•As Akwaaba becomes member of ITTFAATQ magazine Naija 7 hots up

Friday, 23 July 2010

The first round of  seven wonders of Nigeria, an initiative of the African Travel Quarterly Magazine (ATQ) and Akwaaba African Travel Market (AFTM) aimed at producing national icons and tourism identification for Nigeria’s tourism industry,   including;  sites, destinations, monuments and structures, among other potentials, has been given the nod to commence its second stage by members of the public.

The expedition, which has been getting domestic and international response, with commendations for the organisers for their  frantic efforts at setting the project in motion, would not only bestow on Nigeria a significant tourism pride, but  also redirect investors and tourists traffic to the sites.

According to the initiator and coordinator, Mr. Ikechi Uko, “we have successfully completed the first stage without any itch and this could be credited to the manner in which we coordinated the submission of entries.

“We made it compulsory that the public interest is protected by allowing people to send in entries, which were submitted through the internet with the names and locations of the senders. However with the encouraging feedback, the Naija7 team was able to collate and present the list of 55 nominees for the next stage.”

Already, the expedition team, which includes local and international tourism and travel writers and photo journalists from the print and electronic media, are expected to embark on a tour of Nigeria as soon as the 21 sites are shortlisted for the second round by the team of experts.

Also, few months to the Nigerian brand of international tourism and travel market and exhibition show, Akwaaba African Travel Market (AfTM), the International Tourism Trade Fairs Association (ITTFA), has admitted the former as one of its global members, following the progress which the AfTM has achieved in the last five editions.

ITTFA is an international association dedicated to the continual development of the travel trade show industry, with increasing participation, and setting high standards across Europe and worldwide. 

Recent changes to entry requirements and the annual fee structure mean that membership is more accessible to smaller and developing shows, as well as the more established ones.  This underlines one of the primary goals of the association as it strives to improve travel trade exhibition standards across all markets and helps maximising the benefits for both visitors and exhibitors

However, apart from this latest development, the yearly tourism and travel show has also been listed in the calendar of events of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), as a regional market for Africa. The Africa Travel Association (ATA), based in New York, has also signed Akwaaba as its partner event in Africa, while the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) has also adopted it as the official travel exhibition in Nigeria.  

This year’s edition of the AfTM has been scheduled for October 23 to 25, 2010 with expected attendance from over 20 countries, including 12 foreign airlines and leading African hotel chains.

Speaking on the admittance of Akwaaba into the ITTFA, the Chairman of Reed Travel Exhibitions, organisers of The World Travel Market(WTM), Mr. Tom Nutley, who was one time chairman of ITTFA, said “Growth markets are an integral part of the future development and success of travel exhibitions and I am delighted that we have this opportunity to build stronger relationships with West Africa.

“These new growth markets are balanced by the traditional, strong European markets in which we have some excellent tourism trade shows.  Encouraging new and improved relationships in the international tourism trade fair industry is a key objective for the association, which will further enable all of our members to maximise the tremendous opportunities worldwide”.

Also, the Director of the ITTFA Secretariat, Wendy Walker, commented on the appointment: “We are pleased to welcome Akwaaba to the association.   Forging stronger relationships with shows in markets such as Africa is a key objective for the association and will further enable all our members to maximise the tremendous opportunities worldwide”.

Reciprocating the gesture, the initiator of Akwaaba, Mr. Ikechi Uko said. “This membership offers us an opportunity to network, learn and operate amongst other international marketing shows.

“It offers us the opportunity to provide our audience with the combined experience of our peers in the association thus bringing to the shores of West Africa global best practices in the exhibition business. Membership of this elite group will further position the AfTM as an international event that takes place in Africa, integrating the African travel practitioners into the global community.”

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