The Africa Travel Association (ATA) has announced it will hold its 34th Annual Congress in Cairo in May 2009. The announcement was made by Egyptian Tourism Minister Zoheir Garranah, and ATA executive director Edward Bergman.
The event is being organized by the Egyptian Tourism Ministry in cooperation with the Egyptian Tourist Authority (ETA) and will be held the capital city of Cairo from May 17-22, 2009.
“It is with great pride that we are now working with ATA to welcome the world to Egypt for ATA’s Annual Congress,” said Minister Garranah. “We look forward to welcoming the world to our country.”
“ATA is looking forward to engaging with the world’s leading travel and tourism specialists to bring the world to Africa,” Bergman said. “By combining Egypt’s unique capacity to achieve record numbers in tourist arrivals with ATA’s ability to bring diverse industry leaders together to shape Africa’s tourism agenda, this international meeting holds tremendous promise and opportunity for change on the African continent and the global marketplace.”
The Egypt congress builds on the success of the nation’s longstanding ties with ATA. In May 1983, ATA held its eighth congress in Cairo; its 16th was held in 1991. In 1983, the country had only recently launched promotional efforts. By 1991, tourism arrivals had more than doubled, helping the industry become a mainstay of the country’s economy. After a lull in tourism arrivals in the 1990’s, tourist arrivals reached a record high of over 8.6 million in 2004 and, today, tourism is the largest source of foreign currency revenue in Egypt. Building on this momentum, Egypt’s travel authorities plan to welcome 16 million tourism arrivals by 2014.
“We anticipate that the 2008 Congress will not only help Egypt reach its target, but it will also help the country generate even more tourism growth from the US and Africa, as well as from Asia and the Caribbean” said Bergman.
The congress, to be held at the Cairo International Conference Center (CICC), will run for five days, engaging participants in interactive working discussions on a range of topics, such as intra-African industry cooperation, infrastructure development and investment opportunities. Roundtables for ministers, suppliers, travel agents and tour operators will also be held, alongside special networking events and a marketplace expo. ATA’s Young Professionals Network will also participate in the event. For the first time, ATA will also organize a series of networking and learning opportunities for Africans living in the Diaspora as part of its new Africa Diaspora Initiative.
“Egypt also stands as a example for other African destinations to turn to, especially given that foreign and Egyptian investments helped drive the tourism boom by helping the government target coast regions and build supportive tourism infrastructure, including accommodation stock and better airport services. In fact, ATA delegates will arrive in Egypt’s newly opened international airport,” said Bergman.
Home to the world’s most ancient sites and famous monuments, including the Giza Pyramids, the Great Sphinx, the Nile and Red Sea coral reefs, and Sharm El Sheik resort, as well as the grand Khan El Khalily market, Egypt stands as one of the continent’s top travel draws. Egypt will organize a Host Country Day for delegates, who will have the opportunity to explore some of these tourism spots, as well as many more. Pre and post-country tours will also be offered.
To prepare for the event, ATA sent a delegation to Egypt in August for a site inspection. The team met Minsiter Garranah, ETA chaitman Amr El Ezabi, as well as Mr. Riad Kabil, secretary general of the Egyptian Travel Agents Association, a 1,600-member association.
Under the banner of “Connecting Destination Africa,” ATA’s event will be attended by African tourism ministers, directors of national tourism boards, leaders from Africa’s private sector, travel agents, tour operators, heads of nongovernmental organizations, scholars, and members of the media, who will address local and global challenges related to global tourism promotion to Africa.
