4/8/2015
ITB 4TH-8TH MARCH 2015

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This year’s ITB attracted over 175,000 visitors, including trade visitors and exhibitors from all around the world. Exhibitors reported higher turnover, which will well be attributed to the fall in energy prices and good economic prospects means that people are keen to travel. ITB Berlin 2015 cements its position as the world’s leading travel trade show. All levels of the value added chain were present: International Media, Tour
Operators, Travel Writers/Journalists, Booking
Engines, Destinations, Airlines, Hotels right through to car rental companies. Among these were also Tourism Authorities/Boards, Ambassadors from all over the world, as well as 100 Government
Ministers and numerous state secretaries from many developed and developing countries all met in Berlin to shape the future growth in the tourism industry.
Despite the international and national crises and the risk of political conflict and diseases outbreak around the world, and especially Sierra Leone’s present situation and the fight against Ebola, the country was fully represented at the global leading business and tourism/hospitality forum, to maintain the country’s position in the travel markets.
At ITB Berlin, the world’s largest travel trade show, Sierra Leone was able to face the world, by making an appearance at the fair in spite of the Ebola crisis. The country’s tourism assets are intact and are ready to harness after the Ebola Virus.
Sierra Leone under the leadership of the Acting Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs – Mrs.
Kadijah Olamatu Seisay, showcased the country’s tourism and investment potentials, through a one day Press Conference/Forum on the theme: “The Development of Tourism in Sierra Leone after Ebola”, held on the 5 th
of March, 2015, during the ITB trade show. Other members of the delegation include, the Chairman, Board of Directors - Mr. Ahmed Wurie, the Director of Tourism
- Mr. Mohamed Jalloh, the Director of Culture - Mr. Foday Jalloh, the Chairperson - Monuments and Relics Commission –Madam Isatu Smith, the General Manager - Mr. Yassin K Kargbo, the
Deputy General Manager Madam Fatmata Abe-Osagie, the Marketing and Public Relations
Officer, Ms. Lucinda Kargbo and the Marketing and PR Assistant Officer- Kai Bockarie Saquee .
The delegation departed Freetown on the 1 st
of March and arrived in Berlin, Germany on the 2 nd
March, 2015. The delegation was met at the Tegel Airport by the Sierra Leone Embassy Officials in Berlin and escorted to our various hotels.
SIERRA LEONE EMBASSY DELEGATES BRIEFING ON THE 3 RD MARCH 2014
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On the 3
RD
of March 2015, the delegates assembled at the Sierra Leone Embassy Conference Hall at 10: 00 am, for briefing with the Embassy Officials on the objective of the press conference, as well as to discuss and deliberate on the theme” Development of Tourism in Sierra Leone after
Ebola”. Which focuses on the following:

Resumption of airline operations to and from Sierra Leone by major airlines

Revitalization of touristic infrastructure, improvement of existing touristic sites

Marketing and Communication activities in Germany and Austria; road shows, tourism fairs & exhibitions, online marketing, newsletters, print media

