Africa Apps Quest targets tourism sector

According to head of cross-border marketing for Visa Sub-Saharan Africa Jodie Schorn, the Africa App Quest – first announced at the E-Tourism Summit in Cape Town last year – will be looking for home-grown talent in app development with the apps having the potential to reach out to a wider, global audience and strengthen inbound travel.

“We encourage all developers – whether up-and-coming or already established in the industry – to get involved in the Africa App Quest. This is a great way for developers to make a name for themselves in the global travel and tech community,” he said.

This comes against the backdrop of an expected annual growth rate of 5.5 per cent in the travel and tourism sector in Sub-Saharan Africa against a world average of 4.1 per cent, according to research commissioned by the World Bank.

SA Tourism’s global e-marketing manager William Price said the App Quest was an opportunity for developers to step into the broader development arena and use their expertise to contribute to one of Africa’s fastest growing sectors and participate in enhancing tourist travel across the continent.

This was a point also emphasised by Kenya Tourism Board chairman Muriithi Ndegwa, who said the quest would further market Kenya as one of Africa’s hubs of application development.

“In line with growing demands of the modern traveler, we have embraced e-tourism and recently launched our own mobile app at the just ended ITB 2013 in Berlin,” said Ndegwa.

Organisers say they will review apps in various categories, including online safari guides, urban directories to game spotting, recording apps, online booking and shopping tools, and apps interpreting local cultures, so long as they are submitted by African companies.

Winners of the competition, which closes on August 16, will walk away with US$10,000 and will be announced at the sixth annual E-Tourism Summit in Cape Town in September.