Around Africa Impact Imbizo Launches Virtual Trade Platform Connecting African Suppliers to Global B
A refreshing new chapter is opening in the way African and Indian Ocean tourism suppliers connect with the world. Around Africa | The Impact Imbizo is set to launch its first global virtual pop-up activation from 24 August to 25 September 2026, offering buyers and tourism suppliers a flexible, affordable and inclusive way to build new relationships and continue conversations sparked at physical trade shows. For sub-Saharan African travel professionals, this initiative offers a genuinely fresh model for accessing international buyers without the exhausting demands of traditional trade-show marathons.
Rather than compressing everything into one intensive week, the platform will unfold across four Global Pop-Up weeks. During each week, the virtual showroom floor will open and close through dedicated regional activation windows, effectively travelling around the globe and allowing participants to engage with the source markets and time zones most relevant to their businesses. Buyers and exhibitors will meet through pre-scheduled, 20-minute one-to-one video appointments, with dedicated meeting windows for Australia and New Zealand; Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Africa; North America and Canada; Latin America and the Caribbean; and an additional Open Time window offering greater flexibility. Meeting calendars officially open on 3 August 2026.
According to co-founder Rudi Wagenaar, Around Africa was designed to fit around the industry calendar rather than compete with it. He acknowledged that trade-show fatigue is a real issue, with participants often on their feet from early morning until late at night at large exhibitions. He noted that while these events remain valuable, there is still a gap for smaller businesses that have never managed to attend even one international trade show due to time, cost or operational constraints, as well as for professionals who simply want to reconnect with buyers or suppliers before the peak season begins.
Co-founder Thabang Rapotu captured the platform's mission succinctly, saying it is fundamentally about giving smaller, independent African and Indian Ocean tourism operators the same opportunities as larger players to be seen, heard and ultimately booked. She emphasised that when local businesses thrive, entire communities benefit. Rapotu added that no one in tourism has space for another intensive week of meetings, but even one focused 20-minute conversation can easily fit into an ordinary working day. Participants choose the Global Pop-Up weeks and regional meeting windows that suit them, without abandoning their teams, families or guests. Where a scheduled meeting cannot take place, the platform allows the parties to reconnect and arrange another suitable time, adding valuable flexibility.
Affordability sits at the heart of the model. A Standard Exhibitor Booth costs R7,400 and includes a showroom profile, one meeting calendar, discovery and search visibility, participation across all four Global Pop-Up weeks and inclusion in the event feed. Through the innovative Shared Economy Exhibitor Booth, businesses that invite a minimum of 10 qualified buyers can participate for just R4,700. Notably, no VAT is added to either participation fee. The founders are also encouraging larger industry players to sponsor showroom spaces for smaller tourism businesses that would otherwise struggle to participate, in a spirit of genuine industry solidarity.
Rapotu explained that the model is designed to create fairer access without excluding established tourism brands. On the same searchable showroom floor, a well-known international brand and a small, emerging operator can stand side by side, giving buyers the freedom to discover businesses according to their interests rather than encountering only those able to afford the most prominent physical stands.
The concept has roots in virtual tourism collaboration work dating back to 2020 and was further refined through workshops hosted in 2025 by four boutique tourism representatives, which connected participating businesses with approximately 700 buyers across their respective time zones. However, coordinating those workshops manually was extremely labour-intensive, prompting the founders to invest in dedicated Brandlive event technology. Brandlive has powered virtual events for major global brands including Google and has hosted gatherings featuring Harvard Business School leadership. The browser-based platform requires no additional software downloads or separate meeting links, allowing participants to enter the virtual showroom floor, discover people and businesses of interest and arrange focused video meetings around their normal working schedules.
Wagenaar was clear that the platform is not intended to replace physical trade shows but to add another accessible entry point into the global tourism market. Rapotu agreed, emphasising that relationships remain strongest when built face to face over shared meals and destination experiences, but insisted that the physical trade-show model cannot be the only doorway into international markets. Technology, she said, can make relationships more accessible and allow small African tourism businesses to meet advisors on the other side of the world without either party leaving their office.
The response to the first activation has already exceeded expectations, with more than 200 tourism properties, brands, experiences, collections and industry partners represented on the debut showroom floor. Names already confirmed include Airlink, Asilia Africa, The Zanzibar Collection, Xigera Safari Lodge, Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, Hemingways Collection, Makanyi Private Game Lodge, Mosaic Lagoon Lodge, Labotessa Luxury Boutique Hotel, Mhondoro Safari Lodge and Villa, Babylonstoren Farm Hotel, ENVI Lodges, Zanzibar White Sand Luxury Villas and Spa, Feline Fields, Zomerlust Boutique Hotel, Extraordinary, Transfrontier Parks Destinations, African Safari Collective, Wild Frontiers Travel Africa, Wetu, Nansi Rail, Nyati Safari Lodge, O'Leleshwa Retreat in Naivasha Kenya and Le Jadis Beach Resort and Wellness Mauritius. The full first-round showroom-floor list is available directly from the Around Africa press office.
Closing on a powerful note, Rapotu observed that Africa does not need another show that asks an already exhausted industry to do more of the same. What the continent needs, she said, are more doors, more flexible, affordable and inclusive ways for African tourism businesses to enter the global conversation. Wagenaar echoed this, stressing that the platform is not asking the industry to choose between one floor and another but simply creating additional entry points into the international marketplace.
For African travel professionals, Around Africa | The Impact Imbizo offers a genuinely exciting new way to expand global reach without sacrificing time, family or team commitments. Trade partners who embrace such innovative platforms today will be best positioned to lead the way as Africa's tourism industry continues to evolve into an ever more connected, inclusive and globally competitive marketplace in the years ahead.
