Africa Travel WeekWith COVID restrictions largely fluid all over the world, the tourism sector’s reliance on inbound international tourism while the uncertainty prevails will be high. In addition to the economic impact that COVID has had on economies, changing international restrictions mean domestic and regional tourism will be the two areas of focus for tourism stakeholders in the foreseeable future. How do we as a tourism industry work to grow our domestic and regional tourism in this space, especially in destinations that do not have a strong domestic tourism market?
THE SPEAKERS
Evelyn Mahlaba
Regional General Manager: Africa
at South African Tourism
An Africa enthusiast and a fervent marketer, her role is to lead the team and provide integrated strategies to cultivate a culture of travel among South Africans. With many South Africans experiencing tough economic times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Evy and her team, have the challenge of getting South Africans to travel their own country again by showcasing affordable, fun experiences suitable for varied preferences. Prior to COVID-19 and under her leadership, domestic tourism achieved stellar results with holiday trips increasing by 170,6% reaching 7,1 million trips between January and December 2019.
Muthuri Kinyamu
Co-founder of Turnup.Travel
Muthuri Kinyamu is a destination marketer, digital marketing specialist, and co-founder of Turnup.Travel – an African travel brand focused on themed experiences, storytelling, and social impact. Turnup.Travel has been at the forefront of disrupting tourism from our HQ in Kenya by offering new-age travelers bespoke experiences to transform dreams into beautiful memories that customers book via www.turnup.travel.
Sue Garrett
GM Marketing & Product:
Flight Centre South Africa
Experienced General Manager Product and Marketing with a demonstrated history of working in the leisure, travel & tourism industry. Skilled in Marketing Management, Negotiation, Business Travel, Leisure Travel, and Customer Service. Strong product management professional graduated from Birnam Business college.
THE MODERATOR
Natalia Rosa
Director of Big Ambitions
Natalia Rosa is the director of Big Ambitions, a specialist Cape Town-based travel content marketing consultancy. Rosa is a passionate follower of online marketing, social media, retail travel, inbound tourism and publishing. Rosa has editing, writing and management experience in the content generation, online marketing, social media and publishing fields, has completed an online marketing diploma with the University of Stellenbosch, Honours in Journalism and Media Studies and Masters in Publishing with specialisation in online publishing field cum laude.
