Editorial Comment

Welcome to Africa Travel Association

Tourism Tattler is proud to announce its appointment as an official media partner to the Africa Travel Association (ATA).

“We see our collaboration with Tourism Tattler as a platform through which to speak with one voice as collective travel trade associations, aimed at growing tourism into Africa. This ties-in well with an MoU between ATA and the African Union Commission, which aims to promote the sustainable development of tourism to and across Africa and to broaden the scope of public-private partnerships for tourism across a wide array of issues and sectors,” says ATA’s Trade Relations & Communications Officer, Andrea Papitto.

The Africa Travel Association (ATA) is a leading global trade association dedicated to promoting travel and tourism to Africa and strengthening intra-Africa partnerships to make this happen. Established in 1975, ATA provides services to both the public and private sectors of the industry, including members from African governments, their tourism ministers, tourism bureaus and boards, airlines, cruise lines, hotels, resorts, frontline travel sellers and providers, tour operators and travel agents, students and young professionals, multi-platform media, and affiliate industries. ATA’s annual events in the USA and Africa bring government leaders and industry professionals together to shape Africa’s tourism agenda and build business-to-business linkages.

ATA is registered as a 501(c)6 non-profit trade association in the USA, with headquarters in New York and chapters around the world.

ATA initiatives include the Young Professionals Program (YPP) – an international travel industry student organization, which aims to engage young working professionals in Africa’s tourism industry. ATA-YPN helps members advance their careers through valuable learning, networking, professional development and referral opportunities, and offers access to ATA’s resources and contacts. Another initiative is the African Diaspora Tourism Initiative, which contributes significantly to the development of the continent through a variety of channels, including investing in the continent and encouraging others to invest, entrepreneurism, and knowledge exchange. ATA’s Responsible Tourism initiative includes ATA’s Eco-Tourism Manifesto (adopted at ATA’s 15th Annual Congress in Casablanca, Morocco, September, 1990), and ATA’s Responsible Travel Guidelines (1995).

“Since the founding of the Tourism Tattler Trade Journal as a media title by the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (SATSA) in the 70s, the editorial objective has remained consistent; namely to provide the travel trade with informative, educational content aimed at assisting tourism product owners, entrepreneurs and their staff in providing quality tourism services. I look forward to working with ATA and sharing the wealth of information that this respected association has developed over the past 40 years,” says Tourism Tattler’s executive Editor, Des Langkilde.

“This September issue of Tourism Tattler represents the 61st edition that I’ve published since taking over the media title in 2006. Back then, we distributed just over 3000 copies of the magazine locally but today, with the advent of digital publishing and print-on-demand technology, the magazine is distributed internationally, through multiple channels and reader interface options, to over 44,000 subscribers and a total readership in excess of 76,000 per month across all distribution portals. Tourism Tattler will always be available free of charge to tourism professionals who specialise in providing travel services in, and to, the content of Africa.”

ATA in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and New York University (NYU) Africa House has developed a Tourism Data for Africa Portal in order to provide access to Tourism related data on African countries. The portal is part of the AfDB’s “Africa Information Highway” initiative aimed at improving data collection, management, and dissemination in Africa.

“We anticipate a booming travel and tourism industry to and within Africa. Realizing this vision requires your support, and we look forward to working together to show the world Africa’s beauty, hospitality and opportunity,” concludes Papitto.

For more information visit www.africatravelassociation.org

Redbery-Sept

Related Articles

Check Also
Close
Back to top button