Africa Tourism Report 2013: More Tourists Visit Africa Each Year, Boosting Economic Growth and Making the Continent Competitive with Other Regions
A powerful development path
Tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing sectors of the world economy, and tourism in Africa is ripe for development, the report notes.
For example, the number of tourists arriving in SSA has grown over 300% since 1990, with 2012 marking a high of 33.8 million tourists who visited the region. Income generated from tourism has also climbed: Receipts from hotels, tours and other attractions in 2012 amounted to over US$36 billion and directly contributed just over 2.8% to the region’s GDP, according to the report.
This boost in tourism is occurring just as economic growth is exploding across the African continent. Over the last five years, real GDP rose an average 4.9% – faster than the 3% global average. As a result of the recent economic good health in SSA countries, global hotel chains are poised to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in Africa over the coming years to meet rising demand from both international tourists and the continent’s own fast-growing middle class, the report notes.
“Africa is an important emerging growth market and despite political uncertainty in parts of the region, we continue to see demand for growth of all of our brands throughout the continent,” says Hassan Ahdab, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Vice-President and Regional Director of Operations for Africa & Indian Ocean region.