As Africa’s Travel Indaba (ATI) approaches, members of the private-sector advisory panel appointed to assist with the 2025 event have commended South African Tourism for ensuring that the committee begins work on the 2026 event directly after this year’s show.
Planning for the 2025 show – which takes place in Durban from May 12-15 – was hampered by issues with the appointment of an exhibition management services provider, leading to late registration dates and other organisational problems. In March, South African Tourism appointed a private-sector advisory panel – comprising the heads of apex private-sector tourism associations and hospitality groups – to assist in resolving the challenges.
SATSA CEO David Frost – a member of the panel – told Tourism Update that collaborative planning will begin immediately after this year’s show.
“Importantly, the advisory committee is not a one-off. Planning for Indaba 2026 will begin in June with the committee remaining intact to ensure continuity and build on the progress we’ve made.”
A pioneering collaboration
Frost said the pioneering collaboration has been integral in ensuring that the number of hosted and non-hosted buyers (908 at last count) approved for this year exceeded the 2024 number.
“This strong performance is a direct result of collaborative efforts across all stakeholders and a collective focus on attracting high-quality buyers to this year’s event. The inclusion of private-sector voices is deliberate – these stakeholders bring not only technical acumen but the necessary rigour and insight to help advance the event’s strategic objectives in a practical and results-oriented way.”
ATTA Events CEO Chris Mears, a panel member together with ATTA Memberships CEO Kgomotso Ramothea, said the formation of the committee opened a much-needed space for collaboration and honest conservation between organisers and the industry.
“We’re optimistic that this will lead to earlier planning, stronger buyer engagement, and a bigger, better and more effective ATI as we look ahead to 2026,” Mears said, pointing out the negative impacts of late planning.
“Late planning drives up travel costs with flights and accommodation becoming more expensive the longer decisions are delayed. These are real-world pressures that can affect buyer participation and, ultimately, the quality of the meetings that happen at the show.”
Suzanne Benadie, Sales and Marketing Director for Sense of Africa, South Africa, expressed hope that South African Tourism will follow the examples set by leading private-sector trade shows such as World Travel Market (WTM) Africa, which took place in April.
“With many private-sector trade shows, as soon as the current show is done, we get renewals within a month of two for the following year. This means we have the dates, stand costs and other considerations at least 10 months out. The buyers get similar communications and can plan far ahead, and plan pre- or post-show trips too. Indaba should do the same to encourage international buyers to commit for 2026.”
Great expectations for 2025
SATSA and ATTA both anticipate a successful trade show, notwithstanding the challenges.
Ramothea said interest from non-hosted buyers in key source markets is particularly encouraging.
“Of significance is the number of non-hosted buyers from the UK and the US who are coming independently, without being hosted, and incurring their own travel expenses to meet with products from the continent. This is a clear indication of the value they place in being part of ATI and the opportunity it presents for their businesses.”
Mears said ATTA’s stand, which will host 83 exhibitors from across the continent, sold out in “record time”.
“The quality of the ATI platform has been improving year on year and, while we were admittedly a little slow out of the starting blocks this time, expectations remain high.”
For the first time, SATSA will co-host a large-scale inbound tourism pavilion (alongside Africa’s Eden) prominently positioned in a prime location “to reflect its role as the leading voice for inbound tourism across Southern Africa”, said Frost.
“Building on the momentum from WTM Africa, we are bringing renewed energy, a clear mandate and strong regional collaboration to this year’s show. Alongside our members and key industry partners representing inbound subsectors such as wine tourism, responsible tourism, the tourist guiding fraternity and insurance and finance, our presence will highlight the diverse, world-class offerings that Southern Africa brings to global markets,” Frost said.
For more on ATI 2025, read our Indaba Preview Feature.
