With the rapid growth of the tourism sector in West and Central Africa, tourism has become an important pillar for local economies in many destinations in the Region. Challenges in preserving the biodiversity in an appropriate and quality environment may in the long run affect visitors´ satisfaction which ultimately would result in lower income generation from tourist related activities.

 

The last two seminars in the series took place in Dubréka, Republic of Guinea, from 14 to 16 November and in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, from 21-23 November 2017.

Each one of these programmes gathered approximately 30 participants from different areas of the tourism industry in the countries. The three-days training programmes aimed to raise awareness among the local population on the importance of biodiversity conservation in the destination areas and how to address environmental issues while undertaking tourism activities. The training also encouraged local people and tourism employees to act as champions of biodiversity conservation and environmental protection in the region, which will help ensure sustainable income generation for the local population as a result of tourism activities.

The successful completion of these two UNWTO/Chimelong seminars was facilitated by the support of each Ministry led by H. E. Mr. Thierno Ousmane Diallo, Minister of State of Tourism, Hospitality and Handicrafts in Guinea and H. E. Mr. Franck Mwe di Malila Apenela, Minister of Tourism in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The training programme in Kinshasa closed the series of the Capacity Building for Tourism Development and Biodiversity Protection seminars in West and Central Africa, which involved a total of 5 countries. The conclusions of these workshops will be summed up in a final regional workshop in April 2018 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that will gather the key participants that attended the previous workshops implemented during the year 2017.

The efforts put forward by the governments of Gabon, Benin, Niger, Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo in hosting these workshops highlights the importance given by them to the contribution of the tourism sector in their countries to socio economic development as well as to biodiversity conservation. 

Brand Africa and biodiversity focus of the 9th edition of INVESTOUR

• All Regions
• 18 Jan 2018

PR No.: PR 18006

Two round tables and a business-to-business component integrates the 9th edition of INVESTOUR that took place in the framework of FITUR, the Tourism Fair in Madrid. The first session, moderated by Thebe Ikalafeng, Chairman at Brand Africa, addressed branding strategies to position the African continent in the travel market.

“International tourist arrivals in Africa grew by around 8% for the second consecutive year with 62 million arrivals registered for 2017. These strong results that show the potential of tourism in Africa but also the prioritization of the sector in the development agenda in the continent,” said UNWTO Secretary General Zurab Pololikashvili.

“INVESTOUR has become a consolidated platform for sharing ideas and projects around the tourism sector in Africa. We started as a small summit and nine years later, nearly 30 African tourism ministers convene here to position the African continent, a topic that will occupy the debates in this year’s edition,” explained Luis Padrón, Director General of Casa Africa.

The second panel evaluated the added value of African biodiversity as a strong component of the tourism sector in the continent. Wildlife, reserves and geographic treasures make Africa unique with regard to its tourism offer. According to UNWTO research, wildlife watching travel represents 80% of the total annual tourist arrivals to Africa. However, it is mandatory to continue working on conservation and protection measures and to engage stakeholders of different nature such as governments, local communities, private sector recipients and the media.

Within that round table, the UNWTO/Chimelong Programme on Wildlife Conservation and Tourism was presented. The initiative, jointly implemented by UNWTO and the Chimelong Group, based in Guandong (China), aims at contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda through sustainable tourism and particularly wildlife conservation. The initiative comprises capacity building, advocacy and knowledge sharing methodologies and addresses multiple stakeholders such as governments, civil society and the media.

In the afternoon, tourism stakeholders gathered to discuss business opportunities in the continent. 15 inspiring projects were shared with the aim to build partnerships around tourism development in African nations.

Additional information:

Programme of the Forum

UNWTO/Chimelong initiative

Catalogue of projects presented in the B2B meetings 

Contacts:

UNWTO Media Officer Marcelo Risi 
Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60 / mrisi@unwto.org 

UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme
Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218 / comm@UNWTO.org

 

PR No.: PR 17126

According to UNWTO statistical data, the African continent had an increase of international arrivals of 8% in 2016, compared to the previous year. This, together with the increasing commitment of African governments to position tourism in their agenda, reveals the gaining prominence of the sector as well as its strong potential to foster positive change and transformation.

The Conference that was preceded by a technical workshop to revise strategies and approaches to develop sustainable tourism initiatives in the African continent, tackled these issues as well as the potential of sustainable tourism to lead policies to foster communities inclusion.  The summit was attended by more than 200 international and local participants from Angola, Egypt, Jordan, Cabo Verde, Guinea Equatorial Kenya, Mali, Republic of Congo, Sudan, Switzerland, Spain, Union of the Comoros, Malawi, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The event commenced with a Ministerial Dialogue on Tourism, Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development in the African continent, attended by Charles Banda, Minister of Tourism and Arts of Zambia, Ronald Chitotela, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Development of Zambia, Taleb Rifai, UNWTO Secretary-General, Fatuma Hirsi Mohamed, Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism of Kenya, Abdelgadir Dmein Hassan Undersecretary of the Ministry of Tourism, Antiquities and Wildlife of Sudan and Dorothy Tembo, Deputy Executive Director at the International Trade Center. The session was moderated by Brownyn Nielsen, Editor-in-Chief at CNBC Africa who invited the attendees to showcase sustainable tourism practices in the region and how the sector could help achieve the SDGs and generate benefits for African societies.

