Africa is seeing a significant growth in international air travellers – arrivals were up 10.3% between September 2016 and January this year. Europe remained the leading source market with a 47.3% share, while Asia Pacific was the fastest growing, up 21.7%.

The encouraging figures for the continent's economy are released today by ForwardKeys, which monitors future travel patterns by analysing 16 million flight reservation transactions each day.

The data comes ahead of the influential Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) which will again run alongside AviaDev Africa in Kigali, Rwanda on October 10 to 12. Organised by Bench Events it brings together leading executives and investors from the worlds of aviation and hotels, alongside top government officials and politicians.

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Wolfgang Neumann, President & CEO, The Rezidor Hotel Group, said: "We have been making strategic investments in Africa in line with our accelerated growth strategy for our most important emerging market. This exceptionally positive report is most affirming and if the air traffic growth is sustained, further investment in hotel development will surely flow."

Eight out of the top ten Africa destinations saw good year-end performance; some were rebounding from the impact of the Ebola crisis; wildlife destinations have been regaining their popularity, and Egypt and Tunisia recovered from safety and security concerns. Morocco's strong performance was partly due to the visa waiver for Chinese tourists beginning in June 2016. Mauritius island beach retreat continued to attract international visitors.

There were set-backs, however, for Ethiopia and Nigeria, both seeing a fall in intra-Africa international visitors. Ethiopia also saw fewer tourists from Northern Europe and the Middle East compared to the same period last year.

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All the top 15 origin countries for Africa destinations contributed to the overall increase. But African markets – South Africa and Kenya – lagged behind the other long-haul origin countries in terms of growth. China's outstanding 35.9% growth can partly be accounted for by the timing of the Chinese New Year.

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Looking to the immediate future, the good news continues for Africa. Forward bookings for international arrivals, February to July, are 17.3% ahead of last year. Egypt is leading the top ten field on 48.5%. Advance bookings for the Easter holidays are particularly well advanced.

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Europe and the Americas are leading the surge in forward bookings to Africa partly because of Easter holiday bookings. Brazil has also skyrocketed – 148% - as it emerges from economic gloom. China is behind on last year because of the shift in Chinese New Year celebrations.

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Focusing on the East African Community (EAC) – Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania – arrivals were up 16.4% from September 2016 to January this year. The top ten origin countries all sustained their places from earlier in the year, including African markets which also saw growth, Kenya up 6.4% and Uganda 11.7%.

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The future is also looking good for the EAC, with forward bookings from February to July for the region currently running 16.5% ahead of the equivalent period last year.

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ForwardKeys says long-haul connectivity could be improved for all EAC key airports – Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta is the only one with connections beyond Europe and the Middle East. And Kigali is the only one to see double-digit growth in international capacity for both long-haul and intra-Africa routes.

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"These numbers give cause for genuine optimism", John Mirenge, the Chief Executive Officer of RwandAir said. "If the growth is sustained throughout the year and beyond, it will be good for our fast growing airline. Considering this growth and other facets of the aviation industry in Africa, very productive discussions are expected from AviaDev Africa summit in October this year, with all parties interested to explore the opening of new routes."

About the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF)
AHIF is the premier hotel investment conference in Africa, attracting many prominent international hotel owners, investors, financiers, management companies and their advisers. It is organised by Bench Events (www.benchevents.com), which is known for producing, alongside Questex Travel + Hospitality and MEED Events, several other top-level hotel conferences around the world including Berlin (IHIF), Dubai (AHIC), Istanbul (CATHIC) and Moscow (RHIC).
Sponsors of AHIF Rwanda are: Host Partners: Rwanda Development Board; Platinum Sponsors: Hilton Worldwide, Marriott international and The Rezidor Hotel Group; Gold Sponsors: AccorHotels, Best Western; Grant Thornton; Horwath HTL, Hotel partners Africa, Kempinski, Movenpick; STR Global, Swiss Education Group and Wyndham Worldwide.

