The State of Tourism in Africa

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The State of Tourism in Africa A joint publication of Africa House at New York University (NYU), VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 1 the Africa Travel Association (ATA) and the World Bank (WB) SEPTEMBER 2011

AFRICA The Continuing Case for TOURISM FACTS llAfrica’s tourism arrivals Tourism—Especially in grew from 37 million in 2003 to 63 million in 2010 Extraordinary Times llInternational tourism his second issue of The State of Tour- ernment was eager to get tourism back. receipts in Africa totaled ism in Africa continues to tell the story Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, the country’s US $44 billion in 2010 Tof how tourism not only drives eco- new Minister of Tourism, launched a variety llIn 2010 Morocco, Angola, nomic growth and development, but also of innovative marketing strategies. While it Cape Verde, Madagascar, contributes to economic recovery. More and will take time for Egypt’s tourism sector to South Africa and Egypt all more tourism is showing its resilience in reach its former volume, there is a belief reported double-digit growth ordinary and extraordinary times. among many tourism stakeholders that in arrivals. Tanzania, and In early 2011, tourism in North Africa Egypt’s past popularity as a historical and Mauritius also showed strong suffered from the shocks of political change. cultural destination will continue to be what growth rates in 2010 A number of countries issued travel warn- drives tourists to visit the “new Egypt”. ings for North Africa; tour operators rerout- There are many examples to learn from llPreliminary figures for the ed their customers and cancelled prebooked other destinations bouncing back after first four months of 2011 show trips. In 2010, Egypt had received 14 million major setbacks. After the World Trade Cen- strong growth in arrivals for visitors. Tourism was also the second largest ter attack on September 11, 2001, New York Cape Verde, Kenya, revenue source for the country, generating City was in a state of shock, lodging occu- Madagascar and Senegal US$12.5 billion in 2010. Yet, in January 2011, pancy levels plummeted and air travel was llDirect travel and tourism occupancy levels in hotels in major tourism limited. Domestic and foreign visitors to employment in Africa totaled areas dropped to single digits, leaving small New York City dropped to 35.2 million in an estimated 7.7 million in tourism entrepreneurs with little to no 2001 and remained at a similar level of 35.3 2010 income. Approximately 210,000 tourists had million in 2002. However, 2003 recorded a left the country in the last week of January, new record high with 37.8 million arrivals. SOURCES: United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) costing the country US$178 million, accord- This experience provides a valuable exam- and The World Travel and Tourism ing to Egypt’s statistics bureau. ple of tourism resiliency for destinations Council (WTTC) By April 2011, with some travel bans lifted, affected by extraordinary events. tourists began to return to Egypt, although, Election-related political unrest in early occupancy rates remained low. Egypt’s gov- 2008 caused Kenya’s tourism arrivals to col- continued on next page continued from page 1 lapse. While the unrest was local- Africa and the Caribbean: ized in a few areas of the country, tourists left the country and oth- Sharing Tourism Insights ers changed their itineraries. Tourism arrivals dropped signifi- here are lessons from the of tourist arrivals to the Carib- bean Tourism Organization cantly during the first quarter of Caribbean experience for bean are from cruises. In 2010, (CTO), the principal organiza- 2008 resulting in a 30% overall TAfrica’s tourism develop- Caribbean destinations received tion supporting the socio-eco- decline in 2008. In response, the ment. The two regions share a total of 43.6 million visitors, of nomic development and promo- Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) many similarities, including which 20.5 million were cruise tion of tourism to the Caribbean implemented their crisis man- colonial experiences and the passenger visits. In contrast, (CTO), aims to explore areas of agement plan engaging both variety of languages, such as with the exception of North collaboration and joint learning public and private sector stake- English, French, Dutch, and Africa, and smaller cruises along of experiences. Hugh Riley, Sec- holders. Spanish. The Caribbean, of the East African coast and to retary General & CEO of the By 2010, Kenya recorded their course, also has strong African Southern Africa, cruise passen- Caribbean Tourism Organiza- highest number of international roots. The arts, music and cui- ger visits are not significant in tion, notes, “Together, both tourist arrivals ever. Tourism has sine have become known as the African continent. organizations can explore the proven to be one of the most “Afro-Caribbean,” an important Sharing tourism development tourism potential that naturally resilient industries for countries asset of the region’s tourism. strategies and experiences is an links Africa and the Caribbean that have encountered natural There are also many differ- important link for Africa and the as a result of the historical, cul- disasters, political unrest or ences. In 2010, tourist arrivals in Caribbean. A memorandum of tural and familial ties.” n other extraordinary events. This Caribbean destinations totaled understanding signed July 26, SOURCE: The Caribbean Tourism is good news during ordinary… 23.1 million in comparison to 63 2010, between the Africa Travel Organization (CTO), September and extraordinary…times. n million in Africa. A large portion Association (ATA) and the Carib- 2011. Harnessing the Power of Social Media

