The VA TourismPodcast

Is Africa doing too little for the North America Outbound Market? Jacinta Nzioka unpacks the enormous potential

In today’s episode, a distinguished destination marketing expert and Founder & CEO of Globify Solutions, a full-service marketing agency Jacinta Nzioka has admonished African DMOs to outline targeted strategies in growing the interest of the continent in the US Outbound market. Jacinta believes Africa should look at niche products for the US market while enhancing its marketing and activations on the ground.
Jacinta previously spearheaded the Kenya Convention Bureau (KCB) as its founder CEO for four years since 2019, following over two decades at the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB). During her tenure at KTB, she held key positions, including Acting CEO, and Director of Marketing for 9 years, overseeing global tourism marketing strategy and fostering sector revival for Kenya during crises.
Her trailblazing destination marketing journey in Kenya and globally included driving impactful initiatives in leading Kenya’s entry strategy into Africa, and Asia as well as growth into the East and Central European region.  During her helm at KTB's Marketing function, the Board was recognized as Africa’s Best Tourism Board for 7 years consecutively.  As a marketing technical expert, Jacinta worked jointly with East African partner states to develop a regional destination brand, oversaw the relaunch of the destination brand Magicalkenya, and developed a domestic tourism TembeaKenya brand campaign both of which remain Kenya’s destination brand locally and internationally.

Exhibitors share impressions of Africa Showcase Southern Europe Roadshow

During the recent Southern Europe tour of Africa showcase in Madrid Spain, the VA Tourism podcast caught up with three African travel & facility specialists who made the trip with the Onshow team. The Director of Marketing at Sopa Lodges, Rosemary Muthoni, Lindie Strauss of NaC Helicopters, and Lana Carls from Wesgro all expressed excitement and optimism about the potential of southern Europe as a market for Africa to consider.

Africa Showcase 2024: We've seen Increasing demand from the Spanish Market- Chris Anagnostellis

My Guest today is Chris Anagnostellis, a seasoned African tour operator and CEO of African Anthology. Chris tells me they’ve seen an increasing demand from the Spanish market inspite of the unavailability of direct air access between Spain and South Africa. He says the Africa Showcase platform is a more focused market gateway which has been rewarding for him and his business.

Africa Showcase 2024: Understanding the Spanish Outbound Tourism Market with Eduardo and Lucia

My conversation today is with two Spanish outbound tour operators Eduardo Garcia del Alamo and Lucia Diaz Jimenez. At the recent Africa showcase Southern Europe roadshow in Madrid, Spain the duo unpacks the opportunities and challenges with the Spanish outbound market. They believe the growing awareness of Africa in Spain as an alternative destination should urge stakeholders to work together to eliminate barriers hindering its growth.
 

How Kempinski Hotel Accra Gold Coast City is transforming guest experience with Lady In Red and West Africa’s first Gentleman In Red

In the inaugural episode of the VA Tourism Podcast for 2024, the Lady In Red team from Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City Accra explores the distinctive features that set their service apart from traditional concierge offerings. From delivering personalized guest experiences to going above and beyond, the Lady In Red epitomizes exceptional, memorable, and captivating service guaranteed to enchant guests. In a hearty conversation, guest host Samuel Obeng Appah  engages, Surabhi Mahajan and Judith Ada Agbara on 14 years of Lady In Red. Additionally, the podcast highlights David Quartey, the first Gentleman In Red in West Africa.

State of Africa’s Tourism Sector: What to lookout for in 2024

Today’s episode is our Final podcast for the year 2023 and episode 215. This special state of tourism review will bring you a roundup of how tourism fared and our projections of the sector in 2024.We listened to your feedback and have introduced this new format which will be a regular feature once every month to help you and in particular the travel trade to be abreast with the changes in the industry expected to shape the sector going forward in 2024.
To help me run commentary on these issues are four distinguished media personalities versed in tourism and its related sectors. I have Lebawit Lily Girma an award-winning Ethiopian American travel journalist and founder ofTourismLens.com, a platform dedicated to equitable, sustainable tourism and she is currently a full-time travel reporter at Bloomberg News.
Naledi K. Khabo, CEO of African Tourism Association. She is a global strategy leader with 25+ years experience across Operations, Marketing and technology. Naledi currently serves as chief executive at the Africa Tourism Association (ATA), a global trade association promoting travel and tourism to Africa and strengthening intra-Africa partnerships.
Kingsley D. Uranta is the Assistant General Manager-Operations at Channels Television, Lagos, Nigeria with the sole responsibility of driving strategy/innovation, partnership, corporate communications, and training. He has a robust career in communication spanning over 20 years in a variety of functional and managerial roles.
EMELIKE OBINNA is an award-winning journalist with over 12 years of experience. He majors in Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality, which he reports with passion. He heads the Travel and Tourism Desk of BusinessDay, the foremost financial Publication in Nigeria.
 

Talking Tourism in Mauritius:Estelle St Lambert invites you to explore GrandBay’s Night Life

In today’s episode, the Manager of Enjoy, a restaurant and entertainment center in Grand Bay, Mauritius Estelle St Lambert urges the government of Mauritius to offer incentives, particularly in the creative arts sector to help develop budding talents and also create employment opportunities for the youth in the island. Estelle believes Mauritius has an enormous potential to become an entertainment haven.

Could Health Tourism and Wellness be the next frontier in Africa’s Tourism pursuit? Founders of Route Wellness take a deep dive

In today’s episode, founders of Route Wellness International (Private) Limited Dr. Udeni Arawgoda and Lisa Payet dive into the opportunity that the wellness and medical tourism sectors offer destinations. They discuss the growing medical tourism sector in Sri Lanka and how partnership with Africa can help develop the sector in the region.