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Published on : Friday, November 27, 2020
The African Tourism Board celebrated Africa Tourism Day through a grand virtual event on Thursday, November 26. The Africa Tourism Day is a FOCUS-ON-AFRICA annual country-specific rotational event that celebrates Africa’s rich and diverse cultural and natural endowments while creating awareness on issues that are impeding development, progress, integration, and growth of the industry as well as formulating and sharing solutions and marshal plans to take forward the African tourism industry.
Planned and organized by Desigo Tourism Development and Facility Management Company Limited under the supervision of Abigail Olagbaye, CEO of Desigo Tourism Development and Facility Management Company, ATB Ambassador in Nigeria in partnership with the African Tourism Board, the event was held in Nigeria for the first time. This maiden edition of the event was hosted by Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and the World’s largest black nation by population and will be subsequently rotated through African countries every year.
The rotational nature of the event allows host countries the opportunity to showcase their unique tourism assets and attract tourists and investors on a continental and global level. Under the theme of “Pandemic to Prosperity for Posterity,” the Africa Tourism Day event brought together key personalities from Africa and outside the continent who presented their views targeting the positive growth of tourism for Africa as a whole.
Former Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Dr. Taleb Rifai and the former Minister for Tourism of Seychelles Alain St. Ange are among the prominent personalities from the global tourism industry who graced the occasion with their presence. They discussed the issues pertaining to African tourism development, plans, and the way forward for the future of tourism in Africa during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was globally streamed on social media as a pilot edition to launch and introduce the African Tourism Day and to prepare for a grand celebration in 2021 and subsequently.