About Bench Events
Global event organiser Bench Events has a long track record of delivering multiple premium hotel investment conferences and forums across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Market leading annual conferences include the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) in Dubai, now in its 13th year, the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) the new Asia Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference (AHTIC), The Summit in London and the Latin American Hotel & Tourism Investment Conferences (SAHIC). Bench Events' extensive portfolio also includes the Global Restaurant Investment Forum (GRIF) in Dubai and AviaDev, designed to promote the future air connectivity in Africa.
Bench Events' mission is enabling prosperity by facilitating growth, networking, and thought leadership in the hospitality industry worldwide.
www.benchevents.com

About ForwardKeys
ForwardKeys predicts future travel patterns by crunching and analysing 16m booking transactions a day. It is used by travel marketers, retailers, hotels, destination marketing organisations (DMOs), financial institutions, car rental companies, tour operators, online travel agents (OTAs), and other traveller-focussed businesses worldwide to monitor and anticipate traveller arrivals and stay ahead of the trends from a particular origin market at a specific time. The analysis enables them to anticipate the impact of events, better manage their staffing levels, fine tune supply requirements, adjust and measure the effectiveness of their marketing efforts and predict future market trends. ForwardKeys' data is retrieved daily from all the major global reservation systems worldwide.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: Sophie Luis, [email protected], +44 (0) 20 7112 8556 or David Tarsh +44 (0) 20 7602 5262, [email protected].

About The Bench

The Bench is a leading organiser behind some of the most influential investment event brands across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. The company is renowned for guiding businesses towards investments, connections and insights that shape the future of their industries. Known for crafting events with significant economic impact since 1996, The Bench's event participants include government leaders, tourism ministries, global travel and tourism associations, leading hospitality brands, hotel owners and investors, top restaurant groups, airlines and aviation authorities, destination developers, asset managers, financial groups, and consultants. These stakeholders participate to achieve their specific goals, leveraging platforms such as AHIC, now known as FHS World, FHS Saudi Arabia, AHIF, IDEEA, and AviaDev. The Bench's events serve as pivotal venues for industry leaders to exhibit their brands, establish themselves as thought leaders or innovators, and forge connections with valuable opportunities and insights.

Learn more on thebench.com

About FHS Saudi Arabia

Dates: 29 April – 1 May 2024

Location: Mandarin Oriental Al Faisaliah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Sponsors: Mandarin Oriental Al Faisaliah, Riyadh and Al Khozama Management Holdings as Host Sponsors; Ministry of Tourism Saudi Arabia as Strategic Partner; Taiba Investments as Founding Partner; Tourism Development Fund as Enablement Partner; Baheej, Boutique Group, Hilton, Kerten Hospitality, KAFD, NEOM, Radisson Hotel Group, Red Sea Global, Rua Al Madinah Holding and Saudi Icon Company as Platinum Sponsors; Saudi Tourism Investment Company (ASFAR), Accor, Club Med, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Jabal Omar Development Company, Marriott International, Millennium Hotels and Resorts and Rotana as Emerald Sponsors; Aleph Hospitality; ARC, Al Futtaim Engineering & Technologies, Bits Arabia, CBRE, Colliers; Compass Project Consulting, Dan Company, DAR Engineering, Daniel Ost, Domus Managed Housing, ELAF, IHCL, Insignia, JLL, JT & Partners, Kohler, Knight Frank, LEVA, Louvre Hotels Group, Minor Hotels, QUO, Rove Hotels, Shaza Hotels, Tashyid Urban Development, The Ascott Limited, Valor Hospitality Partners, Whitewater and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts as Gold Sponsors; Conran Design Group, H World International, HVS, HMH Hospitality Management Holding, Keane, STR, TV5 Monde, Time Hotels, Voltere by egis and Wisefields as Silver Sponsors; Restroworks and TGP International as GRIF Platinum Sponsors; Soho Hospitality as GRIF Gold Sponsor; Forsite Creative as GRIF Data Partner; Livit as GRIF Culinary & Concept Tour Partner; Melitta Professional as GRIF Coffee Sponsor, and HAMA, Sustainable Hospitality Alliance and UN Tourism as Supporters.

David Tarsh
+44 (0) 20 7602 5262
The Bench

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