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African Tourism Board is reaching out to Mauritius facing another crisis

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Pretoria, South Africa: The African Tourism Board (ATB) has learned with great concern about the unprecedented incident of a disastrous oil-spill in Mauritius.

It comes when the tourism sector is meant to gradually bounce back in the Continent.
This accident will surely have a long-lasting environmental impact and the people of Mauritius are facing this situation at a time every country is dealing with a deadly pandemic that has brought our sector to a standstill.

Cuthbert Ncube, Chair of ATB said: “The people of Mauritius however are an example to the world when it comes to resilience in keeping the virus off their shores. “

Cuthbert Ncube, Chairman African Tourism Board

“There are times when countries should rally behind each other and come up with an African mechanism in quilling and dealing with such eventualities”, ATB Chairman Cuthbert Ncube added. “We are ready to assist Mauritius. Also, we’re applauding the people leading the travel and tourism industry in Mauritius in coming together in large numbers to respond to this unexpected additional crisis.”

The African Tourism Board believes in tourism to be a catalyst for unity, peace, growth, and prosperity for the people of Africa.

The African Tourism Board is an organization where Africa becomes One Tourist Destination of Choice in the World.

More information on the African Tourism Boar can be found at www.africantourismboard.com

Source: African Tourism Board Press Office

African Tourism Board reaches out to the EU

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African Tourism Board (ATB) Task Force members and tourism experts aired their views, seeking the European Union to support Africa with tourism recovery and development plans in the post-Covid-19 pandemic timeframe.

In their virtual (webinar) meeting held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Tuesday evening, May 19, 2020, ATB senior executives, members, and tourism experts called for support from the EU for African countries with tourism recovery and development stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic that has mostly stamped out tourism on the continent.

ATB Patron and conference moderator, Dr. Taleb Rifai, along with Patron, Alaine St.Ange, called for EU support for Africa on the post-COVID-19 road to tourism recovery.

Dr. Rifai said that Africa needs financial back-up and other support from the EU for tourism recovery as well as development programs amid and after the COVID-19 pandemic. He told conference participants that African countries need financial support from the European Union whose members are the leading tourism market sources for Africa.

Panelists and participants of the conference discussed pertinent issues targeting Africa’s tourism development, ranging from safety and security to health and education.

Dr. Peter Tarlow spoke about domestic and regional tourism development in Africa, pegging a context of Tanzania which ATB Ambassador Mary Kalikawe had forwarded for discussion.

Peter also spoke about security and Public Private Partnership (PPP) in development of domestic and regional tourism bases in Africa.

“People should visit and enjoy their own tourism. Africans should strive to visit their own continent before opting to travel outside the continent which is very expensive,” Peter said.

He said that tourism stakeholders should carry a “Message of Tourism as a Message of Hope.” Integrated efforts, training, and security are crucial on ensuring Africa’s tourism development during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Initial post-COVID-19 travels are expected in such areas as families, friends, and sports, Peter added during his webinar conference discussion.

Participants also discussed the need to bring Africa’s rich history onto the tourism docket with support from UNESCO, which can also support tourism recovery in African national parks and islands under a resilience project.

Key issues discussed, among others, included a need to develop “Tourism Resilience Zones” in Africa, pegging at tourist attractions and products available in each zone.

Egypt and Jordan were cited as good examples of single tourist zones in the Mediterranean, taking into account their ancient civilizations which are tourist draws in both of these countries of North Africa and the Middle East.

The Vanilla Islands in the Indian Ocean were also suggested as being included on a list of COVID-19 Free Zones to attract tourists for the time being.

ATB Senior Member, Dr. Walter Mzembi, said that Africa’s source markets should recover first so as to open doors for Africa’s post-COVID-19 recovery.

A good number of issues were brought before the panel for discussion during the exciting 90-minute webinar conference which attracted ATB Ambassadors in Africa as well as outside the continent to take part in the event.

Several projects aimed to develop tourism in Africa were discussed with feedback provided from ATB supervisors and executives.

The African Tourism Board is an association that is internationally acclaimed for acting as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism to, from, and within the African region. For more information and how to join, visit africantourismboard.com .

#rebuildingtravel

COVID 19 Tourism Task Force for Africa established

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Pretoria – 21 March 2020: The African Tourism Board (ATB) was one of the first international organizations that had reacted to the ongoing corona crisis. ATB was the first organization to take a tough stand and voiced support for border closing and air interruption. ATB’s message to Africa was to stay home and allow tourism to prosper later. This message was established before the canceled ITB trade show in Berlin earlier this month.

