The African sports tourism summit will hold on African day. The African Sports Tourism Week is a 4-day, 5-activity gathering of eggheads in the sports and tourism industry, where they cross-fertilise ideas between the sports and tourism industries, towards social-economic growth for Africa and her nations.
The summit is organised in media partnership with Supersports, The Afritraveller and in technical partnership with African League of Sports Tourism Stakeholders and managed by Heventin Corporate Event Managers.
The summit takes advantage of opportunities provided by sporting events, monuments and collections through active sports tourism, event sports tourism and nostalgia sports tourism. It takes advantage of events like the Nation’s Cup, which is hosted by different African nations – year after year.
Speaking on the rationale behind the event, Deji Ajomale-McWord, The CEO, African Sports Tourism Week said, “Nigeria ’99 was the biggest sporting event Nigeria ever had opportunity to host and it was next to a wasted chance, because the organising committee saw only sporting activity and not a prime slot to lure the world into wanderlusting after a Nigeria they could experience from every side, including her people and natural gems.â€
Responding to questions on The African Sports Tourism Summit, Deji revealed that the organisers were never deliberate about having the summit on the 25th of May, which is the day set aside to celebrate everything and everyone African, globally. “We had chosen the date before we realised it is the African Day. I guess that’s the spirit leading the way. And we are glad to have BBC Africa joining SuperSports and other media from both sports and tourism landscapes, in covering the event,†he said.
For FIFA World Cup, The Masters, Rugby World 7Series, The Olympics, Super Bowl or Roland Garos to hold; there must be a convergence of the sporting talents, their managers, coaches, doctors, therapists, officials and ultimately their fans. For convergence to happen, travel and services/products in its value chain must be part of the equation. This is proof that tourism is sport. Sport is tourism. But how well have these industries been working together, especially in Africa? This is why we have decided to initiate a platform for the fellowship of the two industries, in Africa.
The host city for the 2018 edition is Lagos. The date is the 23rd-26th of May, 2018. The event will be covered by SuperSports.
Activities of the week include:
1.    African Sports Tourism Summit – venue is Golfview Hotel & Suites – 25th of May
2.    Sports Travel Week Cup – a football competition between tour operators/travel agents and travel media – Venue is Meadow Hall, Lekki – now 27th of May
3.The Big 5 Tee, a golf kitty (tournament) – moved to Ikeja Golf Club - 24th of May
4. Sports Photography & Art ExhibitionÂ
5. Fam Trip – post-event
The event will also showcase more than a century old relics on sports in Nigeria.
The panel of discussants at the summit will be doing an evaluation, in retrospect, of the biggest international sporting events that have held on the continent – including Nigeria ’99 and South Africa 2010 – for future betterment.Â
They will also be dissecting payment acceptance infrastructure deficit and how it limits African nations from hosting the world, as much as they ought to.
The panelists include:
1.    Abimbola Ilo – CEO, Integral Sande ( Russia 2018 FIFA Hospitality Programme Exclusive Sales Agent)
2.    Shehu Dikko – FIFA Stakeholders Committee member, Chairman of Nigerian League Management Company
3.    Ikechi Uko – Founder, Akwaaba Travel Market – NigeriaÂ
4.    Seyi Akinwunmi – Lagos FA Chairman, 1st Vice President of NFF
5. Â Â Â Kamil Olufowobi – Former Vice President, MasterCard, West Africa OperationsÂ
6.    Kayode Tijani – Veteran Sports Journalist, Curator of Nigeria Sports Library – Nigeria
7.    Charity Githinji – CEO, Tandaza – Tanzania Â
8. Â Â Â Mozez Praiz of SuperSports
9.  Biola Kazeem – Sports Media & Marketing Professional – ModeratorÂ
For more information kindly visit:
Facebook – African Sports Tourism Week
Instagram – @afrisportstourismweek
Twitter – @afsportstourism
