AFRICA TRAVEL SPECIALISTS MEET IN NAIROBI FOR THE 40TH ATA CONGRESS
(Posted 09th November 2015)
A year ago, upon completion of the 39th annual Africa Travel Association Congress in Kampala did Uganda hand over the baton to Kenya, the host country for the 40th annual Congress. It was in Nairobi in 1975 when a young ATA held its first ever congress, after that returning to Magical Kenya every ten years in special recognition of the close ties and bond created between the inaugural host country and the New York based association.
Unlike SKAL International, supposedly a global tourism friendship association, which hastily dumped Kenya as their venue for their world congress in favour of Spain over security concerns, did ATA stand by the country and throughout the year never once wavered in their resolve to hold this event at the place where it all started fourty years ago, Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city.
The congress, which will bring ATA members from North America and from across Africa to Nairobi, comes relatively close at the heels of a very successful Magical Kenya Travel Expo, which this year took place at the sundrenched beaches of Diani and takes place just two weeks prior to the visit of Pope Francis.
Both events are no doubt giving Kenya a marketing boost, adding on the confidence shown by the Kenyan team in the just concluded World Travel Market in London. While the September arrival figures are still down compared to last year, has renewed confidence set in that demand for vacations in Kenya is on the rise again, and twenty high profile media professionals from around the world have been invited to cover the congress and explore the country to tell their readers at home, that Magical Kenya is not just a marketing slogan but that Africa’s magic indeed exists and is found here.
Kenya Airways, the Pride of Africa, as event airline, has flown in hundreds of delegates and congress participants from across their network, giving visitors a first warm Jambo the moment they stepped on board.
An extensive programme is going underway this morning, with delegates having the option of a 05.30 a.m. departure from their hotels to visit the Nairobi National Park and experience daybreak in the wilderness just a few miles from the Central Business District. Gameviewing is rich with rhinos, lion and plenty of plains game seen in the space of a morning drive across the park, a must do activity in fact for any visitor to Nairobi lacking the time to do a proper safari.
The full programme, way too extensive to feature here, can be accessed by readers via the following link: http://www.africatravelassociation.org/ATA-Event.asp?id=3;6
Notably will on Thursday this week the eTN Publisher and President Juergen Thomas Steinmetz be part of a global media panel discussion on how to better showcase Africa and its many attractions:
Let’s face it: Africa doesn’t always get a fair shake in the media. What can be done by both travel marketers and honest journalists to provide Africa with more balanced and authentic coverage, equally focused on the continent’s progress and vitality?
Topics to be discussed:
· How to get attention (in the right way)
· How to balance organic and purchased media
· Pitching stories – what works and what doesn’t
· What media consumers are looking for in 2015 and beyond
Coverage from the Kenyatta International Conference Centre and various breakout activities will continue throughout the week, with feature articles and on social media, where the event can be followed closely via the Twitter hashtag line #ATAKenya.
Other key events will be the Minister’s Round Table, in which Seychelles’ Alain St. Ange is expected to participate and a short address by Mama Sarah Obama, both on Tuesday afternoon.
The event is expected to be formally opened by Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, taken by the Kenyan tourism stakeholders as a signal that the sector will receive both higher priority by government and greater funding in the future.
Karibuni Kenya to all the ATA officials, delegates, presenters and panel members!
For added information about Destination Kenya click on www.magicalkenya.com or else learn about the more than 60 national parks across the country by checking out www.kws.go.ke