FAM trips for press as well as tour operators

Revival of aid projects such as water & energy supply etc
“TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN
SIERRA LEONE AFTER EBOLA’’
The press conference was attended by both the electronic and print media including Travel Writers,
Tour Operators, Airlines, Hoteliers and Travel Agencies. A representative from the International
Tourismus Bourse (ITB) Organizers – Mrs. Margot Dennenmoser – Logistics/Coordinator for
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East, West & South Africa also graced the occasion. As was already indicated in the Plan of Action submitted by our Tourism Representative, Mrs. Agnes Kah, the main aim of the conference was to revive the bartered image of Sierra Leone caused by the Ebola epidemic, rebuild and maintain the confidence of our German and Austrian stakeholders, that have worked assiduously in the past two years to promote Sierra Leone as a travel destination. Addressing the audience, Ambassador
Jongopie S. Stevens, said that Sierra Leone was doing very well economically before the outbreak of the Ebola and was rated as the fastest growing economy in West Africa.
The impressive economic gains made in the past few years have been reversed. The economy suffered double shocks from the Ebola outbreak; the simultaneous sharp decline of all economic sectors including
Tourism. According to him, ITB Berlin 2015 was the first opportunity for the country to address the subject since the outbreak of the Ebola epidemic. “We are a resilient nation, we are not giving up”, said Ambassador Jongopie S. Stevens to the members of the media
In her keynote address: the Acting Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Madam Kadija O.
Seisay, emphasized the efforts
Government is making, with the support of its international partners, to track down and contain the Ebola Virus Disease, to the extent that there has been great improvement in the reduction of new confirmed cases.
She further mentioned the frantic efforts being made by the
Government to resume the operations of Airlines, as well as measures that were put in place to ensure the continuous operations of Brussels Airlines, Royal
Air Moroc and Air Cote D’voire respectively
. She also expressed on behalf of the Government of
Sierra Leone, profound gratitude to Brussels Airlines for being a true friend to Sierra Leone during this challenging times.
Madam Kadija Seisay, also highlighted areas of Investment Opportunities in Sierra Leone, as well as ongoing Infrastructural Developments not only in tourism but also for the country as a whole.
The Minister ended her statement on this note “…..our strong resolve to bring back our country and its economy to where it was before Ebola stroke, we have shown that Ebola doesn’t have the final say in our destiny given the huge business potentials in our Tourism and Cultural industries as they lay untapped. In the light of these, we are appealing to you not to kill the dream but to execute it by keeping the flame burning as Sierra Leone will rise up again with our collaborative efforts”.
As highlighted earlier, the questions posed by the media were mainly on the developmental issues and plans for the tourism sector post Ebola. These questions range from the resumption of Airlines to Sierra Leone, to Tourism Infrastructural Development (accommodation facilities, touristic sites, in-land transportation), to on-going Government programmes/projects i.e., water & energy and roads, and Marketing plans for Sierra Leone in the German and Austrian markets. Questions were
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also focused on the type of product/attractions in Sierra Leone and targeted markets, itinerary/package tours etc. The questions were well addressed by various members in the panel.
Giving the vote of thanks, the Chairman Board of Directors Mr. Ahmed Wurie, reiterated the fact that Sierra Leone is on top of the situation in the fight against the Ebola Disease and it will soon be a thing of the past. He therefore, called on the support of the media to project Sierra Leone in a positive light, a country that has fought its way back amidst the various challenges and is now ready for business.
In order to enhance our presentation at the press conference, press folders, brochures, leaflets, backed up with locally printed cotton cloth handmade bags, with catch phrase
“Sierra Leone is back”
were distributed during the press conference.
INTERRACTIONS/NETWORKING/MEETINGS AT ITB
In the first day of the event, the NTB, representatives from the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural
Affairs together with the Chairperson Monuments and Relics Commission met with a host of top
German and Austrian tour operators, travel writers, journalists, Airliners and hoteliers. These meetings were scheduled by our representative, Mrs. Kah – Managing Director of Loewen
Touristik. Below are a synopsis of the meetings held with the various stakeholders and what emanated from these meetings.
Wednesday 4 th March 2015
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VON POSER Gmbh – 12:00pm
The Acting Minister of Tourism and Cultural
Affairs, together with her team and Mrs. Kah of Loewen Touristik met with Mr. Fabian
Von Poser, and two of his colleague female journalists. Mr. Fabian is the General
Manager of VON POSER GmbH, one of the leading travel press companies in Germany.
His publications are widely read in the
German and Austrian markets and he is known to have published more than thirteen publications per every FAM TRIP he had conducted. Mr. Von Poser was also part of the Press visit to Sierra Leone in November,
2013.
The team had very fruitful discussions with
Mr. Fabian. The focus of the discussion was mainly to update him about the Ebola situation in
Sierra Leone and strides Government has taken to eradicate the dreadful disease. The General
Manager buttressed the objective of the briefing, which was basically to allay the fears of the tourist generating regions that Sierra Leone is still strong and worth visiting, despite the challenges she faces today. The press team promised to publish good articles, which will definitely change the mindset of readers and potential tourists wishing to visit Sierra Leone.
Thursday 5 th March, 2015
11:00am
The Acting Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs and her team held a meeting with Mr . Ato
Tewolde Gebremariam, Chairman of the Board of the
Ethiopian Tourism Council, and Chief Executive
Officer of Ethiopian Airlines. The Minister engaged
Mr. Tewolde on the possibility of Ethiopian Airlines, to start operations in Sierra Leone as it will be a very lucrative investment for them. CEO disclosed, that it is in their strategic investment plan, to launch the
Airlines in the West African Region including Sierra
Leone. Currently, they operate in smaller scale via
Asky Airlines in Sierra Leone.
IKARUS – 1:00pm
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POSSITIVE ASSURANCE FROM IKARUS TO CONTINUE THE GOOD TIES WITH
SIERRA LEONE
IKARUS is one of the first five top German Based Tour Operators and they have included Sierra
