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By Fred Simiyu
The ATA Conference has come to one of the world’s most outstanding safari and conferencing destinations and venues. The ATA provides a unique networking, learning and agenda-shaping platform for tourism stakeholders. The most cursory glance at its forthcoming Nairobi programme reveals content-rich educational and professional sessions; a tourism ministers’ roundtable; meet-the-media encounters; buyers-and-suppliers interactions and transactions; and outings to Nairobi’s world-class sights, including the only national park in the world on the immediate environs of a metroplolis. The ATA has a distinguished and proactive history. Established as an international non-profit, non-political, educational trade organization in New York by a group of travel and airline executives, ATA went on to pioneer the establishment of National Tourist Boards, providing a forum for the learning and professional development of Africa travel agents and tour operators’ knowledge, and helping establish incoming operators in Africa. The then young African nations received invaluable assistance and know-how with shaping their tourism capabilities and building their credentials. ATA’s investment in African tourism has been inestimable. This untold capacity building has, over the years, included engaging tour operators and small-scale tourism businesses in North America and around the world with networking events, educational seminars and consumer and travel trade shows. In the US alone, over 250,000 prospective tourists are exposed to Africa’s tourism assets face-to-face by ATA members. In an immense collaborative and proactive effort with US, Canadian and world press/media, ATA works to expound the good side of out-of-Africa news, and to report on the development of tourism projects and destinations. We welcome the ATA to Africa being well aware that their primary objectives and focus have been to promote the tourism attractions of the African continent and to educate travel agents, meeting and conference planners and incentive companies about the products and services offered by Africa’s tourism industry. The ATA thus helps to identify new tourism products and destinations for the benefit of the local populations and the international travel industry. By meeting in Nairobi, the ATA will in very many senses be coming home to the arena and one of the hubs of its life’s work. Kenya is one of the world’s foremost homes of hospitality. Kenyans delight in hosting Africa and the rest of the world at home. Workshops, conferences, conventions and summits held in Kenya constitute some of the participants’ most unforgettable, satisfying and gratifying experiences. Karibu nyumbani, ATA!
DISCOVER MAGICAL KENYA
DURING ATA'S 40TH ANNUAL WORLD CONGRESS IN NOVEMBER 2015
We invite you to join us for ATA's
40th Annual World Congress in Nairobi, Kenya from
November 9-14, 2015, where we will be
hosted by the Kenya Ministry of East African
Affairs, Commerce and Tourism and the Kenya Tourism
Board.
During the congress as part of the program,
ATA delegates will have the opportunity to enjoy
exclusive offsite visits to:
November
9th, David Sheldrick Wildlife
Trust. Born
from one family’s passion for Kenya and its
wilderness, the DSWT is the most successful
orphan-elephant rescue and rehabilitation
program in the world and one of the pioneering
conservation organisations for wildlife and
habitat protection in East Africa. Learn
more..
November 11th, Karen
Blixen Museum and Giraffe Center. The
museum was once a farm at the foot of the Ngong
Hills owned by Danish Author Karen and her
Swedish husband, Baron Bror von Blixen Fincke.
Located 10km from the city center, the farmhouse
gained international fame with the release of
the movie ‘Out of Africa’ an Oscar winning film
based on Karen’s autobiography. Learn
more.
November 13th, Congress
Host Country Day (delegates may select one):
Lake Nakuru
National Park. On the floor of the
Great Rift Valley, surrounded by wooded and
bushy grassland, lies the beautiful Lake Nakuru
National Park. Visitors can enjoy the wide
ecological diversity and varied habitats that
range from Lake Nakuru, surrounding escarpment,
and picturesque ridges.
Ol Pejeta
Conservancy. Today Ol Pejeta is the
largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa and
home to three of the world’s last remaining
northern white rhino. It is the only place in
Kenya to see chimpanzees in a sanctuary
established to rehabilitate animals rescued from
the black market.
Learn more…
Extend Your Visit with Pre- & Post-Congress Tours
Arrive early or stay beyond the congress
program to further explore Magical Kenya with
special pre- and post-congress tours offered
by ATA members.
Find more information on ATA's 40th Annual World Congress here:
Join us in discovering Magical Kenya,
Africa Travel Association
BUNSON SAFARI - CLASSIC SAFARIS - NATURE
EXPEDITIONS - NATURE WONDERLAND SAFARIS -
TREKKR SAFARIS - MAHALI MZURI (Richard branson)
April 14,
2015
THE AFRICA TRAVEL ASSOCIATION
RETURNS TO KENYA FOR THE 40TH ANNUAL
WORLD CONGRESS
Experience Magical Kenya November 9-14, 2015
NEW YORK, NY, April
14, 2015 – The Africa Travel Association
(ATA), the leader in promoting tourism to Africa, will hold its
40th Annual World Congress in Nairobi, Kenya from November 9-
14, 2015. The international tourism meeting will be hosted by
the Kenya Ministry of East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism
under the auspices of Cabinet Secretary Hon. Phyllis Kandie.
