According to the World Tourism Organisation (WTO), during 2003 international tourism arrivals to the Middle East and Africa recovered quickly after 2002, with estimated increases of 10% and 5% respectively. Especially significant was the growth in intra-regional travel in the Middle East, while the governments of countries in both regions started to show much more support for tourism development. With the active support of local governments, a range of tourism development projects are underway throughout the region.
Tourism is one of Africa's most important industries attracting millions of visitors each year from around the world who want to experience first hand some of the very special places that abound in every country on the continent. South Africa is the major tourist destination on the continent with 23% market share in 2003.
The industry is serviced by both local and international operators. Many of the major airlines fly to one or more African cities, while African airlines such as South African Airways (SAA), which is expanding its African network, BA Comair and Ethiopian Airlines provide the comfort and safety standards of developed world airlines. Many airports also provide charter services allowing visitors to access remote parts of the continent. Cruise lines regularly stop at several of Africa's major ports. While the cost of getting to many African countries from Europe, Asia or America is high, local travel costs range from very cheap to deluxe on international scales.
All the large American and European hotel chains have a foothold in Africa. Standards of establishments and service range from international six star ratings to, quite simply, primitive. New tourism and leisure facilities are being developed in many African countries, particularly South Africa, Mozambique and Morocco. International car rental companies are represented in most African countries.
Although the variety and quality of African tourist attractions put African tourism head and shoulders ahead of any other continent in what it has to offer the tourist, major inhibitors are the poor transport infrastructure in many countries and the health situation on much of the continent, particularly as regards malaria.
While parts of the continent have a reputation for high crime levels or being war zones, the incidence of neither is as widespread as press reports might suggest. The standard of health facilities varies markedly from country to country, providing an opportunity for providers of private medical services serving expatriate and tourist communities.
Each African country has diplomatic representation from at least one of the G8 countries. All African countries have a European language which is an official language or at least the business lingua franca but usage of these languages if often limited to a small part of the population. While South Africa, Egypt and some of the other major African destinations provide formal training for tourism employees, in other countries training is primarily the responsibility of the tourism companies.
Using the drop-down menus at the top of this page, you can explore the African Travel Industry in much more detail and search our directories of tourism companies and organisations, projects and facilities. If your organisation is part of the industry, then we encourage you to check that your company is listed in our organisation directory and, if not, use the online update facility to record your details. You should also E-mail your news releases to MBendi. Our daily E-mail African Business News service carries travel industry news along with news from other sectors. You can also find or advertise industry investment opportunities on the Business opportunities section of the MBendi website.
