ABOUT Africa Youth in Tourism Innovation Summit and Challenge
THE OBJECTIVES
The Summit is established to nurture African youth, start-ups, small enterprises and accelerator initiative to pursue opportunities across the global tourism ecosystem to become industry change-makers and future industry leaders. Other specific objectives are to:
- Create a viable network to support youths, start-ups and small enterprises to maximise their leadership potentials;
- help to drive a transformative change in their societies and nations at large through critical and design thinking;
- train, inspire and equip youths across Africa to impact their world, and proffer lasting innovative solutions for growing Africa tourism sector;
- empower youth at all levels, start-ups and small enterprises by offering market access, business development, value-partnership, mentorship and funding solutions;
- present an opportunity for youth to showcase their tourism related businesses and bankable projects to the global marketplace in order to find the required support;
- Offer career development opportunities for youth interested in pursuing careers in travel, tourism, tourism academia, hospitality, aviation, conservation and related industries and sub-sectors.
WHY ATTEND AND SUPPORT
- Secure intra-Africa tourism business opportunities and market access
- Gain insights into myriad of intra-Africa tourism innovation opportunities
- Learn how to build tourism supply chain linkages and opportunities with big industry stakeholders including leisure, MICE and travel technology;
- Learn about post Covid-19 “new world” opportunities in terms of technology, financing and market access for start-ups, academia, investors, accelerators and venture builders;
- Network with among others, potential investors, public sector entities, start-ups, academia, corporations, accelerators and venture builders;
- Meet local and regional innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem with international tourism leaders supporting start-ups in scaling up their businesses;
- Exchange of knowledge, business models and build partnerships;
- Learn about strategies for developing robust innovation culture in tourism anchored on skills development for business growth;
- Learn how to develop creative tourism solutions through the application of disruptive technologies;
- Be equipped with new skills in travel & tourism technology and new quality standards
- Gain from career guidance as fresh high school and university graduate interested in travel and tourism eco-system careers; and
- Be part of new and exclusive intra-Africa marketplace for youth, start-ups and SMMEs.
WHO ATTENDS
Approximately 250 in-person and over 1600 virtual attendees including Ministers, tourism officials, policymakers, SMMES, start-ups, students, entrepreneurs and government officials from Africa and the rest of world. Among these are young women-owned and run tourism businesses, venture capitalists, tourism innovators, techprenuers, entrepreneurs, university students, university lecturers, start-ups, representatives of youth agencies, officials of youth public institutions, education centres, investors and incubators/accelerators around compelling tourism issues. Others are executives and representatives and staff of youth development, entrepreneurship, tourism career guidance and development organisations.
Key stakeholders, partners, supporters and participants include corporations, international development organisations, financial institutions, government ministries responsible for youth, sports and recreation, education centres, universities, civil society organisations, investors and incubators/accelerators. Others are leisure tourism, business tourism and MICE organisations interested in succession planning and youth development across Africa.
JOIN THE EVENT Why attend Africa Youth in Tourism Innovation Summit and Challenge
Intra-African Business Opportunities
Secure business opportunities and market access within Africa’s tourism sector, and participate in exclusive marketplaces for youth, start-ups, and MSMEs.
Networking
Connect with potential investors, public sector entities, start-ups, academia, corporations, accelerators, and venture builders to exchange knowledge and forge valuable partnerships.
Gain New Insights
Learn about intra-Africa tourism innovation opportunities, develop creative solutions using disruptive technologies, and explore post-COVID opportunities in technology, financing, and market access
Advance Your Career
Equip yourself with new skills in travel and tourism technology, receive career guidance as a fresh graduate, and focus on skills development for business growth within the tourism industry.
LISTEN TO THE Event Speakers
Barry Clemens
CEO, Hospitality EQ. Co-host - AYTIS 2025-2027. Chairperson, Innovation Challenge

Barry Clemens
CEO, Hospitality EQ. Co-host - AYTIS 2025-2027. Chairperson, Innovation ChallengeWith over 25 years of experience in the international Hospitality & Tourism industry, he has been a prominent presence in the field. He is currently leading the commercial activities for Portier Technologies, a company that provides the industry with technology which enhances the guest experience and enhances engagement with the hotel. Barry was chosen as one of the Global 100 most influential leaders in the industry during the Global Mice Congress in Mumbai this year and has been a regular invited speaker at several international Hospitality & Tourism conferences around the world. With proven commercial understanding, product, and business development skills, he has also been appointed to the adjudication panel for the Africa Youth in Tourism Innovation competition. And will act as a mentor to one of the winners.
Natalia Bayona
Director - Innovation, Education And Investments UN Tourism

