One hundred travel agents, media and trade partners will travel from North America to be a part
of Africa's Travel Indaba which kicks off in Durban, next week.
The delegates will join in the Mandela Centenary Celebrations set to take center stage at this
year's Africa Travel Indaba.
South Africa attracted more than 370 000 arrivals from North America last year, and to further
tap into this important source market, South African Tourism is currently hosting the 100 travel
agents, trade partners and media from the region.
“We are proud to mark this important milestone in history alongside our top travel and media
partners as we take time to reflect on Mandela’s legacy and his positive impact on the world,”
said Bangu Masisi, President of South African Tourism’s North America Hub. “We invite our
delegation and visitors from around the world to make 2018 the year they discover South Africa
and follow in the footsteps of one of the world’s most exceptional human rights advocates”.
The annual travel trade show takes place from 8-10 May in South Africa’s vibrant coastal city of
Durban, bringing together tourism stakeholders, thought leaders & speakers, buyers, media and
exhibitors from across the continent to promote travel to Africa to the international travel
industry community. This year’s theme is Africa’s Stories, Your Success and focuses on a united
goal to deliver authentic stories to increase tourism to Africa sustainably.
With Mandela-inspired stories and celebrations getting underway at Africa's Travel Indaba, South
African Tourism will then lead the delegation from North America on a Mandela-inspired
journey, spotlighting important landmarks and sites that inspired the activist’s life, such as the
Nelson Mandela Capture Site in KwaZulu-Natal, the Parliament building from where Mandela's
release from prison was historically announced in 1990, and the Mandela House in Soweto where
he lived many years and today is a museum.
As part of the Nelson Mandela Centenary celebrations, South African Tourism has identified 100
experiences, attractions and destinations around South Africa that have strong historical and social
ties to his life and which have become familiar to the global community.
This showcase of South Africa and Nelson Mandela's memory can be found on the Madiba's Journey
App, which allows users to view the attractions on a map, build their itineraries and share their
own journeys on social media. Visitors can also experience the emotion and relevance of each
location through audio, text and image galleries. The app also offers real-time weather
information, distances and details of nearby attractions.
If you’d like to follow the happenings at Africa’s Travel Indaba – log onto the Facebook site
www.facebook.com/travelindaba or feel free to tweet us @travel_indaba or tag us on Instagram
under travelindaba.
ENDS
Issued by South African Tourism
For further information contact:
Monde Mateza
Tel: +27 (11) 895 3135
Email: monde@southafrica.net
Website: www.southafrica.net
Owned and managed by South African Tourism, Africa's Travel Indaba has established itself as the
world's leading African tourism trade show. Africa's Travel Indaba attracts about 7 000 delegates from
all over the world. In 2017 more than 1 000 exhibiting businesses from 18 African countries showcased an
array of travel and tourism offerings to almost1 500 local and international travel buyers and shared
stories with over 700 media platforms. More than 20 000 business meetings were held over the three-day
period, making this one of the most successful business platforms for African tourism.
The 2018, Africa’s Tourism Indaba trade exhibition will be held from Tuesday 8 to Thursday 10 May in
South Africa at the Durban Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre. Monday 7 May is BONDay for
exhibitor business networking and engagement.