he internet and social increase in the number of Ameri- kk78 percent of Americans use ing strategy, since African desti- media have changed the cans sourcing their travel to Afri- the web to make travel decisions. nations not only compete Tway businesses and desti- ca through the internet. Findings kk68 percent trust the web for against each other, but also bet- nations market themselves, their from the second annual Travel travel related advice. ter known destinations. For products and their services in Trust Index Report that examines kkOnly 5 percent say travel agen- example “vacation destinations” today’s marketplace, particularly Americans’ travel booking behav- cies are their most trusted source is a term searched 74,000 times in the U.S.A. Recent research iors and preferences, echo the for travel-related information. every month on Google. How- from the U.S. Department of U.S. Department of Commerce Using key “search terms” is ever, Africa is not among the top Commerce identified a 15% research highlighting: essential to a successful market- 20 results. The sites, people and eco- diversity of destinations such as Expedia in Africa (2010): $336+ million Egypt, Tanzania and Zimbabwe can compete with other global GROSS-BASE BOOKINGS: ALL LINES OF BUSINESS (AIR, HOTEL, PACKAGES ETC.) destinations. A vineyard tour in “Expedia’s business to South Africa can also compete $400,000,000 Africa keeps on with vineyards in Rhone or $350,000,000 growing despite the Bordeaux. Getting the message $300,000,000 global financial out begins with placing Africa front and center in consumers’ $250,000,000 downturn. The opportunity is there; minds, especially those with a $200,000,000 the facts are here. This is no longer about predisposition toward a specific $150,000,000 the future; it is about the present.” destination’s products and services, such as luxury travel, $100,000,000 —DIEGO LOFEUDO, Director Eastern $50,000,000 Mediterranean & Africa, Expedia, Inc. culinary tourism or volunteer- ing. Leveraging search engines, $0 2007 2008 2009 2010 the Internet and social media is a way to achieve this. n

2 THE STATE OF TOURISM IN AFRICA AFRICA TOURISM BY THE NUMBERS

Tourist Arrivals in Africa Continue to Grow in 2010 Worldwide arrivals in 2010 were up by 6.6% compared to 2009 and reached 940 million arrivals (UNWTO, 2011). Emerging

countries are driving much of the boost as the growth rate of tourist arrivals is exceeding that of developed countries. Emerging economies are also leading the recovery in terms of increased expenditures abroad. In 2009, Africa was the only region to show growth in tourism arrivals. Figures from the UNWTO for 2010 show a continued growth trend as the region shows an 8.8% increase in

Millions of Millions of arrivals. Africa received 63 million tourists in 2010. The 2010 63.4 FIFA World Cup proved very successful as South Africa’s arriv- 17.4 als increased by 15% in that year with more than 309,000 visi- Visitors to Africa to Visitors 1990 2010 tors arriving to attend the sporting events.