Natalia Bayona
Director - Innovation, Education And Investments UN Tourism
Natalia Bayona leads the innovation, education and investments strategy of UN Tourism, the United Nations specialized agency for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and accessible tourism worldwide. With a diverse background on politics, destination management and business, she has become the first innovation director at UN Tourism, has introduced entrepreneurship and education as key factors for tourism and development, and has positioned UN Tourism as an innovation benchmark within the wider United Nations system as recognized in the UN 2020 Mapping of Innovation, Data and Digital Capacities. Furthermore, she has joined the UN Executive Leadership Programme for Sustainable Development led by the UN System Staff College (UNSSC). Her work consists of identifying the most disruptive startups and investment projects and matching them with Member States and leading corporations. As an advocate of youth and technology, she seeks to make entrepreneurs grow for a promising future in all regions. During the last 4 years, Natalia has developed 20 UN Tourism Startup Competitions and Innovation Challenges with outcomes such as more than 214 million USD in support for entrepreneurs and pilots for safe travel. Moreover, she has designed the Tourism Tech Adventures innovation forums and co-created the UN Tourism Online Academy, the pioneer platform for advancing skill development for the sector in collaboration with the most prestigious universities such as IE University, Sommet Education, Swiss Education Group, the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong, the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and Externado de Colombia University, currently with over 15.000 students from 191 countries. Furthermore, she has created the UN Tourism Technical Committee on Tourism Online Education and acts as its Secretary to ensure education is at the forefront of the global agenda. She has also opened the Multilateral Investment Cooperation area for tourism and has built a network of more than 290 investors interested in the sector and is currently working on high-impact projects to recover tourism, including the Investment Readiness for Green Finance Mechanisms in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) from the World Bank Group. In this same vein, she has been a coordination member of the Global Tourism Crisis Committee (GTCC) where UN Tourism Member States, UN Agencies and Private Sector Associations – IATA, ACI, CLIA, among others – gather to discuss actions to address current issues. Within this framework, Natalia has led the UN Tourism Healing Solutions for Tourism Challenge, the UN Tourism Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Global Startup Competition and the UN Tourism Jobs Factory as specific projects to support destinations and employment. On 2022, she has launched the first series of tourism investment guidelines: UN Tourism Doing Business, starting with the Dominican Republic and Colombia, and moving on with countries such as Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uruguay. Also, she has developed the brand-new UN Tourism Digital Futures for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Programme which aims to provide digital training on connectivity, business growth, e-commerce, big data and analytics, payments, and security to 1 million beneficiaries by partnering with the largest technology companies. Furthermore, her short-term goals include a variety of high-impact projects such as (1) co-creating the first Tourism International Academy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, (2) opening of the UN Tourism Tourism Innovation Lab in collaboration with IE University as a world-ranked institution on online education and entrepreneurship by QS Rankings, (3) positioning women leadership in tourism through supporting innovation and startups, and (4) supporting countries to advance their investment promotion strategies in order to facilitate business creation in tourism, hospitality and food & beverage with tools such as the above-mentioned guidelines. As recognition for her work, Natalia has been awarded the IIPT (International Institute For Peace Through Tourism)’s 5th “Celebrating Her” prize for “Innovation & the Empowerment of Women Through Tourism” at ITB Berlin 2021, an acknowledgement that is only given to 3 women from all over the world each year. Natalia is also a part of the “100 de COTEC” network which gathers experts who speak Spanish from multiple areas of knowledge for analyzing social, economic and technological challenges that innovation faces. Recently, she has also been recognized as one of the 10 Colombian nationals in Spain contributing the most to the country’s positive image, as one of the 150 most influential people in tourism in Spain by Sergestur, and as part of the women-led think tank The Club G100 as Colombia Country Chair for Smart and Sustainable Cities. Natalia graduated in Government and International Relations from Universidad Externado de Colombia and holds an Executive MBA from the IE Business School. Nowadays, she is part of the World Economic Forum (WEF) network as a European Digital Leader and is an Eisenhower Fellow as the first Colombian on the Women Leadership Program for creating the first Tourism for Tomorrow Programme: a high-level network focused on joining public-private efforts for high-impact investments in digital education and innovation for tourism’s sustainable development and post Covid-19 recovery. Additionally, she enjoys sharing knowledge by teaching at universities – Harvard (USA), Cornell (USA), Externado (Colombia) and Bilkent (Turkey) – and public schools in Colombia as part of her give back to youth and her country. In 2017, she served as the Vice President of International Development for the Spain Startup – South Summit and organized the first South Summit Pacific Alliance, connecting the main stakeholders of the entrepreneurship ecosystem of Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru. Having worked in Colombia for ten years, she has lived in six countries where has developed strategies to boost exports, foreign investment and tourism for Colombia. Her career started in 2006 as part of the team that created the first international tourism campaign for Colombia: “Colombia, the risk is wanting to stay”, which sought to change the image of the country abroad. The successful execution of this campaign in more than 15 countries was possible thanks to her work.
Mr. Kwakye Donkor
CEO, Africa Tourism Partners, South Africa

