New sponsorship agreement on the cards for We Are Africa
25 April 2023
Council will tomorrow
deliberate on a proposal for the City of Cape Town to support We Are Africa for
the next three years. The continent’s leading luxury travel trade fair has been
hosted in Cape Town since 2014.
Council approval will pave the way for the Events Department to enter into an agreement to provide support to the We Are Africa event for the 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years.
We Are Africa is one of the world's most vibrant gatherings where people from around the globe meet here in our beautiful city to get a taste of the continent's luxury travel brands.
It hosts over 1 000 delegates annually including exhibitors from around Africa, international tourism agents, international media and local tourism industry professionals at DHL Stadium.
The four-day event consists of conferences, workshops, exhibitions, an awards ceremony, sunrise adventures, media programmes and networking opportunities.
An agreement for support for the event would come into effect next month when the eighth edition of We Are Africa takes place from 15 – 18 May 2023.
'Over the last decade, We Are Africa has established itself as the leading gathering for global Africa specialists and leading luxury travel brands. During that period, it has hosted over 5 500 delegates most of whom flew down to Cape Town to attend the event. On average, the delegates spend over R2 500 directly on local businesses a day which provides a much needed boost for the retail, hospitality and tourism sectors. This is a platform where Africa and the world's luxury tourism professionals make deals that set the industry forward. We believe entering into a multi-year agreement with the event will provide a platform for growth for the above sectors as they steadily recover following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is also the perfect platform to market Cape Town as a leading international high-end leisure destination, an innovative and leading international meetings and events destination,' said the Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
Some of the trade show's accomplishments in the last nine years include:
- It has doubled its annual registered delegates from just over 500 in 2014 to nearly 1 100 in 2019
- It has hosted over 5 500 tourism professionals from various countries in the world
- We Are Africa has donated over R500 000 to local charities
- In terms of direct economic impact to Cape Town, We Are Africa generates around R15 million in direct visitor spending from 800+ business travellers, in the city's low season.
End
Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