Leone in their tourist catalogue since November 2013, after their familiarization visit to the country, in May 2013. The aim of the meeting was twofold: (a). to update Ikarus about the Ebola situation in Sierra Leone and to reassure them that Government has been able to contain the spread of the disease. Given the current trend in the drop in “new confirmed Ebola cases”, Sierra Leone will soon be declared Ebola free. (B). to discuss the possibility, for Sierra Leone to be included in the 2015/2016 brochure, since it missed out in the 2014/2015 edition due to the Ebola Virus.
During the meeting, a couple of issues were discussed, after which, Mr. Ralf Huber, the Assistant
Managing Director of Ikarus Tours, agreed to feature Sierra Leone in their 2015/2016 programme, based on the recommendations from Mrs. Kah. He however, insisted on the followings: a.
The German Tourists are very keen in having a German speaking guide and therefore,
Sierra Leone should ensure to have German speaking guides. b.
When an itinerary programme has been fixed for any tour to Sierra Leone, it should be strictly followed. c.
The Tourists should be provided with the correct information about the destination as to what their expectations should be. There should be no surprises. d.
The German tourists are not particularly looking for luxurious accommodation or facilities but they expect to have clean, decent accommodation facilities of quality service. e.
The issue of visas should also be addressed.
The Director of Tourism, Mr. Mohamed Jalloh responded on the issues raised, and assured Mr.
Huber that both the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs and the NTB, in collaboration with the Private Sector, shall work together, to ensure that these concerns are addressed. On the issue of visas, he explained that it can be obtained on arrival, prior to 7days notice before the traveling date.
The Director of Culture – Mr. Foday Jalloh, Chairperson – Monuments and Relics Commission –
Madam Isatu Smith and the Marketing and Public Relations Officer – Ms. Lucinda Kargbo,
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encouraged IKARUS not to relent or give up on Sierra Leone, stating that the country will soon be ready for tourism activities.
IKARUS is currently sending groups to the Gambia, Ghana, Senegal and Central African
Republic.
MEETING WITH BRUSSELS AIRLINES
The meeting was held at the Brussels Airlines Stand No. 109, with the Country Manager, Mr.
Helmut Glaser, Mrs. Ilse Bruckner District Sales Manager of Brussels Airlines in Germany and a cross section of the Sierra Leone team, which included the Hon. Minister of Tourism and Cultural
Affairs, Mrs. Kadija O. Seisay, the Chairman, Board of Directors - Mr. Ahmed Wurie, the General
Manager, Mr. Yassin K Kargbo, the Deputy General Manager, Mrs. Fatmata Abe-Osagie and Mrs.
Agnes Kah.
It was a very fruitful meeting. The Country Manager Mr. Glaser reconfirmed Brussels Airlines support to Sierra Leone towards future FAM trips. Brussels Airlines through its collaboration with
Loewen Touristik has in the past two years supported Sierra Leone with complementary Air tickets for FAM Trips.
According to Mr. Glaser, they were extremely happy that Mrs. Kah, has been able to put together renowned Tour Operators, Journalists and Travel Writers for FAM Trips to Sierra Leone. He pointed out that, having such big Operators selling Sierra Leone will not only expose the destination to smaller operators but to the German and Austrian Markets.
The Acting Minister on behalf of the team, thanked Brussels Airlines for their support over the years and most especially for standing by Sierra Leone during the country’s trying and challenging times, such as the Ebola crisis. The General Manager of the NTB extended invitation to Brussels
Airlines to also explore other investment opportunities especially in the area of in-land transportation - i.e., helicopter, hovercraft, and other related airport transfer services.
FRENCH MARKET REPRESENTATIVE-OLIVIER THERY, ETHNIKA
VOYAGES.COM
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A meeting was held with Mr. Olivier Thery, the Managing Director of Ethnika Voyages.com. Mr.
Thery in principle, is the National Tourist Board’s Representative for France, Belgium and
Switzerland.
The Deputy General Manager introduced Mr. Thery to the team, and further briefed the meeting regarding the supportive role Mr. Thery played in organizing Sierra Leone’s re-lunch into the
French market during the Top Resa, Tourism Trade show in September, 2014. However, the outbreak of the Ebola epidemic, prevented Sierra Leone’s participation to that event. Mr. Thery, in his response gave a general overview of his relationship with Sierra Leone of thirty years, during the 80s when tourism used to boom and France used to be Sierra Leones largest market. He also emphasized about his readiness and outlined proactive measures to revive Sierra Leone in the
French market.
Mr. Thery advised that if Sierra Leone is serious to attract the French Market, the IFTM – Top
Resa forum is a major selling point for the country. In conclusion, he informed the meeting of his company’s investment project in Sierra Leone to construct a three star hotel. They have already secured the land from the Grammar school and work will commence soon.
The General Manager responded that it is part of the Board’s agenda to attract the French Market and also reiterated that France was indeed the country’s major market in terms of tourists’ arrival and investment in the early to late 80s.
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Interviews were conducted by
with the Chairman Mr.
Ahmed Wurie “opportunities of tourism and its contribution to economic growth in Sierra Leone” the Chairman also demonstrated positive ideals about Sierra Leone, that the country will rise again, and even rise above other West African Countries, therefore as a delegation they are working to see that happens in due course.
theth
The General Manager of NTB interacted and held discussions with other tourism stakeholders from the
West Africa sub-region and Europe in order to share knowledge with a view to tapping from their experiences so as to adapt them to the Sierra Leone scenario.
TOURISM DESTINATION BRANDING; THERAPY AGAINST
POTENTIAL CONFUSION
On Friday 6 th
March, 2015, the team through the faciliation of Leowen Touristik, attended the
Africa Forum on the theme: “Tourism Destinaition Branding; therapy against potential confusion”
This Forum was specifically designed for African destinations branding especially for countries that face potential threats, due to negative western media reports. The forum and speakers deliberated the way forward, to see Africa combat these negative reproach, and to design therapy in cleansing these public media reports and other strong media propagandas, that Africa has suffered for years.
The underlining message from the various speakers is that country destinations often suffer because they do not have a strong image. This can be especially frustrating when a crisis in a particular destination is mistakenly perceived to be regional crisis. To address this, there is a need for countries to have a distinctive destination brand established in its main target market group.
The process forward for country destinations branding is to identify countries that have made significant progress in this area, and what can African countries most especially those that have gone through crisis like Sierra Leone, learn from the successful branding strategies of other tourism regions?
The key speaker was the Secretary General, UNWTO – Dr. Taleb Rifai. The panel guests were as follows:

