As WTM Africa kicked off in Cape Town, South Africa, the Africa Travel Week Trends report, released on the occasion, highlights the key trends that would drive the tourism industry across the continent.

As African tourism and travel industry seeks to regain traction after two disastrous years due to the pandemic, sustainability will the primary factor for the future, says a report released at WTL Africa, currently underway in Cape Town, South Africa.

The Africa Travel Week Trends Report, launched at WTM Africa 2022, has unveiled the 10 most important trends that will determine the future of the travel and tourism industry in Africa in a post-pandemic world. The top trend, as per the report, says that companies need to urgently abandon greenwashing and move to actually adopting sustainable practices and that they would need much greater transparency and more accountability.

In a surprisingly pleasant news, the report also highlights that the African cuisine is becoming increasingly popular not just within the continent, but across the globe, too. “African cuisine will take its place at the global table. Mouth-watering African cuisine speaks for itself, but the African tourism industry must do its part to prepare potential tourists for African gastronomy and to create excitement around it,” says the trends report.

The report also highlights that one of the main evolutions in the market for Africa is that the travellers are becoming more diverse in their origins and profiles. The report says that today’s tourists are people with needs beyond that of a nuclear couple or family, such as single women travelling alone or single-parent families.

Another key highlight of the report is that accessibility is key to tourism in the future as people with special abilities also begin to travel. It says that tourism environments and services will need to be designed with different access requirements in mind. The report tells the African travel trade that next big driver for tourism revival is that luxury is no longer about money, but more about time and wellness. ‘‘Travelling with purpose, meaningful experiences, bucket-list destinations and itineraries, and exclusive escapes such as in travel bubbles and remote locations away from the crowds, are the main luxury travel trends we will see in Africa,’’ says the report.

Interestingly, the report says that though the pandemic may be over, the ‘travel bubbles’ are here to stay with a marked increase in demand for multigenerational trips. ‘‘Africa is ideally positioned to tap into this exciting trend,’’ it adds.

Continuing with the theme of sustainability and ecological concerns, the report says the industry must move away from over-tourism to impact tourism. It says that restorative safaris that make a positive impact on conservation and communities will become more popular, as will intimate and authentic experiences. On similar lines it says that slow tourism is coming of age as people are taking longer trips with fewer stops.

Yet another major change in tourism is a hangover from the pandemic period, namely flexcation, bleisure and workcation. It says that across the globe, employees are now insisting on a more flexible workplace with a renewed focus on work-life balance. This new trend is creating incredible opportunities for destinations in Africa. Lastly, it says that technology and human connection must go hand-in-hand. ‘‘Most of us have forgotten how to live – and travel – without technology. The pandemic has accelerated our adoption of technology even further,’’ says the Africa Travel Week Trends Report 2022.