African Travel PRs and journalists gather for first ever Ubuntu Africa Media Event
A group of 15 African specialist Travel PRs and 15 expert journalists recently attended the first ever Ubuntu Africa Media event on 12 November 2025 at the Rubens at the Palace Hotel in London, arranged by Claire Roadley of Umlingo Travel PR, supported by Michelle de Klerk from Last Word and Isi Thomas of Red Carnation, who generously hosted the venue free of charge.
Guests gathered in the perfectly themed Leopard Room, and the team from Rubens did a splendid job of looking after us, serving up delicious canapes with an African twist including butter chicken Bunny Chows, sweet potato & lentil Potjie, Bobotie spring rolls with Mrs Balls chutney and cheese and tomato Braai Broodjies, Dessert was Malva Pudding with Amarula Cream.
Thank you to all the PRs who helped spread the news etc - we had a full house and a waitlist!
Journalists in attendance included Andrea Thompson, Emma Gregg, Sue Watt, Sarah Marshall, Jared Ruttenberg, Mary Isokariari, Antonia Windsor, Natasha Blair, Meera Dattani, Urvashi Roe, Yves de Contades, Toby White, Shelley Rubenstein, Kris Griffiths and Craig Rix.
PRs in attendance included
Kgomotso Ramothea from ATTA® (the African Travel & Tourism Association)
Laura Shelbourne for the Elewana Collection
Sharon Coleshill of Spotlight for Mantis
Olivia Pascoe of MMGY Grifco for Wilderness
Sarah Sheehan of MMGY Grifco for the Victoria Falls Collection
Adele Cutler of Pindrop PR for Visit Angola and Great Lakes Safaris and Saudade Mozambique
Sarah Geppert of Rooster and Meryem Bennouna of Visit Morocco
Becky Hampson of Storrington PR for Desert & Delta Safaris
Li Boatwright of Storrington PR for Seas4Life
Nicky Coenen and Michelle de Klerk for Last Word
Tim Henshall of Tanzanian Tourism UK
Isabelle Thomas of the Red Carnation Hotel Collection
Claire Roadley of Umlingo Travel PR representing Bushtops , Carmines River Lodge, Mosetlha, Mashatu, Onguma, OurAfrica.Travel, Pambele Mozambique, The Cavern, The Cocoon Collection, The Wilderness Collection and Travel Promoters.
“Ubuntu” is primarily about community and working together in solidarity for the greater good. Essentially the spirit of “I am because we are”. It is hoped start of many fab collabs - be they more events like this or even joint press trips. Pooling our skills, resources and wonderful clients in Africa can only offer our wonderful Africa specialist journalists an enhanced in destination experience.
Ubuntu is also about making a positive impact on community, so all funds left over from the event were donated to a rural African primary school I visited this year as part of press trips I hosted, namely the Royal Drakensberg Primary School in KwaZulu-Natal - supporting the wonderful children that made gorgeous Christmas cards for the goody bags. A further donation will also be made to the Nkoilale School in Kenya next time I visit Mara Bushtops.
Thanks to the great feedback and success of this first event it is hoped these will become a more regular fixture on the African travel and tourism calendar.
FEEDBACK ON THE EVENT FROM A FEW OF THE JOURNALISTS
By far the best PR event I've been to in some time! Thanks so much for arranging this Claire Roadley and please put my name down for the next one! - Sue Watt from Travel Africa Magazine
"Great event Claire. Really lovely to see everyone. Lots of fun!." - Sarah Marshall
Belated thanks Claire. It was an excellent event with lots of great chats and ideas. Thanks so much for organising! - Meera Dattani from Adventure.com
Great event! I walked away buzzing with so many ideas. Thank you again x - Urvashi Roe
It was nice meeting you and connecting. Lovely event, food, company and goodie bag 😀. Looking forward to collaborating and heading back to the Mother Land - Mary Isokariari
Such a special event and thank you so much for making it so! The venue was perfect and amazing but it was more about not just making connections but future friends - Andrea Thompson from Travelling for Business Magazine
It was the most fabulous and inspiring of evenings! Thank you again for the hard work in making it happen! -Jared Ruttenberg
FEEDBACK ON THE EVENT FROM A FEW OF THE PRS
What a fantastic event, thank you for all your hard work Claire Roadley in making it so successful. Looking forward to next years already! - Laura Shelbourne
#TravelPRs #Ubuntu #UbuntuAfrica #TravelWriters #AfricanTourism #fabcollabs
PS Thanks to Jared Ruttenberg for taking and sharing some great pics!
