President Obama, WTTC and the African Tourism Board: A major push for Africa visibility

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Africa Tourism is hot right now. Overlooked in the past, the tourism potential of the African continent is now becoming visible.

The first African Tourism Boardย (ATB) is about to be launched in Cape Town during the upcoming World Travel Market Africa in South Africa on April 11 with a list of impressive speakers, ministers, private industry leaders, and stakeholders attending.

A week before the ATB launch in Cape Town on April 11, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) is getting ready for their annual summit in Seville, Spain. With a price tag of $4,000 for aย delegate to attendย the summit, WTTC is catering to the hundred largest companies in the travel and tourism industry.

Keynote speakerย at the summit is none other than former US President Barack Obamaย He will share his views on tourism with WTTC CEOย Gloria Guevara.

In 2013 at the WTTC Summitย Former President Bill Clinton was the keynote speaker. He has made the most of any modern president on the speaking circuit. He gives dozens of speeches a year and each brings in between $250,000 and $500,000 per engagement, according to published reports. He also earned $750,000 for a single speech in Hong Kong in 2011.

WTTC did not want to comment on the fees paid, if any to President Obama, but in Cape Town at the African Tourism Board launch, former UNWTO Secretary General Dr. Taleb Rifai is paying his own way, and so are a number of tourismย celebritiesย and stakeholdersย from both larger and smaller entities.

ATB expects a good number of African tourism ministers, head of tourism boards, stakeholders for major and not so major private enterprises to attend.

Speakers include Dr. Taleb Rifai, former Secretary General of the UNWTO,ย  Geoffrey Lipman, president of ICTP and SunX, Dr. Peter Tarlow, an expert for travel security and safety working with certified.travel. The host Carol Weaving, director of Reed Exhibition and the World Travel Market will welcome all guests.

Speakers also include Alain St. Ange, former minister of tourism for Seychelles, and marketing experts from the U.S., India, Israel, and Germany.

Interim chairman Juergen Steinmetz will announce a new president.
A number of surprise guests including ministers of tourism and known leaders in the global travel and tourism industry are expected to give their view and input on African Tourism.

Everyone attending wants to show their excitement and support for the new African Tourism Board and potential Africa has for new tourism developments.ย It’s free to attend the African Tourism Board launch event.

In the last 7 days, the news on tourism growth for African destinations couldn’t have been better and must have come as a surprise for many.

WTTC issued one press release after another on their research reports for Africa. eTN received such releases not only from WTTC but also from ministers, embassies, and tourism boards showing their pride and maybe their surprise and encouragement.

African Tourism Board interim Chairman Juergen Steinmetz, who is also CEO of the eTN Corporation, owner of eTurboNews, which is a media partner for WTTC, applauded Gloria Guevara, CEO of WTTC, for putting Africa in the spotlight for the world’s largest travel and tourism companies.

To attend the WTTC summit CLICK HEREย to attend the African Tourism Board (ATB) launch CLICK HERE.Anyone attending both events should indicate this on the African Tourism Board launch registration to receive additional extensive visibility.

About the author

Avatar of Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen Thomas Steinmetz has continuously worked in the travel and tourism industry since he was a teenager in Germany (1977).
He founded eTurboNews in 1999 as the first online newsletter for the global travel tourism industry.

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