AEF

 

Tourism in Africa: A Viable Revenue Source

Governments in Africa are showing increasing interest in tourism as a source of growth and diversification. Recent trends indicate that tourism in Africa can effectively contribute to economic development. This is due to:

While tourism is mainly a private sector activity, it also serves as cross sector activity with many impacts. Private sector led growth may only occur if Africa’s governments, private investors, tour operators, civil society, NGOs, and local communities work to together to form a progressive alliance. This panel will explore the evolution of the African tourism market, along with the opportunities and challenges that are faced.

Edward Bergman, Africa Travel Association, Executive Director

Rumit Mehta, Safari Ventures, Director of Business Development
Davis Sadike, Gauteng Tourism Authority (GTA) & Gauteng Film Commission (GTC), Director 
Besa Vormatu-Dzelumadzekpo, WEDO, Graduate Fellow, Sustainable Development and Climate Change

Moderator: Dr. Chika Onyeani, African Sun Times, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief

Edward Bergman

Africa Travel Association, Executive Director

Edward Bergman is the Executive Director of the New York-headquartered Africa Travel Association (ATA), the premier travel industry trade association promoting tourism to the African continent and intra-Africa travel and partnership since 1975.

He also co-founded and volunteers as Executive Director of Miracle Corners of the World (MCW), a non-profit organization devoted to empowering youth, primarily through programs of leadership training, community center and housing development, and healthcare outreach, with a special focus on Africa.

Edward is Founder and President of Innovative Development Services Inc. (IDS), a full-service consulting company serving international clients in New York and around the world who work to effect social change.

He is a part-time faculty member in the Department of Tourism and Hospitality at City University of New York / Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn. He also lectures on Social Entrepreneurship at Stony Brook University Health Sciences Center.

Edward received his Masters from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study with a major in Social Entrepreneurship and his Bachelors in Hotel and Tourism Management from NYU’s Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management, where he was a Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholar.

He serves on the board of directors of several international organizations in the non-profit, education and travel and trade sectors, including Shared Interest and the Synergos Institute. He also serves on the advisory boards of the International Crisis Group, the NYU Africa House, the NYU SCPS Center for Global Studies, the NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Studies, and the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service Reynolds Foundation Program in Social Entrepreneurship graduate scholars selection committee. Eddie recently joined the board of the Rubin Museum of Art.

Edward has received several humanitarian awards for his work.

Rumit Mehta

Safari Ventures, Director of Business Development

Rumit Mehta was born in Kenya, raised in Tanzania and currently resides in New York City. With his experience in areas of economic development, Rumit plays a pivotal role in assisting academic institutions and professional student clubs in planning travel abroad programs and is currently involved with several corporate and academic institutions such as the Harvard Business School, Yale School of Management, Babson College and Pace University. His knowledge of the local language and connections further reinforces his background. Rumit also founded Wayfare Africa- a full operations ground handler in Tanzania and Wayfare India- an outbound travel company specifically geared to travel to India, Bhutan and Nepal.

Davis Sadike

Gauteng Tourism Authority (GTA) & Gauteng Film Commission (GTC), Director 

Mr. Sadike was born in Polokwane, Limpopo Province in the Republic of South Africa. He received his B.A in Education, BEd from the University of Limpopo and Diploma in Marketing Management, an Advanced Diploma in Project Management from the University of South Africa – UNISA, and a Masters in Development Studies from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.

At the start of his professional career, Mr. Sadike worked as a high school teacher in South Africa and was then appointed as a lecturer at a College of Education (teacher training institution). His first 10 years of work experience were in the Academic field.

His involvement in the tourism industry started in 2001, where he was employed as a Project Manager at the National Development Agency (NDA), a grant making national development institution which focuses on addressing the challenges faced by poor communities in the area of economic and social development. The NDA provided grants and capacity building programmes to eradicate poverty in the small town and rural villages. The Programmes and Projects Mr. Sadike focused on were in the areas of Tourism Development; Small Scale Mining and Agriculture. After three years he was promoted to the Programme Manager position focusing on Research and Policy Development.

