ATA CONGRESS PROGRAMME A MAJOR MAGNET FOR DELEGATES
(Posted 14th November 2014)
When President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni opened the ATA’s 39th World Congress on Wednesday at the lakeside resort and conference centre of Munyonyo, was the complex’s largest meeting room filled to capacity with nearly 600 delegates and invited guests present to witness the first even such ATA event kick off in Uganda.
At many other conferences and congresses does the interest then wane quickly, leaving the meeting rooms with enough seats to spare but not so with this event.
A star studded line up of speakers, presenters and panelists made certain that soon after breakfast the room was filled to capacity with the resort staff caught between a rock and a hard place when they had only placed 200 bottles of water, writing pads and pens on the desks whereas in the end almost twice as many people were in the room, thirsty for water but at least having their thirst for knowledge and information stilled.
CBS’ travel editor Peter Greenberg kicked off the day with the day’s keynote address and if anyone was perhaps still sleepy from the opening Gala Dinner night the evening before they were wide awake when he took to the lectern. True to form he told delegates a few inconvenient truths while specifically narrating his experience with a regional government at the very start of a major incident last year, tearing their mockery of open engagement with the media to shreds while at the same time giving an insight how problematic issues should be dealt with to stay ahead of the media pack and in particular stay abreast with the inevitable flood of comments on the social media, which in times of a crisis are often giving the most up to date, and at times also of course false information to an audience of millions around the world.
Other speakers of high repute were Damian Cook of e-Tourism Frontiers, whose’ half hour presentation flew by the delegates wishing for more while in the afternoon the likes of Ethan Gelber of The Travel Word and Roni Weiss of RW Social captured the imagination of delegates who crammed into the break out rooms with hardly any standing space available. Jeff Chatterton of Checkmate Public Affairs too hit many nails on the head with his presentation as did Louis d’ Amore, President and Founder of the International Institute for Peace through Tourism or Maria Baryamujura of the Uganda based COBATI, short for Community Based Tourism Initiative.
One panel session, featuring among others Muriithi Ndegwa, CEO of the Kenya Tourism Board and Rose-Marie Hoareau, Marketing Director of the Seychelles’ Tourism Board also gave valuable insights into their respective marketing strategies, with one of the destinations seeking to get ahead of their crisis while the other is trying to keep their own juggernaut moving forward.
Most of the proceedings and presentations will eventually be posted on the Africa Travel Association website for those who would like to get a feel about the programme contents via www.africatravelassociation.org
Friday will be the last day of formal proceedings with another line up of speakers, moderators and presenters, among them Maya Kulycky, Head East Africa for Forbes, CNBC Africa and ABN 360 who will have such individuals like Stuart Cook, Protea East Africa, Rosemary Mugambi, Serena Hotels and Trevor Ward of W Hospitality Group on her panel of experts. Much to look forward to and certainly an incentive to make arrangements already for the 40th ATA World Congress which will next year take place in Nairobi / Kenya to where ATA returns faithfully every 10 years.
The programme will formally conclude with the Uganda Cultural Night on Friday evening before delegates will be able to see some of the country’s spectacular sights over two host country days when they are taken to various places like Jinja and Entebbe before being given a fond farewell by the hosts as they fly back home with memories lasting a lifetime from the Pearl of Africa.
