Africa needs “inclusive and green tourism growth”

The report, sub­titled “Sus­tain­able Tour­ism through Innov­a­tion, Entre­pren­eur­ship, and Tech­no­logy” and dated Decem­ber 2016, has just been released by the Afric­an Devel­op­ment Bank (AfDB).

It stresses why it is now more import­ant than ever to draw on the col­lab­or­a­tion and expert­ise of pub­lic and private sec­tor prac­ti­tion­ers to foster a resi­li­ent travel and tour­ism sector.

The Africa Tour­ism Mon­it­or is a yearly research pub­lic­a­tion by the AfDB that grew out of a three-year col­lab­or­a­tion with New York Uni­ver­sity (NYU) Africa House and the Africa Travel Asso­ci­ation (ATA).

“It is clear that tour­ism is one of Africa’s most prom­ising sec­tors in terms of devel­op­ment, and rep­res­ents a major oppor­tun­ity to foster inclus­ive devel­op­ment, increase the region’s par­ti­cip­a­tion in the glob­al eco­nomy, and gen­er­ate rev­en­ues for invest­ment in oth­er activ­it­ies, includ­ing envir­on­ment­al and cul­tur­al pre­ser­va­tion,” Taleb Rifai, Sec­ret­ary-Gen­er­al, United Nations World Tour­ism Organ­iz­a­tion (UNWTO), said in the report.

The United Nations Gen­er­al Assembly declared 2017 the Inter­na­tion­al Year of Sus­tain­able Tour­ism for Devel­op­ment.

“With this renewed glob­al focus on sus­tain­able tour­ism, now is the time for all Afric­an coun­tries to craft eco­nom­ic and trade policies that will foster inclus­ive and green tour­ism growth, intra-Africa trade, and con­trib­ute to visa open­ness for a bor­der­less and inter­con­nec­ted con­tin­ent,” – an extract from the Africa Tour­ism Mon­it­or.

The report called atten­tion to the latest data from 2015, which glob­ally saw the highest level of tour­ism arrivals to date, but noted that Africa’s inter­na­tion­al tour­ism receipts also fell to US $39.2 bil­lion from US $43.3 bil­lion dur­ing the same period.

“A more pos­it­ive out­come was wit­nessed in the employ­ment sec­tor for Africa, which grew in line with glob­al trends. Dir­ect travel and tour­ism employ­ment in Africa in 2015 totalled 9.1 mil­lion, rising to 21.9 mil­lion jobs if we include dir­ect, indir­ect and induced employ­ment. In light of the tour­ism decline in Africa in 2015, it is now more import­ant than ever to draw on the col­lab­or­a­tion and expert­ise of pub­lic and private sec­tor prac­ti­tion­ers to foster a resi­li­ent travel and tour­ism sec­tor.” – an extract from the Africa Tour­ism Monitor.

The AfDB seeks to provide a for­um for all stake­hold­ers in Africa’s travel & tour­ism industry to come togeth­er and present new ideas and ini­ti­at­ives that can revo­lu­tion­ize the sec­tor and make it an engine of pro­gress for Africa’s socio-eco­nom­ic transformation.

“The facts, fig­ures, art­icles, and case stud­ies in this issue illus­trate how sus­tain­able travel and tour­ism involve loc­al pop­u­la­tions and com­munity stake­hold­ers to engage and thrive in this dynam­ic sec­tor in Africa,” Yaw Nyarko, Dir­ect­or of NYU Africa House, said in a pre­face to the report.

Top­ics covered by the Africa Tour­ism Mon­it­or:

• Africa Tour­ism: The Numbers
• Africa Tour­ism Data Portal
• Tourism’s Con­tri­bu­tion to Employment
• Insights from Africa’s Tour­ism Lead­ers and Policymakers
• Africa Com­mon Pass­port as a Cata­lyst to Boost Intra-Africa Travel and Trade
• Tour­ism for All – Pro­mot­ing Uni­ver­sal Access­ib­il­ity in Africa
• Pres­id­ent Gein­gob Meets U.S. Investors to Boost Invest­ments in Nam­i­bia Tour­ism Sector
• Strength­en­ing Africa’s Travel and Tour­ism Sector
• Africa’s Avi­ation Out­look 2017 22 Arik Air: The Pride of Nigeria
• The Role of Kenya Air­ways in Africa’s Tourism
• Apply­ing Tech­no­logy in Track­ing and Con­serving Africa’s Wildlife
• Uber: Con­nect­ing and Empower­ing Trans­port Entre­pren­eurs in Africa
• Expand­ing E‑Commerce and Impact in Africa Travel
• Social Media: Cre­at­ing Africa’s New Nar­rat­ives with Influ­en­cers and Millennials
• Cli­mate Resi­li­ence and Coastal Tour­ism in The Gam­bia: Build­ing Resi­li­ent Tour­ism Products, Coastal Pro­tec­tion, and Her­it­age Preservation
• Lib­er­al­iz­ing Travel for a Bor­der­less Africa
• Kenya’s e‑Visa Sys­tem is Revo­lu­tion­iz­ing Travel
• Improv­ing Qual­ity and Account­ab­il­ity: Tour­ism Grad­ing Coun­cil of South Africa
• Hotel Chain Devel­op­ment Pipelines in Africa 2016
• US-Africa Travel and Tour­ism Trends
• Explor­ing Africa’s His­tor­ic, Cul­tur­al, and Artist­ic Diversity
• Cul­tiv­at­ing Afric­an Culin­ary Tour­ism Products and Trade
• Mind­ful­ness in the Wil­der­ness: Africa’s Well­ness Travel Products
• Devel­op­ing Africa’s Med­ic­al Tour­ism Potential

Download

Africa Tour­ism Mon­it­or: “Sus­tain­able Tour­ism through Innov­a­tion, Entre­pren­eur­ship, and Tech­no­logy” by AfDB (Hos­ted offsite)