The framework of the Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals were defined together with the African Union Agenda 2063 as the best scenario to foster sustainable tourism in the continent.

Precisely to this green, responsible and eco-friendly tourism was dedicated the intervention of Charles Banda, Minister of Tourism and Arts of Zambia who emphasized that “sustainability is believed to be the link between the present and the future. As patrons of the tourism sector our role is to ensure that even our children’s children experience the same nature in the form that it currently is and not in a worse off state.”

As commented by Edgar Chagwa Lungu, President of the Republic of Zambia, the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development is a unique opportunity to highlight the importance of the tourism sector and to promote activities to enhance the contribution of the sector for national economies. The President emphasized the capacity of tourism to contribute to local development and stated that “the Lusaka Declaration is an important milestone in the Agenda 2030 and towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and in the recognition of tourism as an essential development pillar.”

UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai, who congratulated Zambia for hosting the Conference as member of the UNWTO Executive Council and Chair for 2019, highlighted that the current world is facing major transformations namely the digital revolution, connecting our minds virtually and globally, the urban revolution, connecting our life style and our livelihoods and the travel revolution connecting us physically and culturally “Today, the world is at a major transformation juncture, rapid and fast change is the essence of our time. The three global forces are leading this transformation”, he added. During his visit, Rifai also declared the South Luangwa National Park of Zambia as a sustainable park.

Partnerships, technology and wildlife conservation at the core

The sessions were organized into four panels tackling Public-Private Partnership, the Role of Technology in the development of tourism, Wildlife conservation and Community Engagement and Air Connectivity in Africa.

The final outcome of the conference was the Lusaka Declaration on Promoting Sustainable Tourism Development, a Tool for Inclusive Growth and Community Engagement in Africa. The document, which places sustainability at the core of tourism development and on national and international development agendas, was adopted unanimously by all participants.

Additional Information:

Programme of the Conference

Photos of the event

International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017

Contacts:

UNWTO Media Officer Rut Gomez Sobrino

Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60 / rgomez@unwto.org

UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme

Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218 / comm@UNWTO.org

                                         

In the context of the 38^th edition of the International Tourism Fair of Madrid - FITUR 2018, the 9th edition of INVESTOUR will be held on 18 January 2018 in Madrid, Spain.  As in previous years, the event will be organized in two sessions, (i) the round tables and (ii) the B2B Meetings. For this edition, the roundtables sessions will be structured around two main themes; (i) Brand Africa: Fostering Tourism development and investment opportunities and (ii) Biodiversity as a driver for sustainable tourism: the importance of effective community involvement.

The Tourism Investment and Business Forum for Africa, jointly organized by FITUR, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and Casa África, will focus its ninth edition on tackling some of the most pertinent issues to the African region.  The sessions will yield valuable insights on the situation of Brand Africa and its impact on tourism in the region. Additionally, it will provide a platform to share experiences of policy measures taken to manage a successful brand for a destination. The second session will identify integrated approach to harmonize sustainable tourism with the protection of biodiversity and highlight how to involve local community in the conservation efforts of biodiversity. The forum offers a fertile ground for exploring and grooming well established policies that foster sustainable tourism development, maximize benefits of investment and enhance public private partnership.

INVESTOUR also serves as an all-inclusive platform that brings together policymakers, international investors looking for business opportunities within the African market and project initiators in direct contact with one another to explore innovative approaches to increase investments in the tourism sector as well as in different fields of the tourism value chain, thus delivering development initiatives and concrete deliverables that will contribute to the growth of the tourism sector in Africa.

Over the years, INVESTOUR has grown to become one of the prime catalysts for the development of African tourism in Spain. The past edition hosed a record number of 400 participants from 42 countries, including 28 African Ministers of Tourism and Heads of delegations.

More information:

Website: www.investour-africa.com

Register here

E-mail: Investour@unwto.org

PR No.: PR

The UNWTO/THEMIS Sub-regional Capacity Building Course on “Tourism Marketing: from Product to Experience” held in Accra, Ghana from 12 to 17 October 2017 concluded with a strong focus message to the participants on the importance of using the state of the art tourism marketing tools to enhance tourism experience for African destinations. More than 70 participants from Ghana, Gambia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo attended the 6-day intensive executive course organized jointly with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture of Ghana, UNWTO and UNWTO.Themis Foundation.

In her closing remarks, her Excellency, Catherine Ablema Afeku, Minister Tourism, Arts and Culture of Ghana highlighted that “The selection of Ghana to host this workshop emphasizes the strong partnership between the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and the UNWTO. It is also to reinforce the Ministry’s policy objective of deepening the collaboration between the public and private sectors in building the capacity of personnel who work in the Tourism, Arts and Culture industry.” UNWTO represented by Ms. Lydia Bebe Kum, congratulated Ghana for hosting this key event and encouraged the participants to help their respective administrations to apply the tools and techniques learnt to make their destination memorable, valuable and unique. The participants also received acknowledgement for their dedication and hard work especially regarding their enthusiasm during the technical visit undertaken in Elimina Castle, Cape Coast Castle and Kakum Park in Ghana.

