PR No.: PR 16071

The 37th International Tourism Fair, FITUR 2017, which will be organized by IFEMA from 18 to 22 January at the FERIA DE MADRID, will be hosting a renewed INVESTOUR. The Tourism Investment and Business Forum for Africa, jointly organized by FITUR, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and Casa África, will focus its eighth edition on promoting the sustainable development of tourism in Africa, thus aligning itself with the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017, declared by the United Nations, and channelled through the UNWTO, a UN specialized agency. This will also be the running theme of FITUR 2017. The forum will take place on 19 January 2017.

The aim of INVESTOUR, which has established itself as the premier showcase for African tourism, is to promote tourism development in that continent through discussions and B2B meetings between companies and professionals. In past editions, a session of round-table discussions would be held, followed on the same day by a session of pre-scheduled meetings between African destinations and international buyers interested in the products on offer. The new feature on this occasion is that the round tables and B2B meetings will be held in parallel, allowing convenient access by the participants to both sessions.

INVESTOUR 2017 will hold two round tables on the topics of “Technology and the design of new tourism products” and on “Skills development, youth and woman employment in tourism”. The aim of these round tables is to generate discussions that result in ideas on how to increase the potential of African tourism at the regional and global levels. In this edition, more time is devoted to the round tables, allowing participants to delve deeper into the issues to be discussed.

Meanwhile, the B2B encounters have proved to be a valuable business tool, as the pre-scheduled meetings make it possible to put African entities with tourism projects in direct contact with international buyers. Proof of the success of this model of participation is the fact that in INVESTOUR 2016, there were 14 ministers, 316 participants, 105 investment projects and 40 scheduled appointments, and since its first edition in 2009, this forum has attracted more than 1,200 participants from 32 African countries and more than 800 projects.

In 2015, Africa received 53.5 million international tourists which generated a total of 30 billion Euros. According to the UNWTO’s forecasts, in 2030 Africa will receive 90 million international tourists.

More information:

Website: www.investour-africa.com

E-mail: Investour@unwto.org

Contacts:

UNWTO Media Officer, Rut Gomez Sobrino
Tel.: (+34) 91 567 81 60 / rgomez@unwto.org

UNWTO Communications and Publications Programme

Tel.: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218 / comm@UNWTO.org