African tourism booming, 67 million tourists in 2018

TravelBizNews —–

Travel and tourism in Africa is booming, growing 5.6 per cent in 2018 compared to the global average of 3.9 per cent and the broader African economy rate of 3.2 per cent.

This places Africa as the second-fastest growing tourism region behind only Asia-Pacific. Such growth is partly explained by North Africa’s rebound from security crises as well as the development and implementation of policies that promote travel facilitation, according to World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) research.

Travel & Tourism contributed $194.2 billion to the region’s economy, representing 8.5 per cent of the continent’s GDP in 2018.The sector contributed 24.3 million African jobs, or 6.7 per cent of total employment.

According to WTTC, 71 per cent of tourism spending across Africa was leisure-driven and 29 per cent business Domestic spending accounted for 56 per cent of the tourism economy versus 44 per cent for international.

International tourism spending comprised 9.6 per cent of the region’s total exports, worth $58.5 billion.

Ethiopia stands out not only as Africa’s fastest growing travel economy but indeed the world’s, growing by 48.6 percent last year to be worth $7.4 billion. This stunning growth can be attributed, in part, to Ethiopia’s improved connectivity as a regional transport hub and to recent visa relaxation policies.

Similarly, Egypt’s tourism sector has demonstrated considerable resilience, growing by 16.5 per cent last year with international visitor spending accounting for 27.3 per cent of exports. This follows huge safety improvements in the country and in key destinations such as Sharm El-Sheikh, helping to entice international tourists back to the northern coast.

 “In 2018, “The World Travel & Tourism Council hosted its first ever Africa Leaders Forum in Stellenbosch, South Africa, recognising the increasing significance and power of this great region’s travel economy in 2018,” WTTC President & CEO Gloria Guevara said.

“We commend the tourism leaders in Africa who are helping to boost connectivity, promote travel facilitation and ensure traveller safety – all of these measures make for supreme growth; the kind of growth that we are now witnessing across the continent and that provides millions of good jobs.”

UNWTO estimates that worldwide international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) increased 6 per cent to 1.4 billion in 2018, clearly above the 3.7 per cent growth registered in the global economy.

Data from Africa points to a 7 per cent increase in 2018 (North Africa at +10 per cent and Sub-Saharan +6 per cent, reaching an estimated 67 million arrivals.

Image ; Table mountain in South Africa /tablemountain.net

March 2019