…Features exciting events, high-profile speakers
Once again, Africa’s travel and tourism sector, particularly, the West African region, is in the global spotlight as Akwaaba African Travel Market opens today.
Also, Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, (its traditional venue) is playing host to the leading international travel and tourism fair in West Africa, from September 14-16, 2025.
According to the organisers, this year’s fair, which is its 21st edition, features key partners including: Air Peace, Lagos State Government, Gambia, Wakanow and Interswitch, while over 3,000 participants are expected ranging from tourism boards, airlines, hotels, travel agencies, insurance firms, logistics companies, and government representatives, to international buyers and industry professionals.
Moreover, the opening ceremony today at the Eko Convention Centre, aptly tagged the Wonders of Nigeria day, will feature among other exciting activities a culinary competition called #JollofRice War between 10 chefs, who will explore about 20 flavours of Jollof Rice. It will also feature the Top 100 Hotel Awards, while the Travellers Awards will round off the day’s activities.
The second day, Monday, will witness the highly anticipated B2B session, several country days and product launches, a domestic tourism session under the Africa Tourism Conference and Africa Travel 100 Women Awards, and East African cocktail evening, while Tuesday, the last day of the fair, is for aviation, Youth Tourism Bantaba, insurance conference, among others.
For the first time in the over two decades of the fair, it will run side by side with the 5th Chinet Aviacargo Conference on the last day, creating synergy between the tourism and air cargo sectors.
Some of the continent’s high-profile speakers at this year’s fair include: Lilly Ajarova, senior presidential advisor for Tourism, Uganda and former CEO, Uganda Tourism Board, who will be the keynote speaker for African Tourism Conference; Fifi J. Rurangwa, CEO, TheXperts, Rwanda and Congo; Alisa Osei Asamoah; CEO, Riali Consult and immediate past president, Tour Operators’ Union of Ghana (TOUGHA); Olanma Ojukwu, managing director, GOTA Voyage, Benin Republic; Shalom Asuquo-Ankoh, CEO of Travel Lab; Ayman Thomas Mahinda, Zee Travel & Tours-Zanzibar and Adama Bah, chairman, Institute of Travel and Tourism of Gambia (ITTOG). Nnenna Ajanwachuku, vice president, Transport Ecosystem, Interswitch, will share insights on how technology and seamless transport systems can drive growth, accessibility, and sustainability in African tourism.
Meanwhile, the fair is becoming more exciting and impactful, even now in its 21st edition, bringing together professionals from airlines, tourism boards, travel agencies, hotels, and other tourism service providers for mutually beneficial exchanges, networking opportunities, initiating and sealing of business deals, unveiling of industry trends, amid insightful seminar sessions.
This year, the fair, which is recognized by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), will serve beyond a hub for collaboration, learning, and market access in the African travel industry, to initiating and boosting efforts at promoting domestic tourism and intra-African travel.
It will offer industry leaders, policymakers, investors, and travel enthusiasts a platform to share insights, profile country-specific strategies and chart the way forward for a more connected and vibrant African tourism market.
Speaking on this year’s event, Ikechi Uko, CEO, Akwaaba African Travel Market, noted: “Akwaaba continues to be the melting pot of Africa’s tourism, aviation, and hospitality industries. With strong partnerships from leading players such as Air Peace, Lagos State, Gambia, Wakanow, and Interswitch, this edition will once again showcase Africa’s potential as the world’s next tourism frontier.”
Making a case for the push for domestic tourism at this year’s fair, Uko explained that with a population of 1.4 billion across 54 nations, Africa receives fewer than 100 million tourists annually.
Yet, the potential for growth, according to Uko, is immense. “If each African country could generate between 10 percent and 20 percent of its population as domestic tourists and share just 5 percent as intra-African travellers, the continent would witness a thriving tourism economy capable of transforming local communities and industries,”Uko, an African tourism ambassador, said.
The 21st edition of the fair is on and will run till September 16, 2025 at the Convention Centre, Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island Lagos.
