Meetings Africa and Africa’s Travel Indaba to reignite tourism in 2025

Source: Travel Indaba

Meetings Africa, one of the continent's premier business events trade shows, will take place from 24 to 26 February at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, Gauteng province, in partnership with the Gauteng Tourism Authority and Johannesburg Tourism Company.

These key pan-African trade events will feature a variety of exhibitors, workshops, and keynote presentations from industry leaders, offering global tourism professionals opportunities to network, collaborate, and create economic impact.

Africa’s Travel Indaba will take place from 12 to 15 May at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre in Durban in partnership with Durban Tourism and Tourism KwaZulu-Natal and the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission.

Meetings Africa

Meetings Africa focuses on highlighting the African business events products and promoting closer collaboration for the continent sector’s growth.

The show will again feature a dedicated educational programme that unites and builds partnerships, driving the business events sector forward.

By connecting the best of the African business events industry with relevant buyers from across the globe, Meetings Africa creates an environment conducive to transacting and building quality connections.

Meetings Africa 2025 will commence with a Business Opportunity Networking Day (BONDay) on 24 February 2025, providing a platform for professionals to forge new partnerships, explore collaborative ventures, and gain invaluable insights from industry experts.

This exclusive prelude sets the stage for the main event, ensuring attendees maximise their networking potential.

Under the theme, "Africa’s Success Built on Quality Connections", Meetings Africa emphasises the importance of forging strong, meaningful relationships in driving the continent's economic progress and industry innovation.

The trade show will also provide a platform to showcase Africa’s leading and diverse business event offerings to decision-makers from key source markets worldwide.

Meetings Africa 2024 showcased the dynamic nature of Africa's tourism sector with 382 exhibitors from 22 African countries, attracting 371 international and local buyers, and a total of 3,480 delegates.

The event facilitated over 8,150 meetings between buyers and exhibitors, emphasising its role in driving significant business opportunities. Nine airlines participated in the airline pavilion, highlighting the importance of aviation in connecting the continent, while 25 SMMEs displayed their innovative solutions.

The event also garnered extensive media attention, with 179 media members covering the proceedings, and featured representatives from 63 countries.

"Meetings Africa 2025 is not just a trade show; it's a catalyst for business success," says Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille. "We look forward to welcoming exhibitors and buyers from our continent and from around the world to South Africa."

“Meetings Africa 2024 has had a significant impact on South Africa’s economy, contributing R420m to the GDP and creating over 770 jobs.

The event showcased the strength of South Africa’s business events industry as a key driver of economic growth, generating R27m in national tax revenue and providing significant business opportunities for exhibitors.

"Beyond economic gains, Meetings Africa emphasised sustainable practices and supported small local businesses, provided great networking opportunities for exhibitors from the rest of the continent, further elevating South Africa's profile as an attractive and appealing destination for global conferences and events," Minister de Lille adds.

Africa's Travel Indaba

Africa’s Travel Indaba focuses on showcasing the African continent’s leisure tourism products and promoting partnerships geared towards advancing the continent’s growth.

Africa’s Travel Indaba will also lead with a Business Opportunity Networking Day featuring industry and business experts and leaders sharing knowledge.

The 2024 edition of Africa’s Travel Indaba hosted 9280 registered delegates, marking an incredible 7% increase when compared to 2023. No less than 24,000 meetings were held between exhibitors and buyers. Additionally, the event featured over 1200 exhibitors who displayed an impressive array of African tourism products and experiences.

The economic activities triggered by Africa’s Travel Indaba, from event infrastructure to accommodation establishments, restaurants, and shuttle services, were significant.

The direct economic impact on the city was no less than R226 million, with a spillover effect contributing an additional R333m. The overall contribution to the city's GDP exceeded R500m, indicating significant economic benefits and over 1,000 jobs created, especially for the youth.

“For Africa’s Travel Indaba, we look forward to working with all our partners to showcase the city of Durban and the greater Kwa Zulu-Natal province once again and, indeed, the rest of our country.

"Given the continent’s wide variety of tourism products and experiences, Africa’s Travel Indaba showcases a wide variety of exhibitors and continues to be the best Pan Africa leisure global trade show for all our buyers, exhibitors, media and other stakeholders,” Minister de Lille said.

Looking forward to 2025, both Meetings Africa and Africa’s Travel Indaba will be tailored to provide immersive experiences and provide excellent value for exhibitors, buyers and media alike.

By connecting the best of the African leisure and business events industry with relevant buyers from across the globe, both Meetings Africa and Africa’s Travel Indaba create an environment conducive to transacting and building quality connections.