Planning for Africa’s Travel Indaba (ATI) 2027 has entered its next phase with registrations expected to open by September and SA Tourism aiming to communicate the event’s roadmap in the same month.
While the tourism industry has welcomed the progress, members of the ATI Advisory Committee told Tourism Update that regular engagement with the private sector must accelerate now to give exhibitors and international buyers the certainty they need to plan.
The comments come after Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille said, ahead of this year’s ATI that planning for the 2027 event would begin immediately.
SATSA CEO David Frost, a member of the ATI Advisory Committee, said the committee has conducted a post-ATI debrief but stressed that engagement now needs to become more regular.
“We look forward to the next rounds of engagement.”
Chris Mears, CEO of ATTA Group Events and a member of the ATI Advisory Committee, said: “A meeting has happened, which is a positive start, but we don’t yet have visibility on the next steps or a timeline and that uncertainty is exactly what we’re trying to avoid passing on to buyers and exhibitors. We’d like to see the pace of engagement pick up.”
De Lille told Tourism Update that preparations for the event are progressing.
“Preparations are underway to finalise the framework for the revamp of ATI. This includes the sectoral consultation process. We will make an announcement soon.”
Corne Koch, Chief Convention Bureau Officer for the South African National Convention Bureau (SANCB), said an important engagement with ATI’s bid partner is taking place during the final week of July to conclude discussions on the partner’s role over the next four years. Formal buyer and exhibitor feedback is also being concluded to inform planning for ATI 2027.
She said registrations and stand applications for ATI 2027 are expected to open by September 2026 at the latest. The formal government audit of ATI 2026 is expected to be completed by the end of August. The planning approach for ATI 2027 will be communicated during September to give exhibitors, buyers, tourism offices and private-sector partners sufficient time to plan.
Proposals on the future format of ATI will be announced once stakeholder inputs has been consolidated and the public-private partnership approach has been clarified with preference for major decisions relating to ATI 2027 to be completed by September or October, Koch added.
She said SANCB is also helping develop a stronger public-private partnership model for the event. The industry is playing a greater role in areas such as hosted buyer strategy, market prioritisation, buyer profiling and exhibitor support.
Planning certainty
Suzanne Bayly, owner of Classic Portfolio and an ATI Advisory Committee member, said certainty about planning timelines remains the industry’s biggest concern.
Exhibitors typically finalise their budgets for the following year during October and November, making early confirmation of participation essential.
“Ideally, exhibitor registration should open in August or September at the latest with participation confirmed by October. In previous years, applications opened in August, exhibitors received confirmation shortly afterwards and deposits were paid by October. This year, we only paid around March or April. It’s simply bad business,” said Bayly.
Koch said earlier planning also emerged as one of the key priorities during the review process.
“The main areas being considered for improvement include confirming the major components of ATI 2027 earlier, including exhibitor registration, hosted buyer invitations, buyer confirmations, diary management and the broader show programme. The target is to complete these by the end of September or early October 2026.”
Mears agreed, saying certainty and lead time remain the industry’s priorities.
“ATI has an established format that works and any evolution of that format should be gradual rather than a wholesale reinvention. What the industry needs most right now is confidence to plan: dates should be locked in early and registration opened well in advance.”
While exhibitors know they will return to Durban each May, international buyers work to different planning cycles and often have to commit to events many months in advance, Mears added.
Bayly said early confirmation enables exhibitors to budget, market their participation and begin engaging international trade partners well before the critical January-to-March booking season.
Identify the right buyers
The private sector could play a greater role in helping identify the right international buyers for ATI, Bayly added.
“The private sector has a much better understanding of who is active in different markets and often has direct relationships with those buyers.”
South Africa needs “a balance between emerging markets to continue growing existing business and traditional markets to help expand tourism geographically”, said Bayly. “As an industry, we know who those buyers are.”
Mears said buyer recruitment should be “a collective effort across the industry, not left to organisers alone”.
He added: “The industry’s input should feed into planning continuously, not just once a year after the fact.”
While emerging markets remain important for long-term growth, they should not come at the expense of established source markets that continue to generate the bulk of tourism business, Mears cautioned.
Koch said an evidence-led review of the hosted buyer programme would take place during August.
“This review will draw on historical data, buyer performance, market intelligence and direct private-sector feedback, and it will be driven by public and private-sector role players.”
Proposals
Frost said the industry is not calling for new consultation structures because the ATI Advisory Committee already exists.
Instead, he said, focus should be on ensuring that the committee’s recommendations are implemented through regular engagement and measurable outcomes.
“It’s about heeding the private sector’s input and requests. Then we want tangible delivery.”
Among the proposals the committee has repeatedly put forward is a comprehensive market-mapping exercise to identify the leading tour operators across South Africa’s source markets.
Frost said the exercise would help identify experienced operators already selling South Africa. While emerging markets remain important, buyers from newer source markets often focus on the country’s best-known destinations and brands, he argued. More established operators, by contrast, are better placed to diversify itineraries beyond Cape Town and the Kruger National Park.
Koch said SANCB is contributing business events expertise to discussions around buyer quality, market relevance, business outcomes and the review of the hosted buyer strategy.
Frost said an estimated 70% to 80% of international itineraries remain concentrated on Cape Town and the Kruger National Park, limiting tourism’s economic benefits in other regions.
He also called for a four-year audit of hosted buyers to determine how many develop South African tourism programmes and generate measurable visitor numbers. Such an assessment, he argued, would provide a more strategic and evidence-based approach to selecting hosted buyers in future.
Shared objective
Despite their concerns about the pace of planning, Bayly, Frost and Mears stressed that the private sector remains committed to strengthening ATI.
Bayly said industry stakeholders are willing to share buyer databases, help identify suitable hosted buyers, promote the event internationally and mentor first-time exhibitors.
She noted that many smaller tourism businesses depend on ATI because they cannot afford to attend more expensive international shows.
“There is a very willing and engaged stakeholder community already in place. We all genuinely believe the show should succeed.”
