WTM Africa was back with a bang as 5000 people registered to be part of this exhibition to visit 600 exhibitors with 49 new countries represented at this year's show.

A warm African welcome always surrounds this 3 day event and one where old friends meet and new friends are made.

The energy and vibe is incomparable to any other expo and it feels as though we all stand together to represent our continent to visitors who are always made to feel welcome.

Skål International South Africa was honoured to have 3 of our members be part of the 200 expert speakers who provided over 80 hours of content sessions while the 3 days boasted 9200 pre scheduled appointments which was a 35% increase from 2022.

What was even more inspiring and exciting was that 63% of the buyers came from new markets such as Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, Philippines, Romania, Armenia, San Marino and Uzbekistan and many more delegates from our African continent.

Of course with these new exhibitors and countries, it meant that we had even more visibility with different markets and enquiries from prospective members who wanted to start new clubs in their countries.

As our Skål International presence in Africa needs to increase, it was an ideal situation where so many tour operators and prospective members from different African countries made pre-booked appointments with us to see how we could collaborate and share our common themes.

Every year our Skål International presence at WTM Africa becomes more exciting as our stand becomes more popular and more visible. This year we decided to enhance the aesthetics of our stand by fitting our allocated area with furniture that showed off our South African heritage. A colourful ‘Skål International blue’ couch that had a Shwe Shwe trim, a gorgeous blue agate coffee table,square cocktail tables with ShweShwe covered cargo bar stools completed the look. Shwe Shwe is a printed, dyed cotton fabric which is manufactured in South Africa. These beautiful pieces made our stand have a more appealing and engaging feel and more room to converse with prospective members and guests.

These beautiful pieces were sponsored by our Skål International Pretoria Member Chad Botha who owns Inspire Furniture rentals in Sandton and Cape Town.

Our proposed checklist that we envisaged before the show exceeded our expectations:

1. Beautiful, engaging and welcoming stand.

2. Knowledgeable and hard working Skål International South African members working as a strong, cohesive team.

3. Inviting promotional material supplied by Skål International.

4. A successful Cocktail party hosted by Skål International Cape Town where 150 people decided to attend our function even though there were 3 other functions they could have attended.

5. The opportunity to welcome fellow Skålleagues from all over the world. This year was made even more special as we had the opportunity to host our International Skål Council President Julie Dabaly Scott, a fellow Skål International member from Africa.

6. Engaging with over 150 people over the 3 days of the expo.

7. Showcasing our organisation, members, city and country to the world.

8. Embracing the chance to have 3 of our members be part of the speaker programme addressing different topics.

Our organisations experience during WTM Africa has always been a transformational one and each year we intend to raise the bar even higher, attain even more success by engaging and accelerating membership growth.

We attended. We enjoyed. We succeeded.