Known as Magical
Kenya, the country offers an abundance of wildlife
opportunities, as well as an astonishing diversity of landscapes
and cultures. As the East African hub for business and
technology, the country is known for its excellent domestic
travel infrastructure and the wide range of tourism activities
and services it provides for its visitors. From tropical forests
and beaches to vast deserts and majestic mountains, tourists in
Kenya can experience a
different safari every day.
ATA Congresses provide a unique
networking, learning, and agenda-shaping platform for Africa
tourism stakeholders. The 2015 program will include a line-up of
educational and professional development sessions; a Tourism
Ministers’ Roundtable; sessions to Meet
the Ministers, Meet
the Media, and Africa
Meets the World, where buyers and suppliers will
meet; visits to Nairobi’s top sites; and a range of networking
events, including a Kenya Culture Night and ATA Awards Ceremony,
receptions, working lunches, and a gala dinner.
As the early founding members of
the association, the Kenyan government shares a special
connection with ATA. The first ATA Congress in Africa was hosted
in Kenya in 1976 and the Kenyan Government has fostered a
tradition of hosting the ATA Congress every ten years. “Our
partnership with ATA is very important as the U.S. remains a
significant source market for Kenya. The Kenya tourism industry
is looking forward to welcoming ATA delegates for a successful
conference in November to highlight all the country has to
offer,” said Kandie.
ATA Executive Director Edward
Bergman said, “On the occasion of ATA’s 40th anniversary, we are
eager to return to Kenya for this milestone in ATA’s history. We
are delighted to bring together the public and private sectors,
travel industry, and media to participate in the Congress. This
also comes at an important time to showcase Kenyan tourism to
show that Kenya is an incredible destination, is open for
business, and deserves our attention. We encourage the travel
industry to stand with Kenya and support tourism.”
During the Kenya Host Country
Day, delegates will visit the magnificent Lake Nakuru National
Park. The lake itself is known for attracting thousands of
flamingos that feed on the algae formed on the lake bed. Not
only does the lake attract flamingos, but as part of a National
Park, both the black and white rhino can be sighted as well as
large herds of zebra, impalas, waterbuck, and buffalos. As part
of the Host Country Day and an ATA tradition, delegates will
take part in a tree-planting ceremony at Lake Nakuru as a symbol
of long-lasting relationships and as an initiative to achieve a
better global environment.
ATA Congress delegates include
African tourism ministers, industry professionals representing
tourism boards, destination representatives, travel agents, tour
operators, ground operators, airlines, hotels and
accommodations, service providers, and travel media.
Participants from the corporate, nonprofit and academic sectors
are also expected to attend along with travel and hospitality
students. Pre- and post-Congress tours will also be available to
explore Magical Kenya beyond
the Congress.
Editor’s Note
More information on the program,
hotel accommodations, and special airfares will be posted on
ATA’s website at: www.africatravelassociation.org/worldcongress.
For photos of Kenya, visit ATA’s
Destination Africa profiles on Flickr: https://flic.kr/s/aHsk5eGpu5.
For information on sponsorship
opportunities for the 2015 Congress, contact ATA at
+1.212.447.1357 or info@africatravelassociation.org.
About Kenya
To learn more about Kenya, visit
the Magical Kenya website: http://www.magicalkenya.com.
Download the Congress Flyer here.
About the Africa Travel Association
The Africa Travel Association
(ATA) is the leading global trade association promoting travel
and tourism to Africa and strengthening intra-Africa
partnerships. Established in 1975, ATA serves both the public
and private sectors of the international travel and tourism
industry. ATA membership comprises African governments, their
tourism ministers, tourism bureaus and boards, airlines, cruise
lines, hotels, resorts, front-line travel sellers and providers,
tour operators and travel agents, and affiliate industries. ATA
partners with the African Union Commission (AU) to promote the
sustainable development of tourism to and across Africa. ATA’s
annual events in the USA and across Africa bring together
industry leaders to shape Africa’s tourism agenda and to stay
up-to-date on Africa’s latest tourism trends, issues and
products. For more information about ATA, visit http://www.africatravelassociation.org.
Tel: +1.212.447.1357
THE AFRICA TRAVEL ASSOCIATION (ATA) ANNOUNCES NEW INTERNATIONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS
NEW YORK, NY, April 6, 2015 – The Africa Travel
Association (ATA) announced the election of its new International
Board of Directors and International Advisory Council. The
International Advisory Council was elected during ATA's 39th Annual
World Congress in Kampala, Uganda and subsequently elected the new
International Board of Directors.
ATA President
Chair of the Executive Board
The ATA community continues to grow!
Have a look at who has joined and renewed in 2015.
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