Tourist Arrivals and Receipts in Africa by Region (2009) Tourism Employment as a % REGION TOTAL TOURIST ARRIVALS TOTAL LONG HAULS RECEIPTS US$ M of Total Employment (2010) NORTH AFRICA 29,690,794 28,427,896 21,760 % OF TOTAL DIRECT SOUTHERN AFRICA 10,626,127 2,509,893 8,599 COUNTRY EMPLOYMENT EMPLOYMENT EAST AFRICA 11,905,651 3,944,858 6,332 1. SEYCHELLES 22.1 8,600 WEST AFRICA 4,419,061 1,748,555 2,676 CENTRAL AFRICA 1,075,408 654,168 631 2. MAURITIUS 12.7 70,300 TOTAL 57,717,041 37,285,370 39,998 3. CAPE VERDE 12.6 14,400 SOURCE: UNWTO; Long-haul tourist arrivals are defined as all tourists from outside of the SSA region 4. TUNISIA 7.7 247,800 (total tourist arrivals minus total Africa arrivals) 5. MOROCCO 7.6 862,400 Top Five Africa Countries International Tourist Arrivals (2010) SOURCE: WTTC for International Tourist (SUB) REGION MILLIONS Receipts (US$ M) EUROPE 476.6 Direct Employment in the COUNTRY 2008 2009 2010 ASIA AND THE PACIFIC 203.9 Tourism Industry as % of EGYPT 10,958 10,755 12,528 NORTH AMERICA 98.2 Total Employment SOUTH AFRICA 7,925 7,543 9,070 CARIBBEAN 20.1 MOROCCO 7,168 6,557 6,720 CENTRAL AMERICA 7.9 WORLD AVERAGE 3.3% SOUTH AMERICA 23.5 TUNISIA 2,953 2,773 2,654 AFRICA 3.1% AFRICA 63.4 TANZANIA 1,289 1,160 1,303 NORTH AFRICA 6.2% MIDDLE EAST 46.3 SSA 2.3% MAURITIUS 1,449 1,117 1,282 WORLD 940 SOURCE: WTTC SOURCE: UNWTO TOURISM BAROMETER JUNE 2011 SOURCE: UNWTO TOURISM BAROMETER JUNE 2011

THE STATE OF TOURISM IN AFRICA 3 Tour Operators: A Critical Connector Between Source Markets and Africa

our operators are key components of advantage of this competitive edge, improve- the tourism industry in Africa. The ments to service standards and to ground Main Findings Ttour operations sector acts as the operator professionalism are crucial. This “connector” in the tourism business. Inter- will help convey the feeling of value for of Research national operators connect with potential money to customers who are paying top customers and airline reservation systems; dollar for their SSA experience. Careful envi- Sector Size Current best estimates suggest ground operators connect with accommoda- ronmental stewardship is also crucial to the there are between 2,500 and tion and domestic transport providers. sustainability of these products. 3,000 ground operators in SSA. Recent research on Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) Destinations offering more com- tour operators conducted for the World Bank Around 4 million plex products such as safari and highlights useful findings and trends for adventure have a larger number of ground operators. The countries tourism stakeholders. tourists took a “tour” with the most tour operators are The tour operations sector is complex and South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, its numerous inter-related parts have to to Sub Saharan Africa Ethiopia, and Madagascar. perform to a high standard in order to deliv- in 2009. er a quality experience. The growth of the Employment Tour operators are estimated to sector also relies on many external factors provide direct employment for such as security and political stability, High prices have a much bigger impact on 30,000 to 45,000 people in SSA. health, air transport frequency and prices, the middle and lower-end of the market. Employment includes: drivers, infrastructure, and the overall business envi- Although ground operators expressed mixed guides, porters, mechanics, natu- ronment. feelings about the long term effects of char- ralists, reservation agents, accoun- tants, and managers. The results of an on-line World Bank sur- ter tourism for destinations, there are signifi- vey and interview of tour operators high- cant opportunities for tour operators to Spending lighted key challenges to the tour operator expand their appeal to the middle section of Tour operators are responsible for sector: high prices, security, access, business the market: young couples, groups of 10% to 15% of tourist spending in environment, service standards and market friends, students, “voluntourists”, and fami- SSA. This is equivalent to between image. Of these, high prices compared to lies with slightly older children. If the price is US$2 billion to US$3 billion. Due to their tendency to lead visitors to other regions were identified as the main right, market awareness is improved, and isolated, rural locations, tour oper- constraint faced by international operators visitors consistently receive value for money, ations can have a significant pro- selling tours to SSA. these groups could just as well decide on a poor economic impact. A benchmarking study found that tours to vacation in Mozambique, Ethiopia, Ghana, SSA were 25% to 35% more expensive than or Madagascar rather than a tour to India or Tour Products Tour operators report that the larg- equivalent tours to other parts of the world. Thailand. Improved business environment, est and fastest growing tour prod- The high price of tours has more effect on investment in mid-range accommodation, uct to SSA is customized tours. the middle and low end of the market than increased liberalization of air transport, and These tours are tailor-made to fit the high-end of the market. more effective marketing will help improve the budget, destination preferenc- Tour operators explained that high-end competitiveness and access to this high es, and timeframe of individuals or small family groups. The main travelers are selecting an Africa destination potential middle market. attraction of a customized tour to for the big game viewing and exclusivity, not Sub Saharan Africa has huge potential for Africa is to combine wildlife with for the price. Fortunately African tour prod- sustainable tourism development. Tour one or more other activities such as ucts are not easily inter-changeable with operators can take visitors to places where beach or culture, at a budget and destinations in Asia or elsewhere in the independent travel is not a viable option. activity level that suits the client. world. Tigers in India are not as numerous They also facilitate soft adventure options Challenges as lions in Kenya. Sub Saharan Africa has the to places which would otherwise have few Cost, security, access, business competitive edge in wildlife tourism. Africa economic opportunities. Attention to qual- environment, service standards, has “trophy value” for American travelers, ity, service, environmental management and market image “adventure” value for British travelers, and and logistics will help countries to grow this Source: World Bank “exploration” value for the French. To main- important sector further over the next tain these market segments and to take full decade. n

