Africa: Open for tourism business

On the eve of the official opening of INDABA 2015, tourism business was already hot on the agenda.

Issues pertaining to the growth and development of tourism in the African continent were the order of the day during a round table discussion hosted by Minister Derek Hanekom, held prior to the Pan-African tourism trade show.

Running with the theme ‘Africa: Open for Tourism Business’, the session afforded thirteen African Ministers and key tourism industry players an opportunity to discuss and debate the current state of tourism in Africa, with the end goal to create new solutions to grow tourism in the continent.

“The African market is undergoing unprecedented growth in tourist arrivals,” Hanekom said.

“Global interest in the continent, and a growing middle class with disposal income, is driving economic growth.

“Today’s meeting was not only a testimony of our commitment to strengthening relationships with our African counterparts, but a positive step forward towards finding workable solutions to advance tourism within the continent.”

While Africa has numerous drawcards to entice tourists, the main challenges to building tourism lie in infrastructure development, visa facilitation and connectivity, and the financing of tourism development.

The ministerial discussion focused on Africa’s readiness for tourism investment and constraints to investment promotion, the importance of the tourism sector towards building the economies of regional communities, collaboration between public and private sectors in growing tourism, visas and travel facilitation, and ways of improving intra-African travel.

“Although the continent is overwhelmed by social and economic challenges, challenges such as the outbreak of Ebola and the recent attacks on foreign nationals have the potential to impact negatively on tourism on the continent,” Hanekom added.

“We have to rise against these challenges, and commit to work together to address them for the future of tourism.”

United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s regional director for Africa, Elcia Grandcourt, called on the individual nations to band together for a stronger approach.

“Africa must work with Africa to advance tourism in the continent,” she urged. Speaking on the state of tourism in the African continent, Grandcourt reasserted the UNWTO’s commitment to supporting Africa in growing tourism.

“Cultural and historical resources in Africa are not being adequately harnessed to lure tourists to Africa,” she added.

“To show our commitment, we will host our first image and branding conference in Accra – Ghana with the view to impart skills within the continent, so it can better profile itself.”

“Africa is fast establishing itself as one of the most promising regions for tourism. Africa will receive 85 million international tourist arrivals by 2020, and 134 million in 2030, representing respectively 6.3% and 7.4% of international tourist arrivals worldwide.”

By the end of the session, the key conclusions were that the African Union should strive to highlight tourism on its agenda, the next African Ministerial session should focus on advancing uni-visas on the continent, and that Africa should work more towards harnessing its resources to present Africa as a united and unique destination to visit.

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