He then moved to the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), a financial development institution, working as an Account Manager. His division at the IDC focused on the capacity building of municipalities to establish Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) by which to unlock economic opportunities in South Africa. These economic opportunities ranged from Infrastructure Investment through Public Private Partnerships, Equity Investment and Black Economic Empowerment. Projects involved were in the area of commercialization of Game Reserves, building of hotels and lodges, tourism route developments and the funding of diverse tourism ventures.

After his tenure at IDC, Mr. Sadike joined the Gauteng Department of Economic Development as Director for Gauteng Tourism Authority (GTA).The Global City Region of Gauteng located in Johannesburg is the smallest province in South Africa; but serves as the financial and economic power house of the South Africa and the region. The GTA is currently tasked with a mandate to co-ordinate tourism and logistical preparations for the upcoming FIFA 2010 World Cup to be held in South Africa.

Besa Vormatu-Dzelumadzekpo
WEDO, Graduate Fellow, Sustainable Development and Climate Change

Besa Vormatu-DzelumadzekpoFrom a waiter in a 5-star hotel to Conservation International, Besa Vormatu-Dzelumadzekpo has over 15 years sustainable development, conservation, ecotourism, and heritage tourism development experience. Besa was involved in the Natural Resource Conservation and Historic Preservation Project in Ghana which led to the creation of Kakum National Park with its acclaimed only Canopy Walkway in Africa, and the restoration of historic sites and monuments such as slave forts and castles including Cape Coast Castle (1653) and Elmina Castle (1482) funded by USAID. He was also involved in the Cultural Rehabilitation Program in Cape Coast, which led to the restoration and adaptive re-use of architecturally aesthetic and historically significant buildings of Cape Coast under the United States Chapter of the International Council and Monuments and Cites (US/ICOMOS).

Besa has a B. Ed., an M. Phil in Tourism and is expecting an M.A. in Sustainable International Development at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. Besa has taken professional training programs in the United States, Guatemala and Israel. He is currently a Graduate Fellow in Sustainable Development and Climate Change at the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) in New York and a professional member of The International Ecotourism Society (TIES).

Dr. Chika Onyeani

African Sun Times, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief

Chika Onyeani is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Africa’s No.1 newspaper in America, the African Sun Times, the only African newspaper on newsstands in the U.S., and which has been acclaimed by the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union) as “the champion of the African agenda in America.” He is the host of  "StraightTalk with Chika Onyeani on the AllAfricaRadio," on WPAT930 AM in New York, and streamed on the internet on www.wpat930am.com.

A former diplomat, Dr. Onyeani is the author of the internationally acclaimed No.1 bestselling book, “Capitalist Nigger: The Road to Success – A Spider Web Doctrine,” which stayed on the No.1 bestseller list for 7 months (in Africa), as well as a blockbuster novel, “The Broederbond Conspiracy. The first of Onyeani’s African Folk Tales series, “Odum The Lion,” will be published in March, 2009.

Onyeani has received more than 65 awards, including twice being appointed “Goodwill Ambassador” for the State of Tennessee. One of the greatest honors accorded Dr. Onyeani was as a recipient of the February 22, 2004 Black Heritage Humanitarian Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), New York. In May, 2008, during its 33rd Congress in Tanzania, Onyeani received Africa Travel Association’s “Outstanding Achievement in the Promotion of Responsible Tourism to the Continent” award.

Dr. Onyeani, who has been interviewed on more than 200 radio stations across the country, has also appeared on NBC-TV, ABC-TV, WOR-TV, CNN, Radio France International, and numerous times on Voice of America and the BBC, is recognized as the Dean of the African media in America, and was named by the New York Times as a “Fellow of the New York Times Institute of Journalists.” He has been profiled in more than 100 newspapers and magazines.