African Food Network Receives Endorsement from the African Association of Women in Tourism and Hospitality (AAWTH)
The African Association of Women in Tourism and Hospitality (AAWTH) has recently endorsed the African Food Network. This endorsement was based on the brand’s commitment to the promotion of African food culture and the development of African Culinary Tourism through initiatives such as the recurrent African Food and Drinks Festival, which is held in various parts of the continent. The tourism industry generates around 10% of global GDP.
This has been predicted to rise over the next four years, with major increases in African countries such as Mauritius, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. This international industry, particularly in Africa, demands leaders to be at the forefront of the challenging, ever-changing, demanding, and objective mission of highlighting the beauty in Africa’s diversity, and AAWTH has taken it upon themselves to do just that.
The African Association of Women in Tourism & Hospitality is a union of African-descent female professionals working in all parts of the tourism and hospitality industry who are dedicated to rewriting the narrative of the continent by highlighting its beauty. They are a group of female achievers and change agents who wish to help and support the African hospitality and tourist industries thrive. Culinary tourism, in general, is on the rise, with tourists eager to try new and unique foods while enjoying local hospitality. Over here, the food is vibrant and diverse, making food experiences unique, and the drink scene has gained international recognition, making Africa a foodie hot spot for travelers.
Despite the fact that an increasing number of tourists set out each year to uncover Africa’s numerous hidden treasures, many delights remain largely untouched.
Kevin Eze, CEO of the African Food Network, is clearly one of the few who have made it a priority to change the narrative. His vision is to build a global brand that primarily represents Africa to the rest of the world through its cuisines. “I personally feel that, unlike the rest of the world, Africa remains untouched; there is an encyclopedia of raw information concealed beneath our culture, ready to be refined or urbanized to suit the rest of the world.” That is why I want to create a platform that makes such information easily accessible to the world with African Food Network,” he explains.
Both organizations share the goal of improving Africa’s image as a diverse destination and promoting the value of African cuisine as one of the pillars of tourism development and performance. With similar aspirations in mind, Kevin Eze recently met with AAWTH Vice-President Daphne Spencer in Ghana to receive the endorsement and further explore future projections in Africa in terms of food culture, tourism, and hospitality. They intend to assist the rest of the world in exploring the heritage of centuries of wonderful culinary traditions alongside some of the most significant figures in African food culture. Culinary tourism entails driving value development, employment creation, and image enhancement.
Africa has a diverse range of unique experiences, along with a wide array of local cuisine, and all of them deserve to be highlighted in order to create new opportunities for people to discover the continent’s cuisines, cultures, and people.