The objective of the capacity-building course was to equip officials and professionals of Ghana and its neighboring countries with capacity, knowledge and skills on current trends in Tourism Marketing, and especially on Experiential Marketing. Digital marketing, market research, public-private partnership, regional integration, consumer-oriented services and branding, were some of the subjects that were shared with the participants.

Pictures

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the International Tourism Trade Fair of Madrid (IFEMA/FITUR) and Casa África (in representation for the Government of Spain), with the support of the Canary Islands Authority (CABILDO), held the First INVESTOUR workshop on financing in the tourism sector in las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, on 16-17 October 2017.

The workshop trained UNWTO Member States in the development of effective proposals for tourism-related projects seeking investments. The proposal will be presented during the INVESTOUR B2B sessions to take place next January in Madrid at the FITUR fair.

Participating were Hamat Bah, Minister for Tourism and Culture of Gambia, Siandou Fofana, Minister of Tourism of Côte d’Ivoire and Franck Mwe di Malila Apenela, Minister of Tourism of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Overall, ten African countries were represented: Angola, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Guinee Bissau, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, and South Africa.

Participants had the opportunity to visit the Institución Ferial de Canarias (INFECAR) and their Training Center on Tourism Innovation. Several bilateral meetings were held on the sidelines of the workshop between the African Tourism Ministers and key stakeholders from Las Palmas de Gran Canarias, which offered an ideal platform to discuss prospects and opportunities of attracting Spanish investors to Africa. The workshop was held within the framework of the 10 year Anniversary of Casa África

Based on the success of the event, UNWTO will organize the workshop on an annual basis. An Investment Handbook on better access to financing for tourism projects will be produced to be used as a key project development tool for public and private tourism stakeholders.

INVESTOUR is an annual forum, organized jointly by UNWTO, FITUR and Casa África, on the occasion of the International Tourism Fair of Madrid (FITUR). The objective of the event is to promote sustainable tourism as an economic and social development tool for Africa, by putting in direct contact African project leaders with potential international partners and investors.

The 8^th edition of INVESTOUR (2017) witnessed a total of 404 participants and 86 meetings  between 45 African and international organizations from 23 countries.

Link INVESTOUR 2018

PR No.: PR

UNWTO Secretary visits Madagascar

UNWTO expresses confidence on tourism in Madagascar

The Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Taleb Rifai has visited Madagascar to express the Organization’s full support to the tourism sector. Madagascar’s tourism is facing a challenging situation following a plague outbreak which has prompted some countries to implement travel restriction with Madagascar. Mr Rifai recalled the World Health Organization (WHO) advises that no restriction on travel or trade on Madagascar.  

“UNWTO is echoing the advice by WHO to governments not to rush to issue inaccurate travel advisories. The WHO Key Messages updates dated 26 October recalls that the risk of international spread appears unlikely. WHO advises that no restriction on travel or trade on Madagascar based on the current available information“ said Mr Rifai.

“We can not penalise a country twice – once by the country being hit and having to confront and pay the direct heavy price of a devastating crises and second by us, human community, falling into misguided perceptions and, as a result , shunning and isolating the victim country and adding to the problem rather than to the solution” he added.

WHO recalls that it is important to strike a balance between encouraging countries in the region to be ready to act in case of an outbreak, while avoiding panic that could result in unnecessary or counterproductive measures such as trade restrictions or travel bans on affected countries.

“We are facing a perception crisis. Clear and factual communication on the real situation in Madagascar is crucial to prevent damaging advisories from adding gravity to the crisis” said Rifai.

Meeting with the Minister of Tourism, members of government, the President of the National Assembly, representatives from the United Nations in Madagascar, including the WHO Resident Coordinator, the World Bank, local private sector and media, Mr Rifai recalled that  “positive news are coming out of the sector such as the new strategic partnership between Air Madagascar and Air Austral. We need to communicate the good news; build our capacity and restore confidence”.

The Minister of Tourism Roland Ratsiraka recalled “Being an island with 80% endemic biodiversity, Madagascar has a natural calling for sustainable tourism” said the Minister of Tourism. “Mr. Secretary General, your visit is rich in meaning, gives hope to a whole people and those who still doubt the economic benefits of the tourism industry” he added.

“Collaboration among all countries in crisis situations is critical and we call upon all countries in the region to cooperate in a way that reinforces prevention without creating unnecessary travel bans” said the Najib Balala, Chair of the UNWTO Commission for Africa and Minister of Tourism of Kenya.

UNWTO Secretary-General and the Minister of Tourism of Madagascar will be meeting the press next week at the World Travel Market in London to brief on the current situation in the country.

Relevant links:

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/plague/en

Contacts:

UNWTO Media Officer Rut Gomez Sobrino

Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60 / rgomez@unwto.org

UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme

Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218 / comm@UNWTO.org