Africa Sports Tourism Summit for Sept. 19-20

By Michael D. Abayateye

The African Sports Tourism Summit and Olympic Roundtable will headline the African Sports Tourism Week Ghana 2019, scheduled for September 19 -20 in Accra.

Under the theme, 'Aligning Sports Tourism with Sustainable Development Goals,' the event would be attended by sports federations, Olympic Committees, tourism boards, tour operators and other stakeholders from both sports and tourism sectors.

The event is aimed at getting stakeholders to interact and share ideas on the need to utilize the tourism aspects of sports in the continent.

Personalities expected to attend the event include Juliet Bawuah, Dev Govindjee, Geoff Wilson, Tafadzwa Mapanzure and Abi Ijasanmi.

Ms Bawuah is a renowned sports journalist, broadcaster and founder of African Women Sports Summit. She's a contributor on a number of popular sports media including BBC and Goal.com.

Dev Govindjee is a South African cricket legend who played in 45 first-class matches for Eastern Province between 1971 and 1983. He worked with the International Cricket Council for more than a decade. He is currently an international match referee.

A member of the board at Tourism Northern Ireland, Geoff Wilson runs his own marketing and communications consultancy business, with a focus primarily on sport. Previously Head of Marketing and Communications (Irish FA), he was responsible for public relations, commercial programmes, brand development and communication to fans.

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. A Commercial Lawyer with over 10 years business development experience, she joined Trans-Atlantic Sports Marketing(TASM) as an intern in 1998 and in 2001 became responsible for representing talent in markets as diverse as Lebanon, Italy, Lithuania and France.

Speaking on the event, Deji Ajomale-McWord, President of African Sports Tourism Week, 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 commoditized through experiences that only hospitality and tourism can tailor."

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