Cape Town, 7 May 2025 – The newly released '2025 State of the African Industry Report: Ignite Africa!' reveals billion-dollar blind spots holding back African tourism - and provides an actionable roadmap for reversing stagnation as global arrivals rebound unevenly across the continent.
"The response since the report was released at WTM Africa has been overwhelming," said Megan De Jager, Portfolio Director at Africa Travel Week. “This isn’t just another trend wrap-up. We’re asking uncomfortable but necessary questions: Who are we building tourism for? Are we innovating fast enough? And most importantly - are we telling our own story or someone else’s?”
Key Findings Driving Industry Conversation
Since its release, several critical insights have sparked particularly strong industry response:
- Market Misalignment: While Africa continues focusing on slow-recovering Western markets, high-growth opportunities in Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America remain largely untapped. Middle Eastern travellers spend up to US$15,000 per trip, yet most African destinations lack tailored offerings for these valuable segments.
According to Michelle Gounden, Director: Insights, Skift Advisory “Too many African destinations are fighting for the same shrinking pie (primarily Western long-haul travellers) when the real opportunity lies in diversification. Skift’s data shows that outbound travel from the Middle East and India is growing at double the global average, yet tailored experiences for these markets remain limited. It’s time for a bold pivot in both marketing strategy and product design.” - The "Africa Premium" Explained: The report demystifies why African safaris cost 35-50% more than comparable global experiences like Galápagos expeditions. Rather than excessive profits, structural challenges including infrastructure deficits (flights costing 45% more than in Europe/Asia), currency volatility (30-50% depreciation), and operating risks force tourism businesses to maintain higher margins simply to remain viable.
- Overlooked Billion-Dollar Markets: Neurodivergent travellers represent a US$60 billion global market, with 93% of parents with autistic children saying they would travel more if appropriate options were available. Despite Africa's natural advantages for low-stimulation experiences, the continent lags behind global destinations in serving this segment.
- Infrastructure Reality Check: While 97.8% of travel executives believe AI will transform tourism within five years, the report documents how basic infrastructure failures—including fuel shortages at major airports and the withdrawal of 326 flight procedures—threaten to undermine digital ambitions.
The report has sparked frank conversations among industry leaders about what needs fixing, and what’s possible, with bold strategy shifts.
“We’re still sitting at only 81% of our pre-pandemic arrivals while Kenya is already at 134%. Put simply: we’re underperforming our potential,” says David Frost, CEO of SATSA. “We need smarter aviation policies and targeted marketing efforts if we want real recovery, not just incremental gains.”
Tourism professionals who missed the WTM Africa launch can now download the full report here.
Catch the Beat at WTM Africa 2026!
Early Bird registrations are now open! Don’t miss this opportunity to secure your space at Africa’s leading B2B travel and tourism event at a discounted rate. Get in touch with our team to register your interest and be part of next year’s show, taking place from 13–15 April 2026 at the CTICC in Cape Town.
-ENDS-
Issued by: Big Ambitions
Contact: Sonnette Fourie
Tel: +27 81 072 2869
Email: sonnette@bigambitions.co.za
Now in its 32nd year, Arabian Travel Market (ATM) is the leading international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. Held annually at the Dubai World Trade Centre, ATM 2024 spanned 12 halls, making it the largest edition to date. The event attracted over 47,000 attendees and more than 35,000 visitors (including 6,000+ high-value buyers) and over 2,550 exhibitors and representatives from over 161 countries. In 2025, ATM will expand to 13 halls, growing across all sectors, and will continue to be a crucial gathering for the global travel and tourism industry. Arabian Travel Market is part of Arabian Travel Week. #ATMDubai
ATM takes place from 28 April to 1 May 2025, at the Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai.
https://www.wtm.com/atm/en-gb.html
Arabian Travel Week is a week-long festival of events from 28 April to 4 May, alongside Arabian Travel Market 2025. Providing a renewed focus for the Middle East’s travel and tourism sector, it includes Start-Up Competition, Influencers' Event, GBTA Business Travel Forums, and ATM Travel Tech. The event also features ATM Buyer Networking and a series of country forums.
https://www.wtm.com/arabian-travel-week/en-gb.html
About RX
RX is a global leader in events and exhibitions, leveraging industry expertise, data, and technology to build businesses for individuals, communities, and organisations. With a presence in 25 countries across 42 industry sectors, RX hosts approximately 350 events annually. RX is committed to creating an inclusive work environment for all our people. RX empowers businesses to thrive by leveraging data-driven insights and digital solutions. RX is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. For more information, visit www.rxglobal.com.
About RELX
RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. RELX serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs more than 36,000 people over 40% of whom are in North America. The shares of RELX PLC, the parent company, are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York stock exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX. *Note: Current market capitalisation can be found at http://www.relx.com/investors
World Travel Market (WTM) Portfolio comprises leading travel events and online portals across four continents. The events are Arabian Travel Market, WTM London, WTM Latin America and WTM Africa.
WTM London is the world’s most influential travel & tourism event for the global travel community. The show is the ultimate destination for those seeking a macro view of the travel industry and a deeper understanding of the forces shaping it. WTM London is where influential travel leaders, buyers and high-profile travel companies gather to exchange ideas, drive innovation, and accelerate business outcomes.
Next event: 4 to 6 November 2025 at ExCel London
WTM Latin America is held annually in São Paulo and attracts more than 29,000 tourism professionals during the three-day event. The event offers a qualified content combined with networking and business opportunities. In its most recent edition, in 2024, WTM Latin America maintained its focus on the effective generation of business and managed to secure the early scheduling of more than six thousand meetings that were held between buyers, travel agents, and exhibitors. WTM Latin America contents are available in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
Next event: 14 – 16 April 2025, Expo Center Norte, São Paulo, Brasil
latinamerica.wtm.com
WTM Africa launched in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. In 2024, WTM Africa facilitated more than 10 thousand unique pre-scheduled appointments, an increase of more than 8% compared to 2023 and welcomed more than 10 thousand visitors (unaudited), 25% more than 2023.
Next event: 9 to 11 April 2025 – Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town http://africa.wtm.com/
About ATW Connect: Africa Travel Week’s digital arm, is a virtual hub packed to the seams with interesting content, industry news and insights, and the opportunity to hear from experts on a variety of topics in our new monthly webinar series. All with the aim to keep all of us in the travel and tourism industry connected. ATW Connect focuses on inbound and outbound markets for general leisure tourism, luxury travel and the MICE/business travel sector as well as travel technology.
WTM Global Hub, is the WTM Portfolio online portal created to connect and support travel industry professionals around the world. The resource hub offers the latest guidance and knowledge to help exhibitors, buyers and others in the travel industry face the challenges of the global coronavirus pandemic. WTM Portfolio is tapping into its global network of experts to create content for the hub. https://hub.wtm.com/
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