The expanded pan-African format of South Africa’s Indaba travel industry expo has paid dividends, helping to boost the number of buyers at the show by 14% this year. Held in May in Durban, this year’s show attracted 7,000 overall registrations, a 4% increase from last year, with more than 1,100 exhibitions, up 5.7% on 2017.
“When we took the decision to make Indaba a pan-African event, it was a deliberate strategy on our part to boost the African economy,” said South African Tourism’s CEO Sisa Ntshona.
“The growing number of African countries at Africa’s Travel Indaba has bolstered their commitment to being here,” he said. “They are seeing the benefit of the expo and being part of a show that focuses only on Africa.”
The success of this year’s event reflects growing interest in African tourism, with a record 62 million people visiting Africa in 2017, an 8% year on year growth.
