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PR No.: PR14033

Mr Rifai alerted that “A tourism tax in Africa is a threat to the competiveness of the region and to all African economies which increasingly have tourism as a key pillar to their development. Any decision on the possible imposition of a tourism tax in Africa should be carefully evaluated as to the negative impact it will have on tourism demand, economic growth and jobs”.

This concern was echoed by the Ministers of Tourism of the region attending the 56th Meeting of the UNWTO Commission for Africa, held in Angola last month. Participants identified increased taxation as one of the main obstacles to the sustainable development of tourism and aviation in the region. Connectivity is one of the major barriers to Africa´s tourism growth and a further increase in the cost of air travel to the continent would jeopardize the need to increase intra and interregional air access across Africa.

International tourism in Africa has been growing steadily in recent years. In 2013, Africa received 56 million tourists up from 26 million in 2000. International tourism generates US$34 billion in exports in Africa, accounting for as much as 7% of all exports and 56% of the region’s services exports. Yet despite such progress, tourism in Africa is still in its early development stage, accounting for only 5% of international tourism, and faces several barriers impeding its further growth and competitiveness.     

The imposition of a tourism tax in Africa will impact not only the tourism sector, but African economies as a whole, as every tourist means more jobs and business opportunities  in tourism but also in related sectors, higher income for families, increased investment and more opportunities for grassroots development. 

Useful links

Download and share: Tourism – Driving Trade, Fostering Development and Connecting People (pdf)

Contacts:

UNWTO Senior Media Officer: Marcelo Risi

Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60

UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme

Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218

PR No.: PR14031

Over the last decade, international tourist arrivals to Africa have repeatedly outgrown results in other regions. By 2030, Africa’s international tourist numbers could grow from its current 56 million to 134 million and a rising number of African countries have embraced tourism as a priority for their development.

Against this backdrop, participants at the UNWTO Commission for Africa Meeting and the corresponding Seminar on ‘Tourism and Air Connectivity in Africa’ discussed how to overcome existing barriers to advance Africa’s tourism, including travel facilitation, air connectivity and infrastructure development.

“Tourism accounts for 7% of all exports in Africa and 58% of its service exports and is one of the most important sectors for the economies of the continent”, said UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai. “Yet to fully realize the potential tourism has in promoting growth and development in Africa, it is imperative to work towards a better alignment of tourism and air transport policies in the region”, he added.

The lack of consideration of tourism benefits and coordination between the tourism and aviation sectors, producing suboptimal air transport and tourism policies, infrastructure limitation, unsuitable taxation and restrictive visa policies, were identified as the main factors hampering the development of both tourism and air transport in Africa.

The Seminar laid the groundwork for the first UNWTO & International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Tourism and Transport Ministerial Conference for Africa (14-15 October 2014, Mahé, Seychelles).

Poaching in Africa, a threat to tourism and livelihoods

On the occasion of the UNWTO Commission for Africa Meeting, a special debate was held on the on-going poaching crisis and its impact on tourism and the livelihoods of millions living off the sector in the region. In this regard, Member States mandated UNWTO to pursue its advocacy work in the area of anti-poaching, and explore how the tourism sector can help contribute to the global fight against wildlife crime.

A UNWTO report on the value of wildlife watching tourism in Africa presented at the Meeting confirms wildlife watching tourism as one of the main tourism draws in the majority of the region’s destinations. The report estimates wildlife watching tourists to represent between 80% and 90% of all visitors of protected areas. The report further identifies illegal wildlife trade as a serious issue, clearly affecting tourism development in the region, not only in terms of biodiversity loss, but also as a security threat and a negative factor affecting the international perception of African destinations. 

Useful links:

UNWTO Regional Programme for Africa

Travel Facilitation

UNWTO Study on the Economic Value of Wildlife Watching Tourism

Contacts:

UNWTO Senior Media Officer: Marcelo Risi

Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60

UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme

Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218

Upon her taking office, the Regional Director Programme for Africa, Elcia Grandcourt paid a series of courtesy visits to all the African Embassies represented in Spain. Her visits were mainly to introduce herself and also to reaffirm her commitment to continue with the work being done on the Africa programme whilst also to look at new opportunities and areas of cooperation with the member countries.  Her visits have been very well received by the Ambassadors and Chargés d’affaires she met with whilst being accompanied by Helder Tomas the Deputy Director of the Africa Programme.  Great feedback has been received from the discussions held and Mrs. Grandcourt says that the various ideas and proposals discussed will be integrated in their program of work for 2014 where the UNWTO plans to play a more active role in reaching out to the member countries and in getting them to be more involved in the activities programmed for the region.

The African Ambassadors Meeting and Lunch took place yesterday 18 November 2013 at the UNWTO Headquarters, in the presence of the Secretary-General, Mr. Taleb Rifai. The gathering, which will take place on an annual basis, represents a great opportunity for networking and also for keeping the Embassies informed on what the Program for Africa region has achieved during the year and also to provide an outlook for the coming year 2014. The event received a very high representation of 22 African Member States (Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia and Zambia). During his address the Secretary General greeted the newly accredited Ambassadors to Madrid and once again extended his congratulations and commended Zambia/Zimbabwe on the organisation of a successful 20^th session of the UNWTO General Assembly held last August 2013 which was the most well attended. Other points of discussions included the update on International and African Tourism trends in 2013 and on Travel facilitation which represents one of the top priorities of the Organization’s agenda. The meeting concluded with an introduction of the main activities of the Africa region for the first quarter of 2014, a presentation on the upcoming 5^th edition of the INVESTOUR forum and the upcoming CAF Meeting to be held 28-30 April 2014 in Angola.