Ever heard of sports tourism? The President of African Sports Tourism Week, Deji Ajomale-McWord will be bringing the Africans Sports Tourism Week to Ghana.
From September 19th to 20th, 2019, Ghana will host the second edition of the African Sports Tourism Week, which will also feature the African Sports Tourism Summit and Olympic Roundtable. A convergence of sports federations, sports commissions, sports councils, Olympic committees, tourism boards, tour operators and other stakeholders is expected.
The African Sports Tourism Week had its first edition in Lagos, Nigeria and is hosted in different African nations every year. According to the press release, the event seeks to “conduct the marriage of sports and tourism, and watch over their romance to ensure it produces offspring of socio-economic gains”.
The President of African Sports Tourism Week, Deji Ajomale-McWord said, “our goal is to increase the gross domestic products of African nations, through better delivered sporting events and sports holiday. Sports can only be best commodified through experiences that only hospitality and tourism can tailor”.
The theme for this year is ‘Aligning Sports Tourism with Sustainable Development Goals,’ and will have discussions such as “why Africa is not attracting enough sporting events and commodifying sports holiday in Africa”.
Speakers for the event include Juliet Bauwah, a CAF African Footballer of the Year and the founder of African Women Sports Summit; Dev Govindjee, a South African cricket legend who has worked with the International Cricket Council for more than a decade; Geoff Wilson, a member of the board at Tourism Northern Ireland. Geoff is a part-time lecturer in marketing at Queen’s University Belfast and is Chair of Netball Northern Ireland; Tafadzwa Mapanzure is a sports industry consultant with years of experience in sports marketing in Southern Africa region; Abi Ijasanmi was one of the first female agents negotiating salaries, endorsements and media deals for US Basketball players in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. She is currently the Director for Africa at DiamondAir International.
The event will take place at Oak Plaza Hotels.