Mr. Kwakye Donkor
CEO, Africa Tourism Partners, South Africa
Kwakye Donkor is the CEO of Africa Tourism Partners (ATP), a Pan African tourism advisory firm and a UNWTO award-winning firm. He is a renowned Pan-African strategist and expert in areas of tourism development, strategic and destination marketing, destination brand management and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibition/Events). He is a recognised and highly respected personality in Africa tourism space, and speaks at global conferences, seminars and think tank fora. Kwakye has demonstrated expertise in destination master planning as well as strategy formulation and execution, business transactional advisory and leadership development worldwide across education, finance, and hotel development. His expertise and experience have earned him the privilege to regularly serve on expert panels and think tank fora facilitated by international organizations including UNWTO, AU, SADC, The World Bank Group, GIZ, BBC, CNBC Africa, Channel Africa, ENCA, SABC and others across Africa. He is the convener of the annual Africa Tourism Leadership Forum & Awards, Africa MICE Masterclass, Africa Youth in Tourism Summit and Africa Women in Tourism Summit series.
H.E. Zurab Pololikashvili
Secretary General Of The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Spain

H.E. Zurab Pololikashvili
Secretary General Of The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Spain
Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili is Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) since 1 January 2018 after being elected by the 22nd Session of UNWTO General Assembly. He was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Kingdom of Spain, the Principality of Andorra, the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria and the Kingdom of Morocco and Permanent Representative of Georgia to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) up to December 2017. Between 2009 and 2010, he was Minister of Economic Development of Georgia.As a Minister of Economic Development of Georgia, Mr Pololikashvili was responsible for overseeing the country’s long-term fiscal growth strategies, advancing foreign trade and investment policy initiatives as well as for promoting the development of the tourism, infrastructure and transportation sectors. He was instrumental in launching an innovative policy for the development of tourism in Georgia, prioritizing the sphere on both the government and private sector agendas. During Mr Pololikashvili’s tenure as Minister of Economic Development, through key policy reforms, marketing activities, improvement of infrastructure and visa liberalization initiatives, Georgia nearly doubled the number of international tourist arrivals, from 1.5 million (2009) to exceeding the 2.8 million mark by 2011. Those reforms paved the way for sustainable tourism practices in Georgia and poverty alleviation initiatives, placing Georgia among the top tourism destinations in the region. Minister Pololikashvili successfully led the economic liberalization processes, introducing supportive policies for SMEs, and incentive programmes to attract foreign investment for the development of hard and soft infrastructure. 2006 – 2009 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Kingdom of Spain. 2005 – 2006 Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. In this capacity as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, he supervised the departments for administrative, budgetary, financial and consular affairs, as well as the Department for Human Resources Management. Mr. Pololikashvili was responsible for ushering in a new phase of more liberal and secure visa regimes, facilitation of processes to ease border crossing procedures, and deepening relations with various international organizations, including UNWTO.
Håvar Bauck
Founder, Hotelonline, Kenya. Co-host - AYTIS 2025-2027

Håvar Bauck
Founder, Hotelonline, Kenya. Co-host - AYTIS 2025-2027
Håvar Bauck is an experienced entrepreneur, business developer, and commercial strategist with two decades of emerging-markets experience spanning travel and hospitality, telecommunications, and digital marketing. He is a co-founder of HotelOnline, a leading, pan-African travel technology company providing services to more than 6,000 hotels in 27 countries. Håvar is also a Director of TEAMS Africa - the host for the Africa Youth In Tourism Innovation Summit & Challenge in Nairobi in 2025, 2026, and 2027. Invited as a speaker to AYTIS 2024 in Nambia, he launched a joint initiative with with his co-hosts to put forward a compelling offer to bring the conference to one of Africa's leading tourism economies - his beloved country of residence - Kenya! Originally from Norway, he has also lived in Kenya, Nigeria, DRC, and Belgium, conducted business across Africa, Europe, and Asia, and visited 57 countries. Håvar speaks five languages and holds a Masters degree in Business and Economics from BI Norwegian Business School.
Elcia Grandcourt
Director, Africa Department, UNWTO, Spain

Elcia Grandcourt
Director, Africa Department, UNWTO, Spain
Originally from the Seychelles, Elcia Grandcourt joined the World Tourism Organization, a United Nations specialized Agency for Tourism in 2013 as Director, of the Regional Department for Africa. Elcia began her tourism career studying Hotel Management in Singapore at the Singapore Hotel Association and Education Centre (SHATEC). Thereafter, she occupied various positions in operations, reservations and sales mainly in hotels, including leading international brands such as Le Meridien and Hilton Worldwide Resorts. She was part of the rebranding team when Hilton Worldwide Resorts took over the management of the then Northolme hotel in Seychelles. She worked with the Seychelles national airline and destination management companies before joining the public sector to Seychelles Tourism Board as deputy CEO before being promoted to Chief Executive Officer, a position she occupied prior to joining UNWTO. Passionate about tourism, Elcia is honored to be able to contribute towards sustainable tourism development in Africa. Elcia also holds a Master in Dynamics of Cooperation, Conflicts and Negotiation in International Relations and Diplomacy.
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