The speaker line-up and programme for WTM Africa 2019 are taking shape, with Conference, Inspire, Destination and Travel Forward Theatres set to host presentations and interactive sessions with global travel influencers between 10 and 12 April 2019.

The three-day speaker programme will cover topics that matter in the industries travel and tourism industry, offering insights to stakeholders across the spectrum via individual presenters, panel discussions, workshop and networking sessions.

The Conference Theatre is home to the annual Responsible Tourism Conference, led by Dr Harold Goodwin who has worked on 4 continents with local communities, their governments and the inbound and outbound tourism industry.

An Emeritus Professor and Responsible Tourism Director at the Institute of Place Management at Manchester Metropolitan University, Dr Goodwin is also Managing Director of the Responsible Tourism Partnership, advisor to the World Travel Market Portfolio on it’s Responsible Tourism programme across the global WTM Portfolio. He chairs the panels of judges for the World Responsible Tourism Awards and the other Awards in the family, Africa, India and Ireland. Keep your eyes on the WTM Africa website for updates.

The Inspire Theatre will play host to a variety of cutting edge tourism industry content sessions. On Wednesday 10 April at 11:30, SAACI CEO Rudi van der Vyver will host a half day Business Events Conference in partnership with ibtm comprising AFRICA of three sessions: A Sustainable Event Industry; Embracing Our Youth: Transformation in an evolving world of Event Management ,and Professionalism and Accountability in a burgeoning Event Industry.

On Wednesday 10 April at 14:30, experienced mentor, business coach, consultant and strategist Alessandra Alonso, returns with her incredibly popular and valuable Women in Travel interactive sessions, with a focus on gender empowerment, entrepreneurship, travel and tourism.

The event combines a panel debate with group mentoring and networking to ensure attendees access inspirational speakers, hands-on advice through mentoring and give women an opportunity to meet with their peers and share challenges, opportunities and learnings.

The SETE: Sports and Events Tourism Exchange runs for a full day in the Inspire Theatre on 11 April, with former Ireland International rugby player and Talk Radio 702 presenter John Robbie exploring the impact and benefits of major sporting and other events which have a significant ROI for our tourism economy.

Friday 12 April also features a full-day event, Travel Forward Forum in partnership with eTourism Frontiers. The business driven, focused and educational event gives attendees the opportunity to meet leading experts in sessions covering untapped elements and practicalities of e-commerce and online distribution.

The Destination Theatre also features a full programme across WTM Africa, with entertaining and engaging sessions set to cover current and future trends, a 2019 travel forecast, tourism into the rest of the continent, trends in travel influencer marketing, film tourism, Halaal tourism, destination presentations and global gay & lesbian travel, to name but a few.

Current speakers include iambassador Founder & CEO Keith Jenkins; Women in Travel CIC Founder Alessandra Alonso; iambassador CMO Nicholas Montemaggi and Film & Event Media Publisher Lance Gibbons.

New speakers and events are constantly being added, so keep an eye on conferences for news. Keep an eye on WTM Africa website for more information.