[ 2012-08-18 ]

Tourism in Africa is slowly coming of age
Jet-lagged, 500 delegates from around the world
arrived in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, in May to
deliberate on the path to Africa's tourism future.
To unwind, Zimbabwe's Tourism Authority, host of
the congress of the Africa Travel Association
(ATA), had organized a fun-filled welcome. The
delegates toured Victoria Falls — one of the
world's seven natural wonders — where they
participated in bungee jumping, gorge swinging and
zip-lining over the Zambezi River. They then went
on safari, encountering lions and elephants. Later
they savoured local cuisine and danced
enthusiastically to traditional music.

The host's intention was clear: see, feel and
believe. Zimbabwe's showcasing spoke louder than
routine speeches. It spurred tourism ministers
from Ghana, Namibia, Uganda and other African
countries to become bullish about the continent's
potential. Said US Ambassador Charles A. Ray,
“Zimbabwe, even with its political uncertainty,
is a potentially huge market.”

Tourism watchers are upbeat. In 2004, the New
Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)
approved an action plan to make Africa the “21st
century destination.” Taleb Rifai,
secre¬tary-general of the UN World Tourism
Organization (UNWTO), recently stated that
“Africa has been one of the fastest-growing
tourism regions of the last decade.” The sector
already employs about 7.7 million people in
Africa. Mr. Rifai cited data showing steady
increases in Africa's tourist arrivals, from 37
million in 2003 to 58 million in 2009.

Tourism revenues are the lifeline of many
economies. About 50 per cent of Seychelles' gross
domestic product (GDP) comes from tourism. The
rates are 30 per cent in Cape Verde, 25 per cent
in Mauritius and 16 per cent in Gambia. The World
Bank reports that tourism accounts for 8.9 per
cent of East Africa's GDP, 7.2 per cent of North
Africa's, 5.6 of West Africa's and 3.9 per cent of
Southern Africa's. In Central Africa, tourism
contributes just 1 per cent.

Despite the chest-thumping, Africa's share of
global tourist arrivals is relatively small. There
were 980 million international tourist arrivals in
2011, of which only 50 million traveled to Africa.
North Africa suffered a 12 per cent loss in 2011
from the previous year due to that region's
political unrest, denting the continent's share of
international arrivals. But that loss was
partially offset by a 7 per cent uptick in sub-
Saharan Africa, which gained 2 million arrivals.
Overall, the 2011 data shows that Africa performed
better than the Middle East, which lost 5 million
arrivals. Generally, the continent's top earners
are Egypt, South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and
Mauritius, according to UNWTO.

The East African Community (EAC), a regional bloc,
hopes to attract tourists from other parts of the
world — not just the West — to go to different
parts of East Africa — not just Kenya and
Tanzania. The EAC strategy, devel-oped in 2006,
includes using DVDs, brochures and other materials
to promote the region as a bloc. At
interna¬tional tourism conferences, East Africa
now speaks with one voice.

What draws tourists to a country, region or
continent? “I wanted to see something different
from Europe and I decided to visit Kenya and
Tanzania. It is a different feel I got, and I like
that,” Sven Brun, from Norway, tells Africa
Renewal. The McKinsey Global Institute, a think
tank, maintains that tourists are attracted to
countries with good infrastructure, safety and
security, and sanitation. Janet Kiwia, the
managing director of World Jet Travel and Tours in
Tanzania, adds that bad roads, poorly maintained
airports, power outages and other shortcomings
keep tourists away.

There are concerns over the safety of Africa's
aircraft and airspace. In just two days in June,
two planes crashed in Nigeria and Ghana, killing
more than 160 people. In 2009 the World Bank found
that 60 per cent of runways in North Africa were
in excellent condition, but only 17 per cent in
sub-Saharan Africa were. In addition, many
sub-Saharan airports are small and have trouble
dealing with huge arrivals. Most depend on a
single airline and some have no connections to
major carriers.

A report by New York University, the World Bank
and the ATA calls on industry operators to apply
innovative approaches to managing the different
types of African tourism, which it categorizes as
“safari,” “nature” and “culture.” The
report recommends “going beyond traditional
safari to include new adventures” by tapping
tour operators' creativity.

Nature tourism, including gorilla tracking,
presents opportunities. More than 700 mountain
gorillas live in the Virunga Mountains that span
Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC). Faced with polit¬ical instability,
the DRC is trying to attract tourists by charging
lower rates than Rwanda and Uganda. In 2011 the
three countries raked in a total of $225 million
from gorilla tourism. Through the website
www.friendagorilla.org, tourists pay to track
gorillas using webcams. It is also possible to
“friend” a gorilla on the social network
Facebook. Raising awareness of gorilla tourism
through social media may attract more tourists
from different parts of the world. More tourists
mean more money spent on hotels, restaurants, tour
guides and souvenirs.

Culture tourism requires aggres¬sive promotion.
Like food festivals in Mexico and music and
cultural festi¬vals in Jamaica and Trinidad,
African festivals can draw visitors. Film
festi¬vals in Zanzibar and Burkina Faso attract
culture tourists. Africa needs to “develop
flagship tourist attractions and communicate brand
effectively,” advises a McKinsey report.

Africa's domestic tourism (by resident visitors)
has been flagging. Not more than half of Kenyan
chief executives have seen an elephant, notes
Victoria Safari, a Kenyan tourism company.
“Africans should know Africa better than the
white person from outside,” it adds,
recommending cheaper trans-portation rates and
ease of travel to encourage African tourists.
Currently it costs about $1,500 to travel 1,800
miles from Luanda, Angola, to Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania, but only $1,100 to go from London to Dar
es Salaam, a distance of 4,600 miles.

Some countries are moving in the right direction.
Frommer's, a US travel guide series, named
Ethiopia one of the world's top 12 destinations in
2007. The 2010 World Cup in South Africa attracted
more than 300,000 foreign visitors. Only recently,
renowned international singer Youssou N'Dour
became Senegal's minister of culture and tourism,
which may help boost tourism in his country.

It may take some time before Africa catches up
with Europe, which received 480 million tourists
last year. But as international arrivals hit the
milestone of 1 billion worldwide in 2012, Africa
should aim for a bigger slice of the pie. The
right infrastruc¬ture, safety and security, and
effective communication of the continent's
attractions can be starting points.

Source - Africa Renewal

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