ATB had been working hard to mobilize our rapid response system and mobilize a global team of experts.

On Friday, March 20, 2020, the African Tourism Board was also the first global organization to take on coronavirus in announcing the formation of the COVID 19 Tourism Task Force for Africa.

Recognizing Africa is no longer exempt from the rapid spread of this deadly virus. Tourism must protect itself. This is the immediate task African Tourism Board is lobbying for.

Joining the growing team of this newly established task force are known tourism celebrities operating under the leadership of Dr. Taleb Rifai, patron, who was the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) for almost 8 years.

Joining also is ATB president and former Minister of Tourism for Seychelles Alain St. Ange, and Dr Peter Tarlow a renowned international expert in travel, tourism, and health. Dr. Tarlow has managed tourism safety and security projects as well as training of tourism police around the globe. Dr. Tarlow also teaches medicine at the University in Texas, USA. He was appointed by ATB as their safety and security expert at the official launch of the organization in April 2019 during WTM Cape Town. He assisted ATB destinations during the Ebola crisis, and during a kidnapping incident involving an American tourist.

Also joining the team is the entire African Tourism Board Executive committee. It includes Cuthbert Ncube, chair,  Simba Mandinyenya, COO, Juergen Steinmetz, founding chair and CMCO and Doris Woerfel, CEO of the South African based NGO.

The COVID 19 Tourism Task Force for Africa is in direct contact with sitting ministers and heads of African National and Regional Tourism Boards and tourism associations. ATB’s goal is to expand the task group and have a ministerial advisory committee working alongside the group.

The task force will be able to react to this emerging crisis on a daily basis. It will be flexible enough to adjust its activities constantly without having to delay the process by a time-consuming decisionmaking process.

The task force was invited by Gloria Guevara, CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) to join their crisis committee.

ATB Chairman Cuthbert Ncube said: “I see our role as having the interest of our African travel and tourism industry in mind. The victim in the coronavirus situation clearly is the travel and tourism industry. We are more fragile in Africa than anyplace else in the world.
The goal of this task force will be to act efficiently and fast, giving our members and African stakeholders an important voice and help to minimize the impact of this global challenge .”

The African Tourism Board’s philosophy is to see tourism as a catalyst for unity, peace, growth, prosperity, job creation – for the people of Africa.
ATB’s vision: Where Africa becomes ONE tourism destination of choice in the world.

For more information, contact information and to join please visit www.africantourismboard.com

African Tourism Board on COVID19: Act Now!

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A leading voice of tourism development on the African continent, the African Tourism Board (ATB) is of the position that the “wait and see period on Covid-19” is over for Africa and the time to “ACT NOW”. Going forward, ATB will be releasing industry updates to keep African Tourism stakeholders informed and advised on mitigatory measures we must all take to ensure we survive the damages of the Corona Virus pandemic. It is important to note that for the continent to respond effectively to the threat and damage of Covid-19 a coordinated approach is required. We must all consult, share ideas and advice on recovery measures.

In today’s edition ATB proposes to the African Union Member States and industry stakeholders the following:

• ATB commends those Member States that have constituted National inter-sectoral or inter-ministerial a Corona Virus Committees or Task Forces. It urges those that have not done so to establish such national structures as a matter of urgency. The purpose of such national structures is to ensure that all sectors are able to feed into the national discussions on the impacts of the pandemic and decisions on priorities for mitigating and recovery.
ATB further urges the Tourism Sector to ensure that both its private and public players
• are adequately represented on these national structures.
• ATB advises on the importance of sharing information and experiences particularly in these situations where countries may have to close their borders to foreign travel and to quarantine sections of the population.
• ATB, therefore, urges the National Tourism Authorities to establish National Tourism Task Teams with a resourced research and information dissemination function. Such task Forces should continuously, gather information and relevant intelligence on the impact of the virus at national level and to feed into the National Task Force.
• ATB is at advanced stages in its discussions with Strategic Partners including NEPAD-AUDA and UNWTO to establish a focal point/desk to collect and collate all information from the national structures to facilitate free flow and sharing of vital intelligence to counter the damages of the pandemic.
• ATB recommends that National Task Teams must already be planning for mitigation and rapid recovery. It is equally important that we all as a continent, share such plans.
• In the meantime Member States, Tourism Task Teams responsible for intelligence gathering can share information by contacting ATB at [email protected] The ATB will use such information responsibly and process it for sharing with all Member States and key stakeholders.
ATB continues to advise that the pandemic is already impacting on the health systems and economies of the continent. All countries must be on high alert, taking necessary measures to protect the lives and health of people of the continent and all its visitors. Travel and tourism is a frontline industry in the fight against this pandemic and as we have seen in other parts of the world, it is being hit first and it is being hit hard. Again as reported in affected countries, once in the community, the virus spreads fast and across geographical areas, impacting hard on the health sector and the rest of the economy. Travel and Tourism are affected almost immediately.
The proposed measures are meant to ensure no section of the industry must be caught unawares, all players must be alert to the developments and operators should not go for short term gains or measures but to look at the bigger picture, building resilience and creating measures for a rapid recovery
ATB continues to advise African Governments that post the immediate health and economic impacts, Transport and Tourism are the strategic and frontline sectors with the capacity to pull other sectors of the economy to recovery. But to do that these sectors must be resourced. Therefore the structures proposed in this article must be taken seriously to inform and be a strategic vehicle for crafting and implementing effective management, mitigation, and rapid recovery plans. Resource allocation must prioritize transport, travel, and tourism as strategic to rapid economic recovery.

