Akwaaba Travel Market celebrates 20 years of promoting African tourism

Akwaaba Travel Market has become the largest gathering of tourism stakeholders in West Africa, promoting the rich tourism potential in Nigeria, West Africa, and the entire African continent.

For the past 20 years, the organisers have brought the world together for the travel and tourism exhibition fair and the 20th edition equally witnessed several high-profile newcomers making their debut.

Mövenpick Hotel & Residence Nairobi from Kenya, Memorial Healthcare Group from Turkey, and Costa Cruises from Italy will be participating for the first time, adding a new dimension to this prestigious event.

Mövenpick Hotel & Residence Nairobi, renowned for its upscale hospitality and prime location in the heart of Kenya’s capital, will be showcasing its luxurious offerings to a diverse audience at Akwaaba.

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Also attending for the first time is Memorial Healthcare Group, a leading private healthcare organization based in Turkey.

Akwaaba has played host to prominent African leaders, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Vice President Alex Ekwueme, former President of the Republic of The Gambia, Dauda Jawara, former Commonwealth Secretary, Sir Emeka Anyaoku, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Nigeria Minister of Tourism, Amb. Frank Nchita Ogbuewu, Amb. Bianca Ojukwu, former deputy Tourism Minister of Zimbabwe, Ananstasia Ndhlovu, Tourism Minister of Sierra Leone, Dr. Mrs. Memunatu Pratt amongst many others. Also, the former and present Governors of Cross River State, Senator Ben Ayade, Sen. Prince Bassey Otu respectively, the Olota of Ota HRH, Oba Adeyemi Abdulkabir Obalanlege.

The event has successfully organized various initiatives such as the Africa Travel 100 Awards, Medical Tourism editions, Africa Youth in Tourism Conference, and Destination Wedding, earning recognition with an Award of Excellence in Tourism from the Nigerian Government and UNWTO at the Global Tourism Summit in 2022.

Also, among the first-timers was MTN Nigeria, which partnered with the organiser as the headline sponsor of the event which kicked off on Sunday.

Amidst glitz and glamour, the event kicked off with different cultural displays on Sunday from carnival Calabar even as the Queens of Tourism from various African countries including Nigeria, Cameroun, Ghana, Mozambique, Mauritius, among others, were featured.

Also, the #JollofRiceWar returned at the opening featuring 10 chefs who prepared different delicacies of Jollof Rice to satisfy the culinary cravings of the participants.

Omowunmi Olatunbosun, Head of SME Segments, Enterprise Business, in her presentation said the MTN was committed to promoting tourism in Africa with its digital solutions.

“We will be working together with ecosystem if partners to drive productivity and desire to improve businesses. Our desire is to enable businesses to become more productive.

“MTN has evolved. We are changing from just being a technology company to a technology company,” he said.

On Monday, September 23, the Africa Travel 100 Awards for Global Leaders in Tourism recognised the outstanding contributions of individuals shaping Africa’s travel landscape.

The event will conclude on Tuesday, September 24, with the Lagos Day Celebrations, where the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture will highlight the state’s rich tourism assets.

The convener of the event, Amb. Ikechi Uko stated that he started the Akwaaba event to promote tourism in Africa, saying Nigeria is ripe for tourism.

He said, “Today is our 20th anniversary and what we are trying to do, our vision from the beginning was to bring Africa together and we are happy that in 20 years we have done that”

“And why did I decide to do that? I publish a magazine and do travel awards. Every time we want to go to WTM (World Travel Market), most people who want to go would not get a visa. So only a few people would get visas, and they have products they want to sell. So I asked a question, why do you need to go to London to sell Africa? Why can’t people come to Africa to learn about Africa? That was the vision” he added.

He recalled that he was encouraged 20 years ago by the General Manager of Eko Hotels at the time and some other people, who later gave birth to the event. He said he took six months to study how exhibition works.

Yesterday, several dignitaries at the Day Two included Alhaji Munzali Dantata, Chairman Board of Trustees of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN); Chairman of the Guardian Newspapers, Lady Maiden Ibru; among others who hailed the resilience and the hard work of the organisers over the past two decades.

There were different exhibitors including Memorial Hospitals Group from Turkey, Royal Senchi Hotels from Ghana, MTN Nigeria, Ekiti State, Cinderella Travels and Tours, Skyway Aviation Handling Company PLC, The Gambia tourism, Ethiopian Airline, Ibom Air, Silk Hospitality, among others.

President of Association of Chiefs in Ghana, Chief Okatachi Nana 1, who cut the tape to commence the programme urged Africans to unite to develop the tourism potentials of the region. He said Nigeria and Ghana remain best of friends.

“Ghana and Nigeria, we are not enemies. Whoever says we are enemies is never true. Now, as we are here, let us take advantage of connecting and networking. For such a person to bring Africa together that we are here, it’s amazing. It’s all about networking and connecting. And I’m so proud that I am part of it today, celebrating with these good people of Nigeria for the 20th anniversary” he said.

Adding that “tourism is the key driver for the economy all over the world. If we do it well, trust me, Nigerians, Ghanaians, and Africans will become the best economic hubs in the entire global world. Africa, we can do it. Ikechi has started it, Ghana, and we’re going to do the same, collaborate with him, Other countries do the same and collaborate with him. Together, Africa, we’re united.”

Munzali in a chat with our correspondent commended Ikechi for celebrating 20 years of Akwaaba, saying it is one of the “very important tourism events in Nigeria, and I would say in Africa.”

“This year is their 20th anniversary, and it’s about bringing the tourism family together, the African tourism family. The tourism family is about us who are selling Africa and about tourism operators out there across the world who are buying Africa. So it’s a meeting of buyers and sellers he said.

“What we are selling is destinations in Africa. So it’s a good thing. It’s a very good initiative by the organisers to bring Africa to Lagos to sell Africa, and then bring tourism operators from across the world, from Europe, from the Americas, from Asia, to come to Africa and then buy destinations. And I’d like to say that we equally go out there, you know, to Europe, to Asia” he added.