The first-ever Travel Content Creators Conference recently hosted by Nigeria, with the Taste of Africa Vibes, as organisers, was a giant stride in the creative industry as the conference spotlighted the power of content and storytelling through the lens of five personalities from Nigeria and around the world.
For content creation and creators, the new media space had made information dissemination not only cheap and fast, but given all and sundry a voice and dramatically made the platform a space that allows the good, the bad and the ugly to strive independently with minimal restriction, all in the name of content creation.
However, the maiden edition of Travel Content Creators Conference brought a broad spectrum of understanding to content creators, especially the travel story- tellers, who create images that shape how people see things, which has made them people and destination perception changers.
The event, which will be a yearly platform for content creators across Africa, also unveiled its new baby, the Africa Travel Content Creator Awards. In his welcome address, the Convener and Founder of Taste of Africa Vibes, Mr Jibola Oluseye Abati described the event as a gathering of opportunities with the aim of connecting, collaborating, learning and celebrating Africa’s rich potentialities.
According to him, “Nearly three years ago in August 2020, I founded my group, Taste of Africa Vibes, because I wanted to change the negative narrative about Africa, to challenge stereotypes, and to showcase Africa’s natural beauty.
“We were only 20 members back then and I never thought that small beginning would grow into a vibrant community of over 50,000 members.
“Our group’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. Last year, we were honoured to receive a prestigious award from Facebook, in recognition of the positive impact we’re making to change perception and to promote Africa online as a premier tourist destination.
‘‘Today, as we convene for our first conference, we embark on a new chapter and this event is a pivotal moment in our journey. We have assembled an incredible lineup of speakers and sessions that span a diverse range of topics.
Speaking at the conference, Pelu Awofeso, a renowned travel writer and awards- winning journalist, who shared his travel experiences at the conference spoke extensively on his journey within Nigeria and around Africa, and the many adorning beauty of African destinations.
Awofeso travel experience speak volume on the importance of travelling, according to him, ‘‘many things I thought was bad or I did not like was not because there was any reason but a mere perception.
But when I visited and tried other people’s food and also immersed myself in their culture, I now have a different perception. “Travelling is educative, entertaining, unite and makes you to appreciate other people and destination better and that will also help you to tell the story better.”
He implored content creators to passionately use the social media platform to their advantage, adding that there is a whole lot windows of opportunities as well as it has a very far reach that the traditional media.
The organiser of Akwaaba African Travel Market and Publisher of Africa Travel Quarterly Magazine, Ambassador Ikechi Uko, also shared his experience as he took the audiences on an educative tour of an outstanding storytelling as a tool in marketing African destinations.
Mr Michael Runkel, who is regarded as the world’s second most travelled person and award-winning travel photographer, captivated the participants with fascinating pictures; showcasing natural landscape, waterfall, people among other exclusive shot of the beauty of Africa and how he has travelled all the countries in Africa.
According to him, “Africa his beautiful, rich with historical places, the people are accommodate, so we need to travel, explore and showcase the beauty to the world.”
In her live presentation streamed from Belgium, Valerie Masumbuko, a Human rights activist, who sees colonialism as one of the problems, said the absence of a central language in Africa is a big challenge to travellers.
She advocated a second language as a means of communication and appeal to the founder of Taste of Africa Vibes to promote and encourage the use of another language like French so as to allow more countries to join the promotion bid of Africa to foster unity.
While Mrs Clara Chinwe Okoro, Chairperson of the Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria (BJAN), who spoke on Tourism and Tech: The Impact of Technology on The Growth of Tourism in Africa, said there is need for content creators to be tech savvy because it is the trend.
She stressed the need to the new media as a strategic way to network, connect and partner with others to boost tourism promotion.
