According to North American buyers and suppliers, meetings market confidence is on the rise and the outlook for the worldwide meetings, incentive travel and events industry appears brighter than at any time over the past year. The second IMEX America Index of Optimism poll of North American meetings industry buyers and suppliers found that optimism – and business levels – are higher than they have been for at least six months.  The survey was conducted amongst 190 North American respondents (43% of whom were buyers*) during March this year.

Tourism is one of the top three sources of export earnings for nearly half of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and is a priority sector for their further integration in the global economy. The contribution  of tourism in advancing development was addressed during a Special Event on Tourism for Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction organized by the recently created UN Steering Committee on Tourism for Development (SCTD), during a major UN conference on LDCs (Istanbul, Turkey).

INDABA 2011 has raised the bar in terms of digital innovation and industry creativity – proving again emphatically the ability of the South African tourism sector to continuously reinvent itself in line with global trends in destination marketing. Amongst the generous feedback from exhibitors this year, the digital competitiveness of this year’s INDABA stood out. PokenÔ technology, introduced to encourage efficient networking, facilitated more than 45 000 ‘pokes’, or exchanges of contact details, proving INDABA remains the foremost and most innovative networking function in the travel and tourism industry in Africa.

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is to establish a Rapid Recovery Task Force to address post-crisis recovery strategies in the face of natural, economic, or political upheaval across countries. At the PATA 60^th Anniversary and Conference in Beijing last month, Bill Calderwood, CEO, PATA, expressed his concern over the natural disasters and other catastrophic events that have recently struck various countries, and the challenges that they posed for the tourism industry.

As INDABA 2011, Africa’s biggest travel and tourism show, opened in Durban tonight, South Africa’s warm people and their extraordinary ability to enhance the domestic and international tourist experience took centre stage.With South Africa’s capability as a global mega event host and world-class business and tourism destination now firmly enhanced, the innate human connection of its citizens and tourism industry is now seen as a key factor to continue to appeal to the discerning international and domestic traveler.

The year’s most exceptional performers in the tourism industry were crowned at INDABA 2011 tonight at the 2011 Welcome Awards held at Durban’s Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre. Established in 2005, the awards recognise and promote service excellence and innovation in the local tourism industry and have grown considerably over the years, with a total of 2,924 entries received for the 2011 awards – compared to 1,406 entries last year.