World Trade Market Africa (WTM Africa) is a leading business to business (B2B) exhibition for inbound and outbound Africa trade and tour markets. The exhibition is an essential platform for both inbound and outbound African travel & tourism markets to launch new products, increase their brand exposure, debate industry issues and gather market intelligence, often leading to new sales contacts, growth of existing relationships and securing new business.
At this year’s WTM Africa, taking place from 19-21 April 2017 at the Cape Town ICC, Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism (NMBT) will partner with the Eastern Cape Parks & Tourism Agency (ECPTA), where a collaborative effort will be made to solicit new business through a number of trade and networking initiatives with destination management companies, inbound tour operators and cruise liner ground handlers, in order to negotiate the inclusion of NMB in their itineraries.
In line with its strategic objectives to market the unique attractions on offer in Nelson Mandela Bay such as the Mohair Industry, the Bottlenose Dolphin Capital of the world and the city’s rich cultural heritage, NMBT will utilize the platform to meet with these industry partners to highlight the close proximity of these attractions, promoting the city as an accessible destination where tourists can enjoy more in a shorter space of time.
“As a destination marketing agency, NMBT relies on the success of WTM Africa to strategically engage with local and international operators, where we promote unique experiences and products that the city has to offer, in an effort to attract more visitors. This creates a positive economic spin off for the city, benefiting businesses that operate within the travel and tourism market, such as retail, hospitality and local tour operators.” said NMBT CEO: Ms Mandlakazi Skefile.
Focus areas for NMBT would be to further promote the Nelson Mandela Bay Pass: a smart card access card, which provides visitors with free admission to a variety of activities in and around the city. This includes access to museums, game reserves, scuba diving, art galleries, sightseeing tours and many more, whilst providing great discounts in selected stores for shopping, activities, entertainment and more.
In addition, Marine safaris, Addo big 7 safaris, the Route 67 Tour, unique township tours and exclusive tours of the new Mohair Headquarters are among the many activities on offer in and around Nelson Mandela Bay, giving NMBT the confidence to effectively promote the city as a world class travel destination, with an array of diverse activities and experiences, for both business and leisure travellers.
“We believe that Nelson Mandela Bay has a great deal of activities to offer the world. Just looking at our marine safari for instance, the Bay itself is home to 50% of the African penguin population and also has the largest colony of cape gannets in the world, which is approximately 220 000 birds. On the way to Bird Island we also have a 90% chance of seeing dolphins, being the Bottlenose Dolphin Capital of the World.” shared NMBT CEO: Ms Mandlakazi Skefile.
This year, Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism will look to capitalise on its previous success at WTM Africa to strengthen its relations with various hosted buyers, media as well as travel and trade operators to ultimately lead to an increase in domestic and international business for the travel & tourism market of Nelson Mandela Bay.
Alan Straton
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