Trade shows are the most concentrated opportunity in the tourism calendar to see a large number of the right people in a short period of time. WTM London in November, Experience Africa in the spring, INDABA in May, ITB Berlin in March — each event brings together the UK and European buyers who determine which African properties receive bookings and which remain unknown.
The difference between a productive trade show and an expensive exercise in brochure distribution comes down almost entirely to preparation and pre-existing relationships. Kusa Connect attends these events with full meeting diaries on behalf of our partner properties.
World Travel Market London
WTM London is the single most important travel trade event for African tourism businesses targeting the UK market. Over 46,000 travel professionals attend across four days at ExCeL in London's Docklands each November. The Africa section is competitive — national tourism boards, major hotel groups, DMCs and dozens of individual lodges all compete for the attention of the same buyers.
The operators that matter — Audley Travel, Scott Dunn, Abercrombie & Kent, Carrier, Kuoni, Trailfinders — attend with pre-planned meeting schedules. If your property is not already in their diary before the show opens, meaningful contact on the floor is difficult. Kusa Connect ensures your property is in the right diaries before the show week begins.
Experience Africa
Experience Africa is the UK's dedicated African tourism B2B event — a focused, pre-scheduled meetings format that brings together African properties and carefully selected UK buyers. As a specialist Africa event, the quality of buyer attendance is exceptionally high. Kusa Connect actively participates in Experience Africa on behalf of partner properties.
INDABA
Africa's Travel Indaba, held annually in Durban, is Africa's leading inbound travel trade show. While the primary audience is international buyers rather than UK-based trade, INDABA provides invaluable opportunities to meet with UK operators attending from London, strengthen direct relationships with African DMCs and ground operators, and stay current with the competitive landscape.
Our trade show approach
- Pre-show diary building — securing meetings with priority operators and media in advance
- Professional stand presence — representing your property with expertise and passion
- Intelligence gathering — understanding which operators are growing their Africa programmes and which properties are gaining traction
- Post-show follow-up — every meaningful conversation followed up within 48 hours with personalised communication
- Reporting — full written summary of meetings, feedback and commercial intelligence after every event
"WTM is the harvest, not the planting. The properties with full diaries on day one are those whose representatives were in front of operators every month in between."