Lagos is set to host tourism leaders, tour operators, airlines, investors, and destination partners from across Africa at the 22nd Akwaaba African Travel Market, while the build-up to AFCON 2027 is expected to create new opportunities for sports tourism, investment, and regional travel growth across the continent.
According to afribrazglobalbusiness, from 13 to 15 September 2026, Lagos, Nigeria, will host one of the most prominent and influential tourism events on the African continent: the 22nd Akwaaba African Travel Market.
At the Convention Center of Eko Hotel and Suites, Akwaaba 2026 will meet with tourism boards, tour operators, airlines, hospitality companies, travel technology providers, government officials, investors, media organizations, and international buyers. Akwaaba has become a trusted marketplace where destinations are introduced, business relationships are developed, and Africa’s tourism future is discussed and shaped.
For Afribraz Global Business Magazine, Akwaaba is one of the most sought-after meeting locations for those seeking credible access to Africa’s travel, tourism, aviation, and hospitality industries. It’s a proven platform that has long built partnerships across Africa and with international markets.
The 2026 edition is of particular strategic significance. With the return of the African Tour Operators’ Summit, Akwaaba will link two of Africa’s greatest strengths: the passion and commercial power of sport, and the continent’s extraordinary tourism potential.
A marketplace of African connections.
Africa has all the elements in place to become one of the most competitive tourism markets in the world: natural landscapes, wildlife, beaches, heritage, cuisine, music, festivals, sports culture and a young and increasingly connected population. But the continent’s tourism economy is still fractured by a lack of regional connectivity, limited joint marketing, an overhang of visa arrangements and a lack of multi-country travel packages for African travelers. Akwaaba fills that void. Since its establishment in 2004, it has developed into an important travel promotion platform for West Africa, with participation from members from around and beyond the continent. Previous editions have welcomed destinations and businesses from countries such as Ghana, The Gambia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Seychelles, South Africa, Egypt, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates. The official Akwaaba website describes the event as an international travel, tourism and hospitality meeting for companies, investors, government decision-makers and industry buyers. The focus is on generating commercial opportunities, sharing industry developments, and showcasing tourism products from Africa and around the world. Registration information is available on the official Akwaaba website. That mix of destination promotion and tangible business engagement is what makes Akwaaba so relevant. A conversation at the exhibition can become a destination-marketing agreement, a new flight partnership, a hotel distribution contract, a group itinerary, or a cross-border tourism campaign.
When West African football meets East African tourism.
The central event of Akwaaba 2026 will be the second African Tour Operators’ Summit, held for the first time since the inaugural edition in 2018. Its timing could hardly be more pertinent. West Africa is one of the continent’s most prominent football venues. It has produced some of the most celebrated players of Africa and is the region’s leading player base in the Africa Cup of Nations. East Africa, on the other hand, has in itself one of the most iconic tourism destinations on the continent. Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda have a formidable combination of wildlife safaris, culture, mountains, lakes, beaches, conservation areas and conference tourism. The two regional strengths will come together for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, which will be held jointly by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. AFCON 2027 is more than a football tournament; it could become one of the largest coordinated tourism opportunities East Africa has ever seen, with supporters, teams, sponsors, journalists, officials and diaspora visitors from three neighbouring countries. Akwaaba’s African Tour Operators’ Summit is to prepare the industry for that opportunity. The East African tour operators will meet in Lagos with their West African counterparts to establish working relationships and jointly develop AFCON travel products. Those can be match tickets and stadium transfers, accommodation, domestic flights, ground transportation, safaris, city tours, cultural programs, culinary experiences and multi-country tours. In reality, the supporter visiting from Lagos, Accra, Abidjan or Dakar should not have to see AFCON only as a series of football matches. With the right partnerships that journey could become an entire African experience, a game-based encounter of sport with the wildlife of Kenya, the landscape of Tanzania or the cultural and natural attractions of Uganda. So the summit is more than networking. It’s an opportunity to create actual products that can be marketed, sold and delivered before the tournament begins.
A word from the founder: Hon. Ikechi Uko.
Ikechi has been an instrumental character in turning the event into an internationally recognized event for African tourism, aviation, hospitality and business development as the founder and driving force behind the Akwaaba African Travel Market. His vision has always been of connecting Africa with itself; promoting intra-African travel; creating tangible ways for African destinations and tourism professionals to connect to continental and international markets.
Hon. Ikechi Uko speaking about the 22nd Akwaaba African Travel Market, the return of the African Tour Operators’ Summit and the opportunities surrounding AFCON 2027:
“Africans have discovered Africa as a destination, and AFCON 2027 is another opportunity to bring Africans together. It would highlight the emerging culture of Africans for Africa.”
— Hon. Ikechi Uko, Founder, Akwaaba African Travel MarketHis statement sums up the primary purpose of the 2026 summit: to turn the common passion for football into stronger tourism partnerships, deeper regional ties and long-term economic opportunities for African businesses and destinations.
Sporting tourism is a serious business worldwide.
Sports events generate significant activity in aviation, accommodation, transportation, food services, retail, entertainment, media, and digital technology. Africa has the passion and the audiences but it should be more deliberate in terms of managing its economic assets from sporting events.
AFCON 2027 is a chance to change that.
African tour operators, airlines, tourism boards and hospitality companies can create packages for African supporters and international visitors early on. Flexible payment structures, regional transportation coordination, competitive group booking and simplified booking systems could make the tournament much more accessible to a much larger market. The commercial potential is not limited to competition. Cooperation with AFCON could later benefit leisure tourism, business missions, conferences, student travel, destination weddings and cultural diplomacy between East and West Africa. That is precisely why the 2026 summit is important: business relationships must be established well before the first whistle goes off.
