African Tourism Sector Records Second-Fastest Growth Rate in the World

Gloria Guevara, President and Chief Executive Officer of WTTC, commends tourism leaders in Africa who are helping to boost connectivity, promote travel facilitation and ensure traveller safety – all of these measures make for supreme growth

African Tourism Sector Records Second-Fastest Growth Rate in the World

By Irene Gaitirira
Published March 18, 2019

Travel and Tourism sector in Africa grew 5.6% in 2018 compared to the global average of 3.9% and the broader African economy rate of 3.2%.

A report written by Erik Grimaldi for WorldTourismWire.Com quotes World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) which is said to represent the global private sector of Travel & Tourism in 185 countries and produces authoritative research on the economic contribution of the sector as saying that Africa as the second-fastest growing tourism region behind Asia-Pacific.

The WTTC report, Grimaldi writes in the article published on March 14, shows that in 2018:

Travel & Tourism contributed US$194.2 Billion to the region’s economy, representing 8.5% of the continent’s GDP
The sector contributed 24.3 million African jobs, or 6.7% of total employment
71% of tourism spending across Africa was leisure-driven and 29% business
Domestic spending accounted for 56% of the tourism economy versus 44% for international
International tourism spending comprised 9.6% of the region’s total exports, worth $58.5bn

Gloria Guevara, President and Chief Executive Officer of WTTC, commends tourism leaders in Africa who are helping to boost connectivity, promote travel facilitation and ensure traveller safety – all of these measures make for supreme growth Ethiopia, the article shows, was Africa’s fastest growing travel economy, growing by 48.6% to US$7.4 Billion.
“International Travel & Tourism spending made up a massive 61.0% of exports in the country. This stunning growth can be attributed, in part, to Ethiopia’s improved connectivity as a regional transport hub and to recent visa relaxation policies,” Grimaldi writes.

“We commend the tourism leaders in Africa who are helping to boost connectivity, promote travel facilitation and ensure traveller safety – all of these measures make for supreme growth; the kind of growth that we are now witnessing across the continent and that provides millions of good jobs,” Gloria Guevara Manzo, President and Chief Executive Officer of WTTC, is quoted as having commented.