Marketing Africa

How should Africa be marketed to increase tourism in various regions on the continent? How do you fund such efforts?

ATA will convene panelists to share best practices on how to sell Africa to foreign markets. The plenary will include high-level government officials, established marketing brand executives and new media voices including digital influencers..

Hon. Najib Balala is the Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Tourism for the Republic of Kenya. Hon. Balala is credited with steering Kenya’s tourism sector to recovery following the post-election violence in 2008. He played a significant role in boosting growth and stability in the Kenyan and regional tourism sector, working closely with private and institutional investors and with conservation and regional development agencies to ensure that the economic potential of this vital sector was both prudently and sustainably managed.

Khary Cuffe is responsible for Marketing and Innovation for AB InBev’s High End portfolio. He has a proven track record in reshaping and delivering great business results including improvements on "underdog" brands through contributions in the areas of: multi-year product pipeline development, marketing and innovation strategy development, brand identity creation and implementation, and holistic, purpose-driven consumer and B2B communications.

Paul Cohen is the Vice President of Optriant, a uniquely positioned, ready-made global resource offering sales-centric representation and consultancy to the travel and hospitality industry. Optriant brings competitive advantage to national tourism organizations, airlines, cruise lines, riverboat companies, rail companies, destination management companies, and government tourism agencies. Preferred Hospitality Group is the parent company of Optriant. With more than 210 professionals in 36 global offices, the company specializes in sales and marketing representation for travel-related companies.

Named one of the ‘100 Most Influential Africans’ by the respected New African Magazine, Thebe Ikalafeng has been to over 50 countries across Africa and the world and worked on over 100 brands across nation, city, corporate, consumer, political and institutional brands that shape the African brand and reputation. Ikalafeng is a non-executive director of Mercantile Bank Holdings, Brand South Africa, WWF South Africa, South African Tourism, chairman of Brand Finance Africa, and Founder of the Brand Africa and Public Sector Excellence initiatives.

An entrepreneur, visionary and true innovator, iced media CEO Reggie Miller has always had a knack for identifying emerging trends and capitalizing on their growth. It is this intuition that has led him to create one of the leading digital marketing firms today. The company has been at the forefront of creating groundbreaking digital platforms while developing strategic partnerships with their clients to enhance their existing marketing strategies. In 16 years, iced media has grown the business considerably and is responsible for developing online campaigns for such brands as Walmart, Elizabeth Arden, Ford Motors, L?Oreal, and Hain Celestial.

Kevin Ramkaloan was appointed Director of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MPTA) last year. The Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) is a parastatal organisation established in 1996 by the MTPA Act. It is administered by a Board of Directors and operates under the aegis of the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure. One of the main objectives of the authority is to promote Mauritius abroad as a tourist destination by conducting advertising campaigns and research into market trends and market opportunities and disseminate such information and other relevant statistical data on Mauritius.