Africa: Tourism Minister Attends ATA Presidential Tourism Forum

By Yunus S Saliu

Fatou Mass Jobe Njie

Fatou Mass Jobe-Njie, the minister of Tourism and Culture last Thursday attended the 7th Annual Africa Travel Association (ATA) Presidential Forum on Tourism held in New York University, USA.

The high-level event focused on the benefits of tourism, particularly in relation to the economy, environment, and people and issues that affect Africa’s ability to leverage opportunities presented by tourism. Among the top delegates to the forum were the president of the Republic of Benin, HE Dr. Boni Yayi; the vice president of the Republic of Uganda, HE Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi; and Walter Mzembi, the minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Republic of Zimbabwe and other top officials from UNWTO among them Edward Bergman, executive director, ATA.

The 7th Annual Africa Travel Association presidential Forum was held on the occasion of the UN General Assembly meetings and it was hosted and sponsored by NYU’s Africa House. The event offered African leaders the opportunity to deliberate about how tourism contributes to a country’s economic growth, tourism development priorities and current challenges, and how to raise the profile of tourism on Africa’s political agendas.

Since 2006 more than 18 African countries have participated in ATA’s highest profile event in the USA, attracting over 1400 participants, including representatives from the travel and tourism industry, the diplomatic community, NYU, the non-profit sector and media. – UN News

Posted by admin on Oct 18 2012. Filed under African News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry