Voyages Afriq has published a tourism review of 2019 and it is one of the most comprehensive overviews of the advances seen in the African tourism industry we have yet to see. The report includes a comprehensive overview of airport and airline updates, tourism policy and updates on African Continental Free Trade Area, VISA updates, hotel and investment updates, a MICE update and an overview of various tourism board marketing initiatives. Below is a snippet. You can access the whole report here.
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Overview
The end of each year is a great time to reflect on events that took place and their impact, which can offer a sense of what is to come in the New Year. As tourism continues to play an important role in many African economies, a recap is necessary to evaluate how the industry has fared.
According to the latest World Tourism Barometer from the UNWTO released December 2019, global tourism grew at 4% during the first nine months of 2019. Africa saw a 5% increase in tourist arrival making it the second highest region after the Middle East (9%).
A number of factors have fuelled this growth including government policies in the various segments of the industry from aviation to hotel development. Here, we offer a bird’s eye view on tourism in Africa for the year 2019, focusing on major highlights that have and will influence the industry’s growth and development.
Aviation
Update on SAATM
One of African Union’s (AU) most significant flagship projects – the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) – was launched in January 2018 to fulfil the objective of deregulation and liberalization of air transport services between countries, similar to the European Union’s (EU) single aviation market.
In 2015, the heads of states of the member countries of the AU adopted a declaration to establish SAATM, with 11 countries coming on board. Today, 23 member states have agreed to uphold the agreement. The initiative is a testament to the AU Agenda 2063 – a structural framework and transformational roadmap for a better Africa…