More information on the African Tourism Board: www.africantourismboard.com

Media contact:
www.africantourismboard.com/contact
CCO Juergen Steinmetz : +1-808-536-1100 [email protected]

Anguilla Tourist Board Announces Record-breaking Tourist Arrivals in 2019

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The Anguilla Tourist Board (ATB) is pleased to announce that as anticipated, 2019 proved to be a record-breaking year in terms of tourist (stayover) arrivals to the island.  A total of 95,375 tourist arrivals were recorded, a 20.4% increase over the benchmark year of 2016, which held the previous record of 79,239 stayover arrivals.

The year was extraordinary in several respects.  Tourist arrivals surpassed those of 2016 by double digits in every quarter.  The year was capped by a record-breaking December, with 9,868 tourist arrivals, beating the previous record of 9,134 arrivals in December 2018. 2019 was also the best year ever for tourist arrivals from the US, with a 25.2% increase over 2016, the previous benchmark. Tourist arrivals for 2019 showed a 75% increase over 2018, signaling the strength and sustainability of the island’s remarkable Post-Irma recovery.

“I would like to congratulate the ATB, both at home and abroad, under the inspired leadership of Chairperson Daniels-Banks, for their hard work and dedication in rising to and exceeding the challenge,” said the Hon. Cardigan Connor, Parliamentary Secretary, Tourism, Sports, Youth & Culture.  “I would also like to express our appreciation to all our stakeholders and partners who have supported our work at the Ministry and the ATB and contributed to Anguilla’s stunning success.”

“We are delighted to have achieved our target of a 20% increase in arrivals over 2016,” said ATB Chairperson Donna Daniels-Banks.  “We have set an even more ambitious target for 2020, a further increase of 20% over our 2019 arrivals.  This is essential if we are to raise our occupancy levels,” she continued.  “We have a vision for our industry, a paradigm shift in how we sell Anguilla, with a focus on authenticity and the quality experiences that can be enjoyed whether our visitors choose to stay in a five-star resort or a Charming Escape.”  

Since the beginning of the year the Anguilla Tourist Board has deployed its sales representatives on an extensive schedule of trade shows in all major source markets — New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Italy, Columbia and Ottawa – to keep the momentum going, and drive bookings across the board for the island. A series of marketing and promotional initiatives are also underway to generate awareness and enhance the island’s reputation as the #1 destination in the Caribbean.

For more information on Anguilla please visit the official website of the Anguilla Tourist Board: www.IvisitAnguilla.com; follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/AnguillaOfficial; Instagram: @Anguilla_Tourism; Twitter: @Anguilla_Trsm, Hashtag: #MyAnguilla.

About Anguilla

Tucked away in the northern Caribbean, Anguilla is a shy beauty with a warm smile. A slender length of coral and limestone fringed with green, the island is ringed with 33 beaches, considered by savvy travelers and top travel magazines, to be the most beautiful in the world. A fantastic culinary scene, a wide variety of quality accommodations at varying price points, a host of attractions and exciting calendar of festivals make Anguilla an alluring and entrancing destination.

Anguilla lies just off the beaten path, so it has retained a charming character and appeal. Yet because it can be conveniently reached from two major gateways: Puerto Rico and St. Martin, and by private air, it’s a hop and a skip away.

Romance? Barefoot elegance? Unfussy chic? And untrammeled bliss?   Anguilla is Beyond Extraordinary.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jameel Rochester, Manager, Corporate Affairs (Ag.), Anguilla Tourist Board, The Valley, Anguilla, BWI, E: [email protected]