Free Buyer Access Opens for New African Tourism Trade Showcase

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA, 17 August 2026 – Travel buyers looking for new African tourism products will have another way to meet suppliers from 24 August, when Around Africa | The Impact Imbizo begins its first virtual tourism trade showcase.

Free buyer registration is now open for the event, which will run from 24 August to 25 September 2026 and bring together 75 exhibitors representing more than 290 tourism products and experiences from across Africa.

Around Africa is designed as an online tourism trade platform where travel designers, tour operators, travel agents and other approved buyers can browse participating tourism businesses and arrange direct 20-minute video meetings with suppliers that are relevant to their clients and markets.

Unlike a traditional online conference, buyers are not expected to remain logged in for a full day or attend a continuous programme of presentations. Instead, they can select the dates and times that suit their schedules, choose which suppliers they want to meet and return during another activation if they want to continue exploring the showroom.

The 2026 showcase will operate across four Global Pop-Up weeks from 24 to 28 August, 31 August to 4 September, 14 to 18 September and 21 to 25 September.

For buyers unfamiliar with the businesses represented, the platform provides a searchable starting point for discovering accommodation, experiences, destination specialists and other tourism products across Africa. The current exhibitor mix includes established names such as Asilia Africa, ENVI Lodges and Hemingways Collection alongside independent lodges, owner-led hotels and smaller tourism businesses.

Some of the products joining the showroom include Ubucuti Luxury Boutique Hotel & Gorilla Lodge in Rwanda, Cape Town-based Nansi Rail, guided tidal pool and wild swimming operator Tide & Seek, and Zomerlust Boutique Hotel in Paarl.

According to Around Africa, more than 70% of the first exhibitors to join had not participated in an in-person or virtual tourism trade event this year. For buyers, this creates an opportunity to encounter suppliers that may not have been visible at the trade events they have already attended during 2026.

The platform is also introducing Gogo, a virtual assistant intended to help users search the showroom and identify tourism businesses, destinations and products that match their interests. Buyers can use the platform to narrow down relevant suppliers before requesting one-to-one meetings.

The format has been developed around the practical constraints of tourism businesses and travel buyers who may already have busy trade calendars. A buyer can join for one 20-minute meeting, schedule several conversations during one activation, or return during a later week without being expected to participate throughout the full event period.

Around Africa was developed by co-founders Rudi Wagenaar and Thabang Rapotu following earlier virtual tourism collaboration initiatives. A 2025 webinar series attracted more than 700 buyers from around the world, helping shape the expanded 2026 format around direct meetings, searchable supplier profiles and greater flexibility.

The organisers have positioned the new platform as an additional route for trade engagement rather than a replacement for physical tourism shows. Its purpose is to give buyers another way to find African tourism suppliers while giving businesses that may not regularly attend major international trade events another opportunity to enter the trade conversation.

South African DMCs may participate as buyers but are not accepted as exhibitors. Around Africa says this distinction is intended to keep exhibition space focused on tourism products while recognising DMCs as trade partners responsible for packaging, distributing and selling those products.

Buyer participation is complimentary and subject to approval, with registration currently open ahead of the first meetings on 24 August.