Africa’s tourism sector needs less talk, more action

Casablanca, Morocco

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Morocco has agreed a partnership with Ctrip – China’s biggest online travel agency – part of a plan to attract more Chinese tourists.

The country is hoping to boost arrivals from 180,000 in 2018 to 500,000, tapping into growing demand for travel to Africa from the world’s leading outbound market by expenditure in 2018 ($277 billion).

This is fueling growth in Africa’s tourism sector. International arrivals grew by 8.6% in 2017 to 62.7 million – the fastest globally. Last year saw a 7% increase, with $38 billion in international tourism receipts.

Encouraging, but Africa punches well below its weight – accounting for just 5% of international arrivals and 3% of receipts globally. Despite endless talk about the continent’s tourism potential, action is less forthcoming.

Underdeveloped infrastructure, limited integration, insecurity, and a lack of policy incentives mean that many markets are effectively inaccessible to mainstream tourists. The numbers reflect this, with Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya, and South Africa accounting for almost half of international arrivals in 2018.

This is also holding back intra-African tourism, which the UN estimates accounts for up to two thirds of arrivals in sub-Saharan Africa.

There are hopes that initiatives like the much-hyped African Continental Free Trade Area, and the Single African Air Transport Market, will change this.

Perhaps, if action beats words when it comes to implementing them.

This report reflects the views of the author alone, not those of How we made it in Africa.


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