World Travel conference

Traveling in Africa – experience, systems and risks

The African Resilience Summit is organised by the Global Travel and Tourism Resilience Council in partnership with the Africa Travel Association. It took place on the 24th of July, in Johannesburg during the 42nd the World Tourism Conference. The summit focused on key challenges for the 54 countries of the continent, drawing attention to the misconception of “Africa as a country”.

International tourist numbers are at the highest they have been since 2010. In article written by Quartz Africa, they reported that there were 1.3 billion travellers on the move and that African countries had seen the highest average growth compared to other regions in the world. Africa is full of possibilities and has many attractions that draw tourists to the continent.

With the increase in the number of travellers heading to Africa from around the globe, there are various systems and processes need to support the growing requirements. Service providers aim to offer travellers the best duty of care to make their African experience one to remember and incident free. A key element of duty of care is resilience, “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties”.

One of the panel discussions at the summit that peaked our interest was around the topic of Security and Risk Management – how to plan for resiliency?

Below are a few of the points that the panel unpacked in greater detail.

  • What constitutes a crisis, how to prepare for it and what are the essential things to know? 
  • One thing everyone agrees upon when talking about preparedness is that planning is essential. Drafting a plan is the result of the exercise but the actual planning and training are the critical ingredients. 
  • With various types of crisis from man-made to natural disasters, what are the key precautions and services that need to be considered?

The panel consisted of international specialists (listed below) in the fields of tourism, travel, crisis management, and emergency services. It was hosted by Magcino Gule, the Senior Manager of Travelsure from our partner Old Mutual Insure.

  • Simon Hardern, CEO, Kenyon International Emergency Services
  • Alain St. Ange, St. Ange Consultancy and Monthly Tourism Newsletter, former Minister of Tourism and Culture, Seychelles
  • Dr. Lee Miles, Professor of Crisis and Disaster Management Bournemouth University UK

As a leader in the travel insurance category, it is great to see members of the Old Mutual Insure Travelsure team engaging with specialists in their respective fields. The Travelsure offering caters for leisure, business and senior travellers. They also have a corporate offering that can be tailored to your specific requirements. You can learn more about the different offerings here.

In the panel discussion insurance penetration in Africa was also raised. This was a point that was discussed at length during the at the 46th African Insurance Organisation Conference and General Assembly in June that saw us host 900 delegates from 60 countries alongside our partner, the Insurance Institute of South Africa (IISA).

A report produced by PWC, breaks down insurance penetration in Africa as a percentage of total GDP. Africa as a whole has penetration of 3%, with South Africa having the highest penetration 14% and followed by Namibia at 6%.

Insurance penetration is something that we should keep in mind when engaging in discussions of resilience and duty of care. The appropriate risk management systems are crucial and we also need to prioritise working with local teams to increase access to services.

The year’s edition of the African Resilience Summit was the inaugural event and we look forward to next year’s. The summit provided a platform for different providers in the travel insurance industry to engage with and learn from one another. Collaboration is key to resilience.

If you would like to learn more about the Old Mutual Travelsure offering follow this link.

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