Investour 2014 to Foster Tourism Cooperation between Africa and Spain

The Tourism Business and Investment Forum for Africa, Investour, will stage its fifth event next 23 January within the framework of FITUR, offering African, Spanish and Portuguese bodies and businessmen a unique opportunity to collaborate on tourism initiatives involving investment in hotel infrastructures, the exchange of technological know-how, training and the implementation of sustainable projects.

Investour, which will be staging its fifth event, has established itself as a key annual platform for dialogue, with a view to promoting the international expansion of Spanish companies and, this year, Portuguese companies as well, based on the presentation of more than one hundred projects in Africa that are searching for investors and partners.

The Tourism Business and Investment Forum for Africa provides a unique opportunity for direct contact with project heads in more than thirty African countries, not to mention tourism ministers from the region. One of the main new developments at this fifth staging of the Forum, which is organized by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), FITUR and Casa Africa, consists of the participation of Portuguese companies on this occasion.

This year the projects will focus on the following aspects: the development of sustainable and eco-friendly projects in locations such as Ethiopia, Rwanda, the Ivory Coast and Kenya; and the creation or renewal of hotel infrastructures in Algeria, Cameroon, New Guinea, Niger and the Seychelles. Delegations from Morocco, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe have also confirmed their attendance at the Forum, with a view to attracting investment and partners for a number of sizeable projects.

The Tourism Business and Investment Forum for Africa will feature two sessions. In the morning, two roundtables will take place in order to address various key questions relating to the promotion and development of tourism in Africa. One roundtable will focus on air connections and the processing of visas. The other will tackle the development of hotel infrastructures throughout the continent. In the afternoon session, a business meeting (B2B) will be organized between representatives of African projects and Spanish and Portuguese companies, based on a closed diary of appointments for all participants.

Investour effectively provides an ideal setting for tourist companies that seek to internationalize their operations by exploring the extensive range of tourism opportunities available on the African Continent. Between 2010 and 2013, more than 550 African projects from 45 different countries were presented at Investour. Some 180 Spanish companies took part at the Forum and a total of 831 participants attended the activities.

Furthermore, the Forum is backed by the most important regional organizations in Africa and the event is attended by some 15 African Tourism Ministers, as well as the most representative Spanish business organizations, such as the Foreign Trade Institute (ICEX), the Confederation of Spanish Industry (CEOE) and the Madrid Chamber of Commerce.