2022 has certainly been a year when face-to-face live Travel Trade workshops are back in fashion. Houston Travel Marketing MD Derek Houston says, “Travel Trade have been hungry for interaction with African suppliers, hence the very enthusiastic attendance at our live Spotlight Workshops and TravelExpo’s this year”. “The success of our Spotlight Workshops boils down to the participation by the right mix of Exhibitors from all over Africa which in turn ensures all the key buyers from each city attend to negotiate & network with the exhibitors”. Derek’s continual interaction with the Tourism Industry from all over Africa for over 40 years, ensures that an “A” List of Sellers attend the Spotlight workshops. “Our first workshop in South Africa took place in 2000 and our first one Africa was in Nairobi in 2006.” Derek champions the free-flow workshop format over the fixed-time round-robin bell ringing format. “I believe the free-flow system allows the exhibitors more time to explain their products and for the buyers to negotiate rates and interact with exhibitors”.

HTMS have already announced the 2023 Spotlight Programme visiting 10 African cities namely Arusha, Gaborone, Harare, Windhoek, Maputo, Nairobi, Lusaka, Dar Es Salaam, Cape Town & Sandton.