The tourism sector in Africa is expected to return to normal in the second half of 2021. That was the prediction made by Professor Dr Wolfgang Thome, the Publisher of ATC News, East Africa’s largest aviation, tourism and conservation news blog.
In an exclusive interview with Ongolo.com, Wolfgang pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic curve is accelerating in Africa, forcing many countries to maintain lockdown restrictions. As other countries around the world are also struggling to keep the pandemic under control, it is unlikely that international tourists will return to the continent in the near future. However, countries that rely heavily on tourism revenue such as Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania and Seychelles had opened their borders to international flights as of mid-August 2020.
According the UN World Tourism Organisation, Africa recorded 78.5m international arrivals in 2018. (Please note that an adjustment was made to the published data as the UNWTO erroneously tagged Egypt to Middle East and not Africa).
The top ten destinations in Africa were: Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Cote d’Ivoire, Uganda, Kenya, Mauritius and eSwatini (formerly Swaziland). It is important to note that not all international arrivals are leisure travellers. The UNWTO definition is that anyone out of their regular abode for more than 24 hours counts. Many of the international arrivals in eSwatini, Uganda, Zimbabwe or Cote d’Ivoire are not leisure travellers but traders and people who cross the border to visit friends and relatives.
The performance of the tourism sector across different countries in Africa was mixed. The big winners in the past decade were Cote d’Ivoire whose numbers increased by 614% between 2010 and 2017, mainly driven by the relocation of the African Development Bank to Abidjan which draws many business travellers. Ethiopia has also seen a 99% increase in tourists over the same period thanks to the success of Ethiopian Airlines in connecting the continent to the world and the presence of regional organisations such as the African Union. Senegal has grown by 52% driven by a deliberate government strategy to market the many offerings from natural reserves to beaches and happening night scene.
North Africa draws the largest number of tourists among the sub-regions thanks to its proximity to Europe. Egypt does well because it is only a few hours flight from Europe and offers a mix of culture, history and beaches in places such as Cairo, Luxor and Sharm-el-Sheikh. This is also the case for Morocco and Tunisia. What is observed is that countries with beaches perform well. This makes Seychelles, Mauritius, Reunion and the coastal towns of Kenya and Tanzania very popular all year round.
Some countries have noticeably underperformed. Botswana, which has some of the best wildlife in Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park, had a 18% decline in tourists between 2010 and 2017. Mozambique dropped by 16% over the same period despite the increase in popularity of beaches in the Bazaruto Archipelago.
Africa is far too focused on Western and Asian tourists that it has overlooked a segment of tourists with significant money to spend: fellow Africans. Tourists from across Africa are more likely to visit London than Lagos or New York instead of Nairobi because not enough marketing is done within the continent. However, there are encouraging signs of an increase in intra-Africa tourism. Wolfgang gave the example of wealthy Nigerians who travel to Kenya on private jets and stay in lavish hotel suites, outspending most Western tourists.
One barrier that slows down the growth of intra-Africa tourism is the visa regime which is more stringent on Africans than it is on non-Africans. Only two countries in Africa allow easy entry for fellow Africans: Seychelles, which is visa-free, and Rwanda, which is visa on arrival. Yet most African countries offer visa on arrival at a cost of $50 for Western tourists. UNWTO data shows that globally, the traditional visa is in decline and is being replaced by visa on arrival or e-visas.
Ethiopian Airlines’ network will also facilitate this intra-Africa tourism as they serve 54 cities in Africa. Ethiopian Airlines flies to a total of 127 destinations around the world, making them the fifth largest world airline in terms of destinations served from their hub at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa. Unlike South African Airways, Kenya Airways and EgyptAir, Ethiopian Airlines was the only African carrier to post a profit in 2020 despite the pandemic as they pivoted operations to cargo business. Ethiopian Airlines has also brought down the cost of flying in Africa which was known to have some of the most expensive flights per kilometre flown.
As most of Africa remains under lockdown, hotels and domestic airlines need a different strategy to remain afloat.
Domestic tourism has never been as important as it is today when hotel and tours operators are trying to stay in business. Kenya has made domestic tourism a core part of the tourism strategy unlike many countries in Africa which have failed to address affordability by marketing the same rates (or slightly discounted rates) to locals as they do to international tourists.
In Kenya, 55% of hotel stays are generated by Kenyans or expatriates living in Kenya who qualify for domestic rates. These local rates can be discounted by as much as 60% off the rack rates. Soon after domestic flights resumed in July, Kenya Airways and low-cost carrier Fly 540 were fully booked as residents sought to take advantage of discounted rates offered by hotels around the country. One of Malindi’s leading resorts, Driftwood Club, had an all-inclusive offer of $65 per person per night which was rare pre-pandemic.
There is no doubt that tourism has the potential to contribute to economic growth in Africa, which is blessed with some of the best nature, scenery and beaches in the world. Despite nearly every country having a tourism board, efforts to capture market share from other regions are not yielding dividends and a different strategy is required:
I believe the change will come first when Africans start to fall in love with Africa because the best marketers are the ones who truly believe in what they are selling and have a vested interest in achieving success.
© 2020 Muloongo Muchelemba. All Rights Reserved