4 THE STATE OF TOURISM IN AFRICA ATA World Congress Highlights: Impact, Trends and Best Practices

he Africa Travel Association held its Tourism Drives Economic New Product Development 36th Annual World Congress from Growth and Changes Lives and Diversification Attracts TMay 25-29, 2011 in Senegal, bringing Tourism provides significant potential and New Markets more than 200 industry professionals and opportunity for socio-economic growth and The competitiveness of a country’s tourism government leaders together to shape the development. industry depends on the diversity of exist- future of Africa’s growing tourism industry. ing and potential tourism products and Discussion highlights included: “The tourism industry contributes signifi- services. Culinary tourism stands as an cantly to strengthening the conditions of emerging new product that provides Sen- “African airlines, like South African our economic development by creating egal and Africa with opportunities for brand Airways and Arik Air, understand the more wealth and helping us achieve the re-positioning. African market… When customers fly [United Nations] Millennium Develop- ment Goals.” “As consumers become more adventur- with African airlines, revenue and jobs ous, and with the increased demand for —HON. SOULEYMAYNE NDÉNÉ NDIAYE, remain on the continent and are injected healthy ingredients, and the rise of the Prime Minister, Senegal into the economy. We’re also best posi- slow food and farm-to-table movements, tioned to engage in public-private part- Africa is that ‘last frontier’ for foodies.” nerships, to encourage the improvement Destinations and Businesses Derive Value from the Internet —PIERRE THIAM, Chef and of infrastructure and inter-country travel and Social Media Cookbook Author on the continent, as well as to promote “The best money spent in travel advertising travel and tourism.” is on the Internet and in generating user- SOURCES: Highlights prepared by Leigh Rome —GREGG TRUMAN, Vice President, content on products with social media and Rebecca Asch, recipients of the new NYU- Marketing, South African Airways tools, like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Gallatin and NYU Africa House Research Fellowship and Travel Grant in May 2011. blogs, and sites like Trip Advisor.” —JORGE EDUARDO CASTILLO, Passport Health, USA

Focus on Senegal Senegal is taking steps to brand itself as a “Gateway to Africa,” highlighting new industry events and travel products, most notably The International Tourism, Cultural Industries and Artistic Crafts Fair (TICAA) and the new culture and heri- tage site, the Africa Renaissance Monument. This giant copper sculpture of a family reaching skyward was inaugurated by President Abdoulaye Wade to mark the 50th anniversary of the country’s independence in April 2010. At the end of the ATA congress, delegates, alongside thousands of fans, attended a Senega- lese wrestling match at Demba Diop Stadium in Dakar. Today, wrestling is Senegal’s national sport and a multi-million dollar industry that attracts more fans than any other sport in the country.

