Bench Events and APO Group form long-term partnership to help drive hotel investment in Africa

Bench Events (www.BenchEvents.com), organisers of the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) (www.AHIF.com), and APO Group (www.APO-opa.com), the leading media relations consultancy and press release distribution service, today announced a wide-ranging collaboration aimed at boosting investment in the hospitality industry in Africa.

The deal, which is set to run until 2022, covers the next three editions of AHIF and its Francophone equivalent, the Forum de l’Investissement Hôtelier Africain (FIHA).

Hotels are crucial in boosting the economies of developing nations. Not only do they drive tourism, encouraging foreign investment and bringing in foreign currencies, they also host important business meetings. All over Africa, international conferences like AHIF help generate huge exposure – while world-class hotels facilitate day-to-day business travel for global executives and multinational organizations.

As Africa grows, it is essential hotel infrastructure develops alongside it, and Bench Events and APO Group are perfectly placed to help raise the profile of the hospitality industry, driving international investment through increased media exposure.

AHIF 2019 takes place at the Sheraton Hotel in Addis Ababa from 23rd-25th September, while the next FIHA conference will be held in March 2020.

Bench Events has consistently ensured that AHIF and FIHA attract the highest calibre international hotel investors of any conference in Africa, connecting business leaders from international and local markets, driving investment into hotel development and other hospitality and tourism-oriented projects across the continent.

The latest edition of AHIF is predicted to be the biggest event of its kind ever staged in Africa, generating millions of dollars for the local economy, and billions for the continent as a whole (http://bit.ly/2ymN3bd). Among the 600+ attendees will be senior figures from the Marriott, Hilton, AccorHotels and Radisson hotel groups, while speakers include key influencers from the global hospitality investment industry (www.AHIF.com/speakers).

APO Group’s involvement in the conference highlights their credentials as the most influential media distribution experts in Africa and the Middle East. In recent years, the consultancy has worked closely with some of the biggest players in the hospitality and wider tourism industries.

Both the Marriott and Hilton hotel groups are long-standing clients who have benefitted from APO Group’s media relations expertise. The firm supports over 300 prominent organizations – including 57 leading PR agencies – with their communications strategies in Africa and beyond.

During the week of each event, exhibitors at both AHIF and FIHA will benefit from complimentary access to APO Group’s comprehensive African press release distribution service.

APO Group’s industry-leading monitoring technology will help ensure that coverage of the both AHIF and FIHA events will be intricately tracked – providing invaluable data insights to Bench Events as they look to increase momentum and drive further investment into the hospitality industry in Africa.

Ahead of each of the next three editions of AHIF and FIHA, APO Group will invite an African journalist on an all-expenses-paid trip to the conference. APO Group will also mobilize their unparalleled corporate network to provide keynote speakers from diverse industries to add depth and breadth to the topics being discussed.

“What’s great about APO Group is their unrivalled expertise in African media landscapes and their ability to reach prominent journalists to help drive our message to new audiences,” said Matthew Weihs, Managing Director of Bench Events. “In partnership, I believe we have all the tools to make these conferences even more successful and bring greater international exposure and investment to the tourism industry all over Africa.”

“AHIF and FIHA represent the best in global collaboration in the hospitality industry,” said Lionel Reina, CEO of APO Group. “Hotels in Africa are a showcase for tourism and business across the continent, providing meeting places for commerce, as well as helping to drive interest and investment throughout the region. We relish partnerships like this one with Bench Events, as they demonstrate our commitment to raising Africa’s profile across a range of diverse industries.”