Goway held the latest edition of its long-standing annual Africa & Middle East event Monday at the Chelsea Hotel in Toronto with approximately 125 travel advisors in attendance for a day of learning and networking, plus trade show featuring over two dozen supplier partners – “from Saudi Arabia to South Africa” – on hand as well.
On Tuesday, the sessions went online with more than 2,000 digital viewers tuning in; and today, the event moves south of the border to Atlanta to reflect Goway’s growing US business.
All together, Goway has been blown away by the response, the company’s VP for Africa & Asia Moria Smith told Travel Industry Today in Toronto.
In particular, the engagement of participants was particularly satisfying, she added, noting that a good mix of new agents seemed to bring out an added level of energy throughout the day.
Naturally, there were prizes to be won and attendees received a bonus of $100 on their GowayPro Rewards card for their first booking post event.
Smith noted that Africa is selling well this year, with South Africa and Kenya leading the way – the latter in particular for groups.
At the same time, she said, clients choosing custom guided tours is surging, ahead of more traditional “seat and coach” itineraries.
Off-the-beaten track destinations like Ghana and Madagascar are also drawing interest.
As for the Middle East, bookings have understandably decreased as Israel’s wars continue and threaten to escalate further, but that didn’t prevent destinations like Jordan turning out.
“There’s still some interest (in the destination) and they’re not giving up on tourism,” Smith noted, adding, not unlike during the pandemic, there’s still value in staying “top of mind” for when the regional hostilities ease.
Egypt, which Travel Industry Today visited recently on a Goway FAM, is also open for business and unaffected by the wars.
Saudi Arabia is another destination that is blossoming for tourism, with the oasis city of al-Alu notably presenting at the Goway event.
Smith noted that many of the sessions from the shows will migrate to the GowayPro learning centre to be available on demand.
“At Goway,” she declared, “we’re really trying to add value for agents.”
Among the suppliers taking part in the event were: African Bush Camps; An African Anthology; Arabian Adventures; ARP Africa Travel; Cynab Voyages; Desert & Delta Safaris; Drifers; Emeco, Egypt; Landtours Ghana; Lemala Camps & Lodges; Rovos Rail Tours; Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve; Sense of Africa, East Africa and Namibia; Shamwari Private Game Reserve; Sun International; The Bushcamp Company; Thompsons Africa; Turkish Airways; Victoria Falls Safari Lodge; Visit Jordan; Wild Frontiers; Wild Horizons; and Zambezi Queen Collection.
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