Tourism is one of the Africa’s most promising sectors in terms of development, and represents a major opportunity to foster inclusive development, increase the region’s participation in the global economy and generate revenues for investment in other activities, including environmental preservation. The UNWTO Regional Conference Enhancing Brand Africa – Fostering Tourism Development will bring together a wide variety of African tourism stakeholders to explore how build a stronger brand for Africa as a tourism destination.
Today, the capacity of the African tourism sector to contribute to socio-economic development across the continent is often hindered by the negative perception of Africa and the generalization of crises situations in specific locations to the whole of a country or the region. Building capacity in Africa to build and manage a strong image and brand, including crises communications, is fundamental to build resilience in the tourism sector and foster its further growth and thus a pre-condition to promote development through tourism in Africa.
The Conference will be opened by H.E. Mr. John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana. Among the confirmed speakers to gather in Accra, Ghana, are the Ministers of Tourism of Ghana, Cameroon, Namibia, Seychelles and Zimbabwe; the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde Gebre Mariam; and Zain Asher from CNN International, the media partner of the Conference, who will deliver a key note speech on “What is Brand Africa?”.
The UNWTO Regional Conference on the Image of Africa aims to:
- Analyse the situation of Brand Africa and its impact on tourism in the region
- Identify the key challenges facing Brand Africa and that of African countries
- Exchange national experiences on country branding and tourism branding
- Explore how African destinations can successfully build a strong brand in an increasingly competitive marketplace and a constantly changing
business environment - Create synergies among African countries towards greater cooperation in the promotion and positioning of a common African Tourism Brand