Digu //Naobeb, CEO, Namibia Tourism Board
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
Tom Buncle, Managing Director, Yellow Railroad Ltd. International Destination
Consultancy

Elcia Grandcourt, Programme Director, Regional Programme for Africa, World
Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

Obenne Mbaakanyi, Marketing Manager, Botswana Tourism Board

Stephen Mwansa, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Arts, Zambia
The press conference was a success in the sense that, it created the platform to re-establish and engage our stakeholders in the German and Austrian markets, with the view to project Sierra Leone in a positive light and to once again include Sierra Leone in the travel catalogues or programmes of these markets.
Several articles have already been published following the press conference of the 5 th
March
2015. Please see below the following links: http://newsroom.itb-berlin.de/en/news/sierra-leone-refuses-give-ebola-must-not-have-last-word
(English) http://newsroom.itb-berlin.de/de/news/sierra-leone-gibt-nicht-auf-ebola-hat-nicht-letzte-wort
(German) https://tmayoungpress.wordpress.com/2015/03/04/ein-land-kampft-sich-zuruck/ http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1222740 (videos 6 and 7) http://www.demotix.com/users/markku-rainer-peltonen/profile http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-2983730/African-tourism-acts-shake-Ebolastigma.html
http://fr.canoe.ca/voyages/nouvelles/archives/2015/03/20150309-140152.html
(French)

Brussels Airlines has confirmed that it will support Sierra Leone by providing complimentary air tickets for the proposed Familiarisation Trip of Tour Operators, Travel
Writers and Journalists to Sierra Leone.
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
IKarus Tours has confirmed that they will include Sierra Leone in the next edition of their travel brochure.

Austrian based Tour Operator, Mr Rainer Skrovny of ARR Tours has also confirmed that he will include Sierra Leone in their brochure through a joint project with IKarus.

The ITB also did a press release on Sierra Leone and have confirmed to reserve an exhibition space for Sierra Leone for ITB 2016.
ACTION POINTS

NTB to confirm date for the FAM Trip and communicate the date to Mrs. Agnes Kah.
Mrs. Kah on the other hand should identify Tour Operators, Journalists and Writers and submit to NTB.

NTB to develop a proposed itinerary for the FAM Trip.

MTCA and NTB should address as soon as possible the issue of German speaking Tour
Guides.

The Acting Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, to follow-up discussions with the
Minister of Transport and Aviation with the Chairman of the Board of the Ethiopian
Tourism Council, and Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines and the Country
Manager - Germany, Mr. Glaser, regarding investing in-land sea transportation.
Finally, the National Tourist Board and the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, expressed its deep appreciation to Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to Germany – H.E. Jongopie Stevens, his Head of Chancery, Mr. Al-Hassan Kondeh and the members of staff of the Sierra Leone Embassy in
Berlin, Germany for their relentless assistance and support in making the press conference a resounding success.
The ITB officially ended on the 8 th
of March 2015 and the delegation has long since returned home.
Report compiled by
The Marketing and Public Relations Department
&
Supervised by
Fatmata Abe-Osagie
Deputy General Manager
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