Africa’s untapped tourism potential for growth.

ALTHOUGH sub-Saharan Africa’s (SSA) travel and tourism competitiveness has increased, the region remains the least developed globally, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has said in a new report.

According to the 2017 Travel and Tourism (T&T) Competitiveness Report, the region’s performance has increased but it has improved less compared to other parts of the world.

The report has it that southern Africa remains the strongest sub-region, followed by eastern Africa and then western Africa. Yet, it adds, on average, eastern Africa is the most improved region, while southern Africa has experienced a slight decline.

“Considering the size and the rich cultural and natural resources, the 29 million tourists visiting the continent in 2015 is low. From a business perspective, the untapped potential of the region could be an opportunity with expected returns potentially higher than other already mature destinations,” WEF notes in the report.

“Still, a number of conditions need to be in place to grow tourism, including the expansion of an African middle class. Despite sustained economic growth in the past decade, Africa has not seen the same kind of income increases enjoyed by Asian households. As a consequence, only a fraction of African people can afford to travel. While tourism in Europe and, more recently, Asia has been fuelled by intra-regional travel, data reveals that, on average, African tourists spend a tenth of what an overseas tourist would spend,” it adds.

WEF says that air connectivity and travel cost are challenges linked to the regulatory framework. Although most African nations have signed onto the 1988 Yamoussoukro Declaration in an effort to reach a multilateral “open skies” agreement, almost thirty years later, air travel remains inefficient throughout the region.

Stifled by concerns about different levels of development, protectionist fears linked to their national carriers, conflicts with competition regulations and lack of dispute settlement mechanism, mean that, to date, it is still difficult for any company to fly to new destinations. Airlines regularly need to lobby their governments to negotiate a bilateral treaty with the destination country, which can be a lengthy process.

In several African countries, there are numerous cultural sites and intangible expressions that could be better leveraged and combined with the rich natural capital available; only South Africa performs above the world average. Natural resources are also unevenly protected, despite the importance of protecting the environment for African economies.

WEF also says that while regional analysis highlights some of the common trends, shared strengths and weaknesses, there are, as always, large variations at the country level. Compared to the 2015 edition of the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), Tanzania, Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon and Mozambique have all achieved a stronger performance, while Namibia and South Africa have lost some ground.