A new report finds flourishing tourism in Africa is putting millions of people to work and adding billions of dollars to national economies. Africa has been reported to have recorded robust growth with international tourist arrivals and tourism revenues growing at 6 percent and 9 percent respectively each year between 1995 and 2014, over the last two decades.
In its Economic Development in Africa Report 2017, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said tourism in Africa is a flourishing industry that supports more than 21 million jobs.
The report said tourism attracted capital investment of $26 billion on average in 2011-2014 to the African economy, and that this amount represented 1.8 percent of total GDP of the continent.
It added that international tourist arrivals in Africa increased to 56 million in the period 2011-2014, from 24 million in the previous one (1995-1998) and that the figure is forecast to grow to 134 million by 2030.
Tourism export revenues have more than tripled, increasing from $14 billion to approximately $47 billion, between 1995 and 2014. As a result, tourism is now estimated to contribute about 8.5 percent to the continent’s gross domestic product (GDP), it further stated.
UNCTAD secretary-general, Mukhisa Kituyi says intra-African tourism, which now exceeds visitors from Europe, the United States and Asia is behind the fast growth in the industry.
