“Africa is a tourism success Story” - Interview with Taleb Rifai, Secretary General of the World Tourism Organisation

Tourism in Sub-Saharan Africa has escaped being bruised by the global economic downturn, explains Taleb Rifai, Secretary General of the Madrid-based World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), a United Nations agency. His organisation, which has 154 country members and over 400 affiliates, promotes the development ‎of sustainable and universally accessible tourism, particularly in developing countries.

The Courier: How do you account for the expansion in arrivals in Sub-Saharan Africa last year in spite of a global downturn?

TR: Africa has been a tourism success story. It was the only region to show growth in international arrivals during the crisis year of 2009 and strongly consolidated this in 2010.

Sub-Saharan Africa actually grew by 8 per cent in 2010, receiving 31 million international tourist arrivals. Adding the 19 million tourists arriving into North Africa (+6 per cent), Africa as a whole grew by 7 per cent in 2010 (50 million international tourist arrivals). In terms of receipts, the region as a whole increased by 4 per cent to reach $US31M.

Africa has maintained growth in 2011   up 2 per cent between January and April. Within the continent, Sub-Saharan Africa grew by an impressive 8 per cent, while North Africa decreased by 11 per cent in the wake of the recent events in the region.

Growth in Africa has been supported by the worldwide exposure created by the FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the clear improvement of the region’s economies. The Cup offered an invaluable boost to South Africa, but also to other destinations in Southern Africa and indeed, the entire continent. Many tourists travelling long distances to see the event took the opportunity to visit other countries during their trip, highlighting the importance of regional tourism cooperation for growth. This momentum spilled over into 2011 and has further benefited from increasingly dynamic economies, improved image and government support of the tourism sector in the region. 

Is any region in Sub-Saharan Continent showing particularly robust growth?

In 2010, growth was very strong in all African sub-regions, but particularly so in West, East and Southern Africa. South Africa, which accounts for over a quarter of total arrivals in Sub-Saharan Africa, saw international tourist arrivals increase by 15 per cent in 2010 to eight million, thanks largely to the World Cup. Other countries to show particularly strong growth in 2010 included Madagascar (+21 per cent), Cape Verde (+17 per cent), Tanzania and Seychelles (+11 per cent).
 
Will the expansion by the continent into new tourism products lead to even stronger growth in the sector?

Product diversification is hugely important for destinations if they wish to remain competitive and sustainable. Diversification not only leads to stronger growth, but also reduces dependency on often vulnerable areas – developing cultural tourism to diversify the traditional beach offer, for example.

Africa’s principal tourism products for the major source markets currently revolve around culture and nature. However, these cultural and nature-based trips could be packaged in combination with African’s numerous other attractions such as beach tourism. The meetings industry is another example of a growing and lucrative tourism product that could be capitalised on in Africa, in particular as its economic and trade links increase with other world regions such as Asia.

At the same time, other factors such as improved air access could also strongly benefit the further growth of tourism in Africa. Another important opportunity lies in increased regional cooperation in areas such as travel facilitation (visas) and marketing.   

To what extent can the tourism industry contribute to poverty alleviation on the continent?

The potential of tourism to lift people out of poverty in Africa is huge.

International tourist arrivals to the world’s 48 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) – the majority of which are found in Africa – grew from 6 million in 2000 to over 17 million in 2010. During the same period, international tourism receipts climbed from $US3bn to over $US10bn. Indeed, tourism is currently among the top three sources of export earnings for nearly half of the LDCs, meaning it is a key sector for their participation in the global economy. These tourists flowing into and around the continent give rise to vital foreign exchange, investment and know-how for African countries; with a significant multiplier effect on many other areas of the economy. Tourism can also be a driver for the development of infrastructure – transport, water supply and sanitation.

Tourism is an extremely labour-intensive sector and offers a fast entry-point into the workforce, especially for women and young people. As such, it provides crucial opportunities for fair income, social protection, gender equality, personal development and social inclusion for the most vulnerable. The sector caters for all degrees of skills and is a sector within which opportunities for growth, qualifications and career advancement are plentiful.

We are pleased to see that tourism is increasingly recognised as a tool for poverty alleviation and is finding its place in the development agenda. Much is still to be done in this regard, but we are advancing. For example, tourism was included in the agenda of the recent UN Conference on the LDCs, held in Istanbul, Turkey, for the first time and was referenced for its development potential by the UN Secretary-General, opening this important meeting to debate the ten year action plan for the LDCs.

Debra Percival