Africa a 'hotbed of culture,' says travel agency president

PHOENIX (AP) - Africa is an untapped trade opportunity for American businesses and the continent has more to offer tourists than elephants and other exotic wildlife, tourism officials said yesterday at an international business show here.

''With the exception of South Africa, Zimbabwe and a couple of the southern Africa countries, tourism is almost a standstill,'' said Selma Edwards, one of four panelists participating in a tourism and hospitality seminar at ''Africa '96,'' a business show organized by Phoenix-based AMI Consultants to highlight trade and investment opportunities in Africa.

Edwards, president of a New York company that provides cultural trips to Africa, said the whole continent is a hotbed of culture.