THE STATE OF TOURISM IN AFRICA 5 Tourism Enhances Africa’s Competitiveness

he Africa Competitiveness Report 2011 is a joint publication of the World Eco- Reaping the Full Tnomic Forum (WEF), the African Development Bank and the World Bank. The Benefits of Tourism report contains in-depth assessments of the “Africa’s rich natural and cultural resources represent state of competitiveness, the impact of foreign a major unexploited endowment through travel and direct investment on the continent, and the tourism, with the potential to generate significant trade performance of the region. The 2011 employment, growth and poverty reduction. The Report focuses on harnessing Africa’s under- region has many advantages on which to build its tourism industry, including price competitiveness, a utilized resources: skills, female entrepre- strong affinity for tourism and rich natural resources neurship, and natural and cultural resources supported by efforts towards environmental sustain- and, for the first time, includes tourism as an ability. However, a number of obstacles remain to area on which Africa should focus to ensure develop the sector, notably improving safety and security, upgrading health strong sustained and shared growth. and hygiene levels, developing infrastructure and access to African sites, and fostering the region’s human capital. Improvements in these areas would great- The tourism chapter of the report, “Assess- ly enhance Africa’s ability to reap the enormous potential benefits of tourism.” ing Africa’s Travel & Tourism Competitive- ness in the Wake of the Global Economic SOURCE: “New Report Finds Education, Women’s Entrepreneurship, Tourism and Trade Key to Africa’s Crisis” co-written by the World Bank and Competitiveness,” WEF, May 4, 2011. WEF, brings together data from the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Com- petitiveness Index (TTCI) and World Bank parison, China and Brazil out performed these Verde, Botswana, and The Gambia. research on the drivers of Africa’s travel and top African destinations. South Africa is the The report explores the strengths Africa has tourism (T&T) competitiveness. The chapter only other African country featured in the top to build upon including price competitiveness, analyzes T&T competitiveness in Africa half of the overall rankings and is outper- a strong affinity for tourism, and rich natural while comparing it to four rapidly develop- formed by Russia, but ahead of India,. Egypt, resources supported by environmental sus- ing BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India, Morocco, and Namibia are below India’s aver- tainability efforts. The Report however, also and China through review of the TTCI’s 14 age but ahead of the overall North African shows that there are a number of obstacles variables reflecting tourism competitiveness. average and well ahead in terms of perfor- hindering the region’s tourism competitiveness Global TTCI rankings of 139 countries based mance than most Sub Saharan African coun- such as safety and security, health and hygiene on 2010 data place Tunisia at 47th position, tries. Three other African countries place with- levels, underdeveloped infrastructure, and followed closely by Mauritius at 53rd. In com- in the top 100 of the global rankings: Cape need for human capital across the continent. Cases on pressing issues pertinent to the Travel and Tourism Competitveness Index industry in Africa including visa schemes, community-based tourism, tour operations, air SUBINDEX A SUBINDEX B SUBINDEX C transport, tapping natural resources to benefit T&T Regulatory T&T Business Environment T&T Human, Cultural, the poor, and leveraging Africa’s cultural heri- Framework and Infrastructure and Natural Resources tage assets highlight opportunities for the Policy Rules and Regulations Air Transport: Infrastructure Human Resources region. To fully tap this potential, Africa can Environmental Sustainablilty Ground Transport Infrastructure Affinity for Travel and Tourism expand by growing its offerings in combina- tion with capturing a higher percentage of Safety and Security Tourism Infrastructure Natural Resources global market share. Given Africa’s many strengths, improvements in these areas will Health and Hygiene ICT Infrastructure Cultural Resources greatly enhance its ability to reap the enor- Prioritization of Price Competitiveness mous potential benefits of tourism.n Travel & Tourism in the T&T Industry Climate Change SOURCE: The Africa Competitiveness Report SOURCE: World Economic Forum, 2011 2011, World Economic Forum, the World Note: This figure shows a notional 15th pillar on climate change, depicted with a dotted line. Although this concept is not yet Bank and the African Development Bank. included in the calculation of the TTCI, given it’s importance to the future of the T&T sector, the World Economic Forum intends to integrate the climate change pillar into that Index in the future as relevant data become avaialble. The complete Report is downloadable from www.worldbank.org/africa/acr.

