What’s the most impressive thing you’ve ever done in under four minutes?

At FUSE, We Are Africa’s first un-conference, in partnership with Wilderness Safaris and hosted at Grand Café & Beach, 10 speakers took to the stage to present a SPARK, a.k.a. a big idea they think will change the future of African travel. But there was a catch: they had just 15 slides and only 15 seconds per slide in which to do it.

Whether you missed the chance to be there or just want to be inspired all over again, we caught up with all our SPARK speakers to find out why the We Are Africa tribe should care about what they have to say…

And with the second instalment of FUSE taking place at We Are Africa’s fifth edition (14-17 May 2018), now’s a good time to start thinking of your own SPARK! Want to get involved? Applications open 4 July.

JAMES FERNIE, UTHANDO (LOVE) SOUTH AFRICA

In one line, what’s your big idea that will influence the future of high-end African travel and hospitality?

Linking tourism and community development, creating powerful ripples of hope and opportunity.

Briefly, why should the We Are Africa tribe care?

Because the tourism industry can be that shining light of inspiration and change.

Very quickly, what do you want the We Are Africa tribe to do after they hear your SPARK?

Embrace and adopt a community development project.

For those who can’t be at FUSE, please can you summarise your SPARK in five bullet points?

• The inspiration behind creating a unique link between tourism and development
• Abalimi bezkhaya ‘farmers of home’ changing thousands of lives through urban agriculture
• High-end tourism companies embracing responsible tourism
• Now is the time for genuinely authentic and meaningful interactions and experiences for tourists
• Realise your power to help change the world

Janice Ashby, The Rhinos Are Coming!!!

In one line, what’s your big idea that will influence the future of high-end African travel and hospitality?

The bringing together of art, conservation, the travel industry, business-in-general, and passionate conservation individuals to stage spectacular art exhibitions in Southern African cities to raise funds to save various endangered African species.

Briefly, why should the We Are Africa tribe care?

The Rhinos Are Coming!!! is a fresh, fun, lighthearted, less grisly approach to raising funds for endangered species that will bring in hundreds-of-thousands more visitors to cities and game lodges, plus will counter rhino burnout within the donor  community.

Very quickly, what do you want the We Are Africa tribe to do after they hear your SPARK?

To succeed, we need 100 more sponsors over the next seven months, in addition to the eleven top hotels and businesses who funded the making of our first eight rhinos during our crowd funding campaign ending February 2017.

To spread the word and inspire organisations and people to sponsor rhinos. The media loves such programmes – brand awareness benefits are substantial, so it makes business-sense to sponsor and support the programme.

For those who can’t be at FUSE, please can you summarise your SPARK in five bullet points?

This programme aims to:

• Raise funds for species conservation
• Offer businesses and people from all walks of life an opportunity to contribute to preserving endangered species in an enjoyable, fun, people friendly way
• Enable artists to showcase their work to audiences of many hundreds-of-thousands outside of their traditional gallery environments
• Educate children about wildlife conservation and careers in the creative arts through an education programme that has schools painting half-size sculptures for the exhibition
• Boosts the economies of Cape Town through increased footfall, paid accommodation, broader spending on travel, gifts and refreshments

Simon Stobbs, Wilderness Safaris

In one line, what’s your big idea that will influence the future of high-end African travel and hospitality?

Frontier Eco-tourism is key in terms of helping conserve remote wilderness areas. In order for these areas to be successful and continue to be conserved, all stakeholders in the tourism chain need to play their part.

Briefly, why should the We Are Africa tribe care? 

Through the scale and reach of the tribe, we can make a difference and create the awareness these areas require so as to ensure they are conserved.

Very quickly, what do you want the We Are Africa tribe to do after they hear your SPARK? 

Create awareness for and promote these Frontier Eco-tourism destinations.

For those who can’t be at FUSE, please can you summarise your SPARK in five bullet points?

• Frontier Eco-tourism is all about developing tourism in remote, lesser-known destinations
• The difficulty with this is that as these areas are generally not that well known – it can be a challenge to get people travelling there; this is exacerbated by the fact that these areas are often difficult to access
• The questions is: whose responsibility is it to try and make this work? Our stance is that we should all have a moral obligation to do so
• By doing this, we can leverage our scale and create the awareness that is so important to make these areas a success
• The risk is that if we do not, there is every chance that there areas will no longer be conserved