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City Accra explores the distinctive features that set their service apart from traditional concierge offerings. From delivering personalized guest experiences to going above and beyond, the Lady In Red epitomizes exceptional, memorable, and captivating service guaranteed to enchant guests. In a hearty conversation, guest host Samuel Obeng Appah  engages, Surabhi Mahajan and Judith Ada Agbara on 14 years of Lady In Red. Additionally, the podcast highlights David Quartey, the first Gentleman In Red in West Africa.

Today’s episode is our Final podcast for the year 2023 and episode 215. This special state of tourism review will bring you a roundup of how tourism fared and our projections of the sector in 2024.We listened to your feedback and have introduced this new format which will be a regular feature once every month to help you and in particular the travel trade to be abreast with the changes in the industry expected to shape the sector going forward in 2024. To help me run commentary on these issues are four distinguished media personalities versed in tourism and its related sectors. I have Lebawit Lily Girma an award-winning Ethiopian American travel journalist and founder ofTourismLens.com, a platform dedicated to equitable, sustainable tourism and she is currently a full-time travel reporter at Bloomberg News. Naledi K. Khabo, CEO of African Tourism Association. She is a global strategy leader with 25+ years experience across Operations, Marketing and technology. Naledi currently serves as chief executive at the Africa Tourism Association (ATA), a global trade association promoting travel and tourism to Africa and strengthening intra-Africa partnerships. Kingsley D. Uranta is the Assistant General Manager-Operations at Channels Television, Lagos, Nigeria with the sole responsibility of driving strategy/innovation, partnership, corporate communications, and training. He has a robust career in communication spanning over 20 years in a variety of functional and managerial roles. EMELIKE OBINNA is an award-winning journalist with over 12 years of experience. He majors in Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality, which he reports with passion. He heads the Travel and Tourism Desk of BusinessDay, the foremost financial Publication in Nigeria.

In today’s episode, the Manager of Enjoy, a restaurant and entertainment center in Grand Bay, Mauritius Estelle St Lambert urges the government of Mauritius to offer incentives, particularly in the creative arts sector to help develop budding talents and also create employment opportunities for the youth in the island. Estelle believes Mauritius has an enormous potential to become an entertainment haven.

In today’s episode, founders of Route Wellness International (Private) Limited Dr. Udeni Arawgoda and Lisa Payet dive into the opportunity that the wellness and medical tourism sectors offer destinations. They discuss the growing medical tourism sector in Sri Lanka and how partnership with Africa can help develop the sector in the region.