6 THE STATE OF TOURISM IN AFRICA Tourism offers China-Africa Travel & Tourism perhaps he long-term prospect of Africa-Asia travel by the travel agencies in China are: Morocco, some of remains bright as the rapidly growing Afri- Namibia, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Seychelles, the the best T can and Asian economies are expected to United Republic of Tanzania and Ethiopia. opportu- create added demand for travel between the two Given the deepening economic relations nities for continents. between Africa and China and the growing interest diversifying Africa’s econ- of Chinese leisure travelers in “exotic” destina- Chinese Outbound Travel to Africa omies, away from over- tions, the number of Chinese visitors to Africa is China has developed into one of the most impor- reliance on natural re- bound to grow further. This growth will be even tant source markets for international tourism. In more impactful if the African tourism industry is sources and creating 2010, 57.4 million Mainland Chinese citizens organized to prepare for these tourists by: millions of jobs, which we crossed a border, an increase of 20% compared to kkReinforcing the promotion and marketing strate- strongly advocate in our 2009. Over 140 countries worldwide have signed gies for African Destinations entrusting Chinese new Africa Strategy: Approved Destination Status (ADS) agreements public relations or consulting companies. “Africa’s Future and the with the Chinese Government and are prepared to kkOffering suitable products and related services to World Bank’s Support to receive groups of Chinese tourists. Twenty-six of cater for the travel habits of Chinese and their it”. For tourism to deliver these approved destinations are African countries. demands. on its promise though, Africa received 730,000 visitors from China in kkEnhancing cooperation with the Chinese out- Africa must embrace the 2010, making it the smallest, but fastest growing bound tour operator. reforms needed to im- continental destination with an impressive growth kkEstablishing representative offices in China and prove governance of the rate of 90% compared to 2009. In line with the attending outbound tourism fairs in China. overall trend of the emerging Chinese outbound sector, including to help tourism market, about 75% of the Chinese visitors African’s Outbound Travel to China deepen competition — to Africa are first-time visitors, traveling both for Approximately 1.9 million travelers from Africa among countries and leisure and for business purposes. visited Asia Pacific destinations in 2010, up 8% across tourism operators The top three countries for Chinese tourist arriv- from 2009. This increase is however still short of — but also to ensure that als in Africa are Egypt, South Africa and Kenya. In the two million mark seen in the pre-economic tourism creates jobs not 2008, the number of Chinese travelers to these three recession period of 2007. The cumulative growth only in towns - where an countries accounted for 61.6% of the total arrivals to of arrival between 2005 and 2010 reached increasing number of Africa. Other top 10 Africa destinations organized between 4% and 5% which is an encouraging Africa’s poor live — but result given the challenges of the economic crisis of 2008 and 2009. also in rural areas, where Chinese Tourist Top 5 African revenue, jobs and im- The continued rise of African carriers in the past Arrivals to Africa Source Markets decade has been crucial in driving Africa-Asia Pacif- proved living standards to Asia (2009) ic travel by providing more direct links between the stemming from tourism 1. SOUTH AFRICA continents and thereby boosting the numbers of could help conserve (489,416) Egypt arrivals from Africa to Asia Pacific, and vice-versa.n Africa’s rich fauna, biodi- Others 2. NIGERIA 39% 28% (161,173) versity and rainforests 3. EGYPT SOURCES: Relevant NTOs/NSAs, compiled by PATA; South (157,059) Professor Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt, Director, COTRI among other resources. Kenya Africa 20% 4. MAURITIUS China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (www. 13% (80,599) —OBIAGELI 5. KENYA china-outbound.com). EZEKWESILI, Source: Study on Chinese (63,453) Vice President for the Outbound Travel to Source: China Tourism NOTE: Asia Pacific by PATA definition, in addition World Bank’s Africa Africa, UNWTO, 2010 Academy, COTRI to Asia and the Pacific, also include North America Region (Canada, Mexico and U.S.A.).