In appreciation to those who sell Africa to Africans.
A key event of the summit will be the AFRICA TRAVEL 100 Awards for African Tour Operators, to be held on 14 September 2026.
The awards will honor tour operators who are promoting and marketing African destinations to African travelers. Its philosophy is clear: Africans for Africa.
That recognition is crucial because intra-African tourism cannot be accomplished with slogans. It is only through professionals who research destinations, negotiate prices, educate travelers, develop good packages, and convince African consumers to travel to the Africa of their own continent.
For so long, international destinations have been marketed more aggressively to Africans than African destinations have been marketed within Africa.
The organizations honored are helping to change that imbalance. They are presenting Africa not only as a destination for foreign visitors to visit, but also as a continent Africans themselves should discover, experience and invest in.
And the awards will also give businesses that often work behind the scenes, yet remain important to tourism development, a lot more than a travel exhibition. Apart from the Tour Operators’ Summit and awards, Akwaaba 2026 will be a mixture of tourism and the wider tourism economy.
Announced elements include:
Tourism and hospitality exhibitions;
Business-to-business meetings;
African Tourism Conference;
Aviation and air-cargo talks;
African medical tourism;
Travel technology;
Destination weddings;
African Youth Tourism Bantaba;
Networking programs;
Food and cultural experiences.
This diversity is in line with the present travel landscape. Tourism is now in touch with health care, technology, trade, logistics, culture, education, sustainability, real estate, agriculture and the creative economy.
A successful travel fair must bring more than hotels and destinations into one room. It needs to bring together the various industries that make travel, experiences and commercial trade possible. Akwaaba is doing much of that now. The event’s record also gives institutional credibility. Akwaaba received an Award of Excellence for Tourism from the Nigerian Government and the United Nations World Tourism Organization in 2022, and recent editions have solidified it as West Africa’s top travel expo and one of the continent’s biggest tourism markets. BusinessDay’s preview of the 2026 edition describes the summit, awards and sports tourism program.
Why international businesses should pay attention.
Akwaaba is not only an event for African tourism companies, however. It is also an entry point for international organizations looking for reliable partners and deeper knowledge of African markets.
The participation for investors and tourism businesses from Brazil, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and the Middle East can provide access to:
African tour operators and aviation decision-makers;
tourism boards and government representatives;
hotel and hospitality groups;
corporate and group travel buyers;
travel technology companies;
media and destination promotion platforms;
potential partners for joint tourism packages and business missions.
For Brazilian companies in particular, the event provides a great opportunity to explore new Africa-Brazil tourism corridors.
Brazil and Africa share strong historical, cultural and human ties, but two-way tourism opportunities are still not fully developed.
Tour operators might consult Afro-heritage routes, cultural festivals and business delegations, football tourism, ecotourism and multi-destination packages. Airlines, embassies, tourism authorities as well as private-sector organizations could also make use of Akwaaba to look at practical barriers like awareness, connectivity, visas and distribution.
Lagos is Africa’s commercial meeting point.
Lagos is an appropriate place for a marketplace of this kind. One of Africa’s biggest commercial cities, it combines business, aviation, entertainment, media, technology, fashion and culture. Its energy reflects the continent Akwaaba aims to represent: ambitious, creative, complex and increasingly connected. Bringing this event to Lagos is also a way to get international participants closer to Nigeria’s huge consumer market and the rest of the West African business community. For tourism organizations looking for scale, distribution and partnership opportunities, this is an advantage.
The 21st edition was expected to attract over 3,000 participants, and they were to include airlines, hotels, tourism boards, travel agencies, government representatives and international buyers, demonstrating the platform’s commercial reach and diversity. The Guardian Nigeria reported on Akwaaba’s increasing role in tourism, aviation and hospitality.
The Afribraz perspective.
Afribraz Global Business Magazine describes Akwaaba African Travel Market as one of the continent’s most important connectors for tourism, business travel and cross-border partnership. Its importance goes beyond the size but also the African flavor and the fact that the people designing, promoting, financing and selling travel opportunities are in direct contact with each other. The 22nd edition provides governments an opportunity to present destinations, companies an opportunity to access new markets, tour operators an opportunity to create joint products and investors a chance to see where Africa’s tourism industry is heading. Most importantly, it is a call to African people to work together to sell Africa, to themselves and the world. The link between sports and tourism must be made well planned and concrete as AFCON 2027 approaches.
Supporters must become visitors. Matches should bring wider trips. Host cities should be the hubs for regional destinations. Temporary excitement needs to be followed by lasting commercial relationships.
From 13 to 15 September 2026, Akwaaba will put that vision at the heart of the African travel market. Lagos will not simply have another exhibition for those looking to enjoy the opportunities of African tourism, aviation, hospitality and business travel. It will host a continental market of ideas, destinations and partnerships, and one of Africa’s most important preparations for the tourism opportunity surrounding AFCON 2027.
Event Information.
Event: 22nd Akwaaba African Travel Market.
Dates: 13–15 September 2026.
Venue: Convention Center, Eko Hotel and Suites.
City: Lagos, Nigeria.
Key program: Second African Tour Operators’ Summit. AFRICA TRAVEL 100 Awards: 14 September 2026. Official website: Akwaaba African Travel Market
