Accra Weizo seeks to unite West Africa tourism

Accra, the capital city of Ghana will come alive in a few days time as this west African metropoloe prepares to play host to a historic gathering of tourism operators – public and private – with t

Accra, the capital city of Ghana will come alive in a few days time as this west African metropoloe prepares to play host to a historic gathering of tourism operators – public and private – with the debutant Accra Weizo scheduled for July 3.

Weizo is an event put together by the organizers of Akwaaba; African Market, Lagos-the only International Travel Fair in West Africa recognized by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and Abuja Bantaba, Abuja-Nigeria.

The Venue: La Palm Royal Beach Hotel. The one – day travel event is a combination of exhibition and talks on various tourism related topics with experienced speakers and renowned travel operators from Africa and across the world.

The event will end with a dinner and travel awards ceremony.

According to the organizer, Mr. Ikechi Uko, the debuting travel expo and talk show is inspired by the dream of the former director general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority during the 2012 Abuja Bantaba where he spoke of the need for West Africa travel to unite and work towards a seamless travel industry.

His vision was to create a travel hub on the African west coast. A vision, which is also in consonance with the dreams of the founding fathers of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) since 1975.

“With the theme Seamless Trave in West Africa, Weizo is targeted at the founding vision of ECOWAS to create a region of one people integrating and growing together. It is coming as ECOWAS celebrates 40 years of existence,’’ said Uko.

“The vision of a seamless travel experience is the main focus of the one day travel event, seeks to bring travel professionals together to share knowledge and work out a future path of success for the region”, he added.

Accra Weizo will bring together over 150 major players in travel and tourism in West Africa and will also honour 20 outstanding travel personalities for their roles in building trade across the sub-region.

It will also feature an exhibition of travel products.

The event is to be hosted by the Honourable Minister of Tourism and Creative Arts, Ghana, Mrs. Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare and is in conjunction with the Ghana Ministry of Tourism, backed by Ghana Travel Federation (GHATOF), Tour Operators Union (TOUGHA), National Association of Nigerian Travel Agents (NANTA), Nigeria Association of Tour Operators (NATOP), Internationa Air Transport Association (IATA) and Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).

It will feature private tours to Accra, Kumasi and Cape-Coast on the second and third days.

One of the major features of the event is the showcasing of Carnival Calabar. The audience will be in for a treat with a live performance of the carnival, which over the years has earned the strips of the largest street party in Africa.

The governor of Cross River State, one of the states in Nigeria, which is the host of the carnival is scheduled to chair the one – day event and he is expected to come with a powerful team from the state.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

Share to...