THE STATE OF TOURISM IN AFRICA 7 The State of Tourism in Africa is a joint publication of Africa House at New York Leadership Voices University (NYU), the Africa Travel Association (ATA) and the World Bank (WB).

“It is an indisputable NYU Africa House lines, cruise lines, hotels, resorts, front- line travel sellers and providers, tour fact that tourism, whose 3 Washington Square Village, Suite 1F New York, NY 10012 U.S.A. operators and travel agents, and affiliate contribution to GDP is Tel: +1 212 998 2319 industries. ATA partners with the African substantial and integral [email protected] Union Commission (AU) to promote the to economic growth, sustainable development of tourism to Contributors and across Africa. ATA’s annual events plays a key role in the Martine Bakker (World Bank) bring together industry and leaders to economy of many Edward Bergman (ATA) shape Africa’s tourism agenda. Africa nations today. Eneida Fernandes (World Bank) www.africatravelassociation.org This phenomenon has a direct positive Alice Jong (ATA Intern-NYU) Dr. Hannah Messerli (World Bank) About The World Bank, impact on our economies and, by exten- Dr. Yaw Nyarko (Africa House-NYU) Africa Finance & Private sion, on the lives of the people of the conti- Sharon Roling (ATA) Sector Development nent, particularly those in lower income Dr. Louise Twining-Ward (World Bank) The World Bank’s Africa Finance and brackets such as youth. Thus, tourism Private Sector Development Depart- About NYU Africa House ment (AFTFP) focuses on work with contributes significantly to GDP and is an The Africa House at New York Univer- African governments to promote important variable in the fight against sity is an interdisciplinary institute access to finance and to create an devoted to the study of contemporary poverty and in the creation of jobs, as well enabling environment for private sector Africa, focusing on economic, political development. AFTFP provides techni- as in the generation of wealth that ben- and social issues on the continent, as cal assistance and execute lending and efits our communities in diverse ways.” well as on programs in the arts and operational projects in Tourism, Invest- particularly contemporary African art. ment Climate, Industry Competitive- —HONORABLE FATOU MAS JOBE-NJIE, www.nyu.edu/africahouse ness, Financial Sector Development, President Africa Travel Association, and Public Private Partnerships. Estab- Minister of Tourism and About the Africa lished in 1944, the World Bank provides Culture The Gambia Travel Association interest-free credits and grants and The Africa Travel Association (ATA) is low-interest loans to developing coun- the leading global trade association tries to support poverty alleviation “Tourism in Africa is a promoting travel and tourism to Africa through investments in education, leading industry that and strengthening intra-Africa partner- health, public administration, infrastruc- ships. Established in 1975, ATA serves continues to make ture, financial and private sector devel- both the public and private sectors of opment, agriculture and environmental significant contribution the international travel and tourism and natural resource management. to the socio-economic industry. ATA membership comprises www.worldbank.org well-being of countries African governments, their tourism min- isters, tourism bureaus and boards, air- Copyright © 2011 Africa House-NYU and, most notably, of individual Africans. It DISCLAIMER Data from a variety of sources such as the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) is a sector that provides enormous eco- and the World Travel Organization (UNWTO) and government tourism authorities nomic opportunities to diverse segments related to travel and tourism in Africa are included in this report to illustrate the inter- of the society; from single persons and connectedness of the industry. However, the sources speak on behalf of themselves and any questions related to data for this report, should be directed to the original sources. communities living around tourist The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed herein are those of the author(s) attractions to well-established tourism and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Africa House-NYU, the Africa Travel Association (ATA) or the Executive Directors of the International Bank for Reconstruc- businesses covering tour operations, trav- tion and Development/The World Bank or the governments they represent. el agencies, hotels, etc. It is, therefore, my Africa House-NYU, the Africa Travel Association and The World Bank, do not guar- antee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denom- strong view that tourism should be inations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any accorded high priority in the strategic judgment on the part of The Africa House-NYU, the Africa Travel Association or The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or accep- development plans of African countries. tance of such boundaries. By impacting positively at both micro and macro-economic levels, it is indeed, a quick-win solution to growth and poverty eradication in the continent.” —DR. ELHAM M.A. IBRAHIM, Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, African Union Commission