{"id":27999,"date":"2026-07-01T18:46:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T21:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=27999"},"modified":"2026-07-02T04:05:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T07:05:55","slug":"meropa-casino-to-host-8th-africa-tourism-leadership-forum-in-september","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/meropa-casino-to-host-8th-africa-tourism-leadership-forum-in-september","title":{"rendered":"Meropa Casino to host 8th Africa Tourism Leadership Forum in September"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This year\u2019s theme, \u201cAfrica Connects,\u201d<\/strong> will focus on improving cross-border mobility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

South Africa.- From September 2 to 4, Meropa Casino and Entertainment World<\/strong> in South Africa\u2019s Limpopo Province will host the 8th Africa Tourism Leadership Forum (ATLF)<\/strong>, bringing together tourism, hospitality, aviation and gaming stakeholders to discuss investment, regional travel and cross-border partnerships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The forum is expected to attract government officials, tourism authorities, investors, airlines, hotel operators, casino and entertainment businesses, destination management organisations and small enterprises from across Africa and international markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organised by Africa Tourism Partners<\/strong> in collaboration with UN Tourism<\/strong>, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)<\/strong> Secretariat<\/strong> and BDO South Africa<\/strong>, the programme will feature business-to-business meetings, policy discussions, investment sessions, training workshops and the Africa Tourism Leadership <\/strong>Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s theme, \u201cAfrica Connects,\u201d<\/strong> will focus on improving cross-border mobility, strengthening air connectivity, attracting tourism investment and expanding public-private sector collaboration. Organisers said the discussions will also examine how travel and tourism can support the implementation of the AfCFTA by promoting regional economic integration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Limpopo was selected as the 2026 host after previous editions were held in Ghana, Rwanda and Botswana. Bordering Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, the province is positioned as a gateway for regional tourism and trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Provincial authorities are also working to strengthen tourism infrastructure, including improving international connectivity through Polokwane International Airport. According to provincial figures, Limpopo welcomed about 8.3 million visitors who generated approximately 10.2bn rand (\u20ac546m) for the local economy.<\/p>\n\r\n\t\t

\r\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t
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\r\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> North West records R2.38bn gross gambling revenue<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year\u2019s theme, \u201cAfrica Connects,\u201d will focus on improving cross-border mobility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":26459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The 8th Africa Tourism Leadership Forum (ATLF) in South Africa will convene tourism, hospitality, aviation, and gaming stakeholders to discuss investment, regional travel, and cross-border partnerships. The forum, themed \"Africa Connects,\" aims to improve cross-border mobility, strengthen air connectivity, and attract tourism investment, with a focus on supporting AfCFTA implementation through regional economic integration.","focusai_entities":"Meropa Casino and Entertainment World, Africa Tourism Partners, UN Tourism, African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, BDO South Africa","focusai_location":"South Africa, Limpopo Province, Ghana, Rwanda, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Polokwane International Airport","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.7), operator_casino (0.9), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"iGaming Licensing Harmonization?","query":"Given the focus on \"Africa Connects\" and cross-border mobility, what specific policy recommendations are emerging from the ATLF to facilitate multi-jurisdictional iGaming licensing and operational frameworks across the AfCFTA member states?"},{"label":"Casino Investment Challenges?","query":"How do the investment discussions at ATLF specifically address the capital requirements and regulatory challenges for expanding land-based casino and integrated resort developments within emerging African markets, particularly concerning foreign direct investment?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60016,60011],"tags":[60368,61114,60190],"class_list":["post-27999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-south-africa","tag-investment","tag-regional-travel","tag-tourism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27999"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28004,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27999\/revisions\/28004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}