The African Association of Visitor Experiences and Attractions (AAVEA) is pleased to announce its new partnership with South African Tourism (SAT), the marketing agency for the Department of Tourism.

SA Tourism will partner with the association for the organisation of its popular annual conference, which will be presented in a new virtual format this year, on 20 August 2020. The partnership, which has been two years in the making, will see AAVEA providing insight and access to members Welcome Training, SA Specialist, Hostings, Lilizela Tourism Awards programme as well SAT’s campaigns and more.

Sabine Lehmann, President of AAVEA, is thrilled with this collaboration:

“Having SA Tourism as a key tourism partner is an amazing honour. In the present COVID-19 related climate with international tourism recovery expected to be slow, domestic tourism will play a more important role that ever as our locals seek to connect with family, friends and social spaces. We believe strongly that we as AAVEA will play a role in this and the partnership with SA Tourism will help to focus our attractions’ and experiences contribution to this recovery”, said Lehmann. 

Sisa Ntshona, CEO of South African Tourism concurs:

“South African Tourism is proud to be partnering with AAVEA, especially for their upcoming annual conference. Visitor experience plays a crucial role in the tourism value chain and it will play an even bigger role in the post COVID-19 environment. The virtual format that the conference is taking this year is incredibly exciting because it ensures that we are still able to connect and share insights which will contribute positively towards the recovery of our industry,” said Ntshona. 

Go virtual with the 2020 AAVEA conference: 

Taking into account the effects of COVID-19 and the impact it has on gatherings going forward, AAVEA has taken the decision to scale down its normal two-day in person conference to a one-day virtual meeting.  All of the elements that have made this conference a success in the past will still be available to registered participants, including inspiring presentations from international attractions professionals, panel discussions with local attractions managers, breakaway groups for practical idea sharing, and networking with friends and colleagues.

“We think it is important to regroup and reconnect, now more than ever. We have always prided ourselves on bringing the attractions industry together through education, best practice, and practical ways of creating worthwhile visitor experiences and we look forward to doing all of that in a new format. We’ll see you all online in August!”, said Lehmann.

Registration for the new-format AAVEA conference is now open. For more information about the conference and South African Tourism, please visit www.aavea.org.za