Taking place Sunday 20 and Monday 21 September, the Strategy Summit was very well attended and approached the key issues impacting the industry today.
Highlights from day one of the Summit included the Keynote Address from Angela Gittens, Director General, ACI World who explained that the biggest issues for airports are around infrastructure and the demand for air services is growing pretty much everywhere in the world. All points are seeing an increase in traffic. At the same time, airports are becoming competitive because airlines can go shopping now and they are driving hard bargains.
Also a hot topic of conversation throughout the duration of the event was the on stage interview between our Head of Content & Industry Relations, Michael Miller and Nico, CEO of Mango and former acting CEO of South African Airways. Bezuidenhout discussed the company’s origins, its business model, ticket distribution, competition from the bus industry, licencing issues, airport operating times and much more. If you missed it, you can watch the full interview below.
Day two of the Summit was equally as engaging with a Keynote Address delivered by David Scowsill, President and CEO, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). He explained that Africa is set to develop the world’s fastest growing Travel & Tourism market over the next 10 years, alongside Asia-Pacific, according to the WTTC.
"The economic potential of tourism in Africa is remarkable but for this to materialise it is critical that individual nations strengthen their unique branding positions to help fulfil the forecasted growth."
David Scowsill, President and CEO, World Travel & Tourism Council
South Africa's Minister of Tourism, Derek Hanekom, also delivered a Keynote Speech during the summit, highlighting the strong potential for aviation development across the Continent and urged nations to come together to support the African agenda for sustainable growth, which will be achieved partly through improved air connectivity.
"Africa offers a huge potential for the world’s airlines due to its current limited connectivity, but for a long time restrictive legislation and protectionism have restricted it from developing to meet demand. South Africa is one country that has embraced aviation and opened it home domestic market to private entities, although it has retained more control over international access in and out of the country in support of its national entity, South African Airways (SAA)."
In addition key topics covered in the panel discussions throughout the summit included The Changing Business of Airports, Airline Challenges and Growth Concerns, the State of the Industry and New Trends in Travel Technology.
Keep checking back for more stories and numerous videos from the panel sessions which will appear over the coming weeks.
A number of the presentations, including the Keynote Speeches delivered at this year’s World Routes Strategy Summit can be downloaded from our library.
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