The Africa Hub is the result of efforts driven by Africa representation company, Small World Marketing, and is designed as a “one-stop, impartial, authoritative resource for everyone selling Africa”, whether a specialist and generalist.
Partnering with experts for each destination and providing practical information such as fact files and maps, the site also contains a range of webinar presentations. It will launch with six countries (Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Madagascar), and hopes to have most of eastern and southern Africa live by the spring.
Small World Marketing said it had been hosting client webinars for more than 10 years but found even more of a trade following during 2020, building 2,000 new trade contacts, many of whom were not Africa specialists.
“It quickly became evident that there was demand for pan-African destination information and training, possibly due to the fundamentally different sales landscape arising from Covid – hence the idea for The Africa Hub was conceived,” said Anita Powell, founder and managing director of Small World Marketing and former chair of the African Travel & Tourism Association.
The hub carries no fee to access, but agents must register to use it. The Buzz area of the site hosts inspirational material such as blogs, Spotify playlists and podcasts, while The Hub area will be launched shortly to offer an online discussion forum.
In addition to country coverage, there will also be themed topics, such as Family Travel or Most Intrepid.
“The industry anticipates unprecedented demand for Africa when people are able to travel again, and The Africa Hub helps open up the opportunities of the whole incredible continent,” Powell added. “This is an initiative born out of crisis, but one that reflects how collaboration, knowledge-sharing and expertise is what will stand us strong on the other side as travel returns. It will be a unique and invaluable resource for the trade.”
