ATTA® Joins Global Leaders at A World for Travel Forum in Paris

This week in Paris, the ATTA® team joined global leaders at the A World for Travel international forum. ATTA® CEO Virginia Messina took part in a high-level panel discussion, "Africa: Unlocking the Next Growth Story," alongside Ola Wright of the West Africa Tourism Organisation (WATO) and Ghada Shalaby, former Vice Minister of Tourism for Egypt.

Moderated by Ibrahim Osta of Chemonics International, the session opened with positive growth figures from the Data Appeal Mabrian Travel Intelligence platform, showing forward flight bookings up 9% in Sub-Saharan Africa and 6% in Northern Africa.

However, key challenges remain: despite representing 18% of the global population, Africa currently accounts for only 2–3% of global aviation traffic and just 5% of international tourism arrivals.

To address this gap, the panel explored existing barriers alongside inspiring success stories of sustainable development. Following the conference, a white paper will be published outlining practical pathways to overcome these obstacles and accelerate a sustainable future for African tourism.