Bringing together airports, airlines, tourism authorities, governments and industry suppliers, AviaDev offers attendees the ability to pre-arrange meetings in professional surroundings, offering the opportunity to hold high-level discussions with a wide range of current and prospective partners in an extremely time-efficient manner.
IATA has identified that the top ten fastest growing aviation economies over the next 20 years will all be in Africa and AviaDev aims to facilitate this growth through its world-class conference programme, meeting system and unrivalled networking opportunities.
The principal conversations at the event will take place between the top management of airports and of airlines. The airports (and the destinations they serve) are seeking to attract new routes, as that is beneficial to the wider economy. Airlines are evaluating which destinations it will be most profitable to add to their network. As the destinations are effectively promoting themselves to the carriers, the destinations will man exhibition stands at which they will host pre-scheduled discussions with different airline executives. There will also be space for industry suppliers to exhibit.
Dikko Nwachukwu, founder and CEO, JetWest Airways (FlyjetWest), said of the event: “AviaDev is the most progressive aviation conference in Africa. It is the present and definitely the future standard for African Aviation.”
A major factor behind the move to Cape Town has been the sponsorship of the Cape Town Air Access Initiative. The initiative has made aviation route development a strategic priority in its own efforts to promote the region as a destination to visit and to conduct business. In the past year, Cape Town has gained ten new routes and seen expansion of an additional 11 routes, resulting in a 25% increase in international passenger numbers for 2017.
Alan Winde, minister of economic opportunities, Western Cape Government, welcomed the hosting of the conference in Cape Town, due to the strategic importance of its agenda: “Boosting connectivity between African destinations is good for business and good for tourism, both of which create jobs for residents.
“The tourism sector in the Western Cape is already a large-scale employer, with massive potential for growth. We believe that growing connectivity with the rest of Africa will help us unlock that potential.”
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), Cape Town earns over $2 billion per annum in inbound tourism expenditure and it forecasts healthy economic growth – in excess of 6% per annum throughout the coming decade. Over that period, it predicts that the city’s travel and tourism industry will sustain a substantial increase in employment, with the number of tourism-related jobs rising from around 160,000 in 2016, 10.8% of the city’s workforce, to over 230,000 by 2026, 13.2% of the city’s workforce.
AviaDev will take place at the Southern Sun Cape Sun Hotel from 12-14 June 2018. In parallel, Bench Events will also run a regional AHIF briefing, which will attract the hotel investment community, who will be keen to join discussions about which African destinations will be highest priority for more aviation traffic.
For more, go to www.AviationDevelop.com, #AdvancingAfricasConnectivity.
