Africa to Attract 64 million Tourists in 2017

The numbers of international tourists trooping to Africa is expected to rise by 8% in 2017, attracting over 64 million compared to 58 million recorded in 2016.

This is contained in Hospitality Report Africa 2017 published by Jumia Travel. The report revealed that hospitality business remains a viable business in the continent.

“Tourism’s contribution to Africa’s GDP was 7.8% (USD 165.6bn) in 2016, and is expected to rise to 7.9% of GDP to USD 170.5bn in 2017. This contribution is predicted to grow by 4.6% per annum to reach USD 268.2bn by 2027.

“In 2016, domestic travel spending generated 63.7% of Africa’s Tourism GDP, and is expected to rise by 2.8% in 2017 to USD 73bn, and then by 3.6% per annum to USD 104bn in 2027.

“On the other hand, foreign visitor spending stood at 36.3% in 2016 (USD 40.7 bn), and is expected to grow by 5.3% in 2017 to USD 42.9bn, and then by 5.9% pa to USD 76.0bn in 2027.” the report reads.

Destinations with strongest growth in international arrivals in 2016 were Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Ghana, Sudan and Seychelles

The leading market for international arrivals in 2016 was Europe with 47.3%, while Asia Pacific was the fastest growing market with an increase of +21.7%, mostly from China.

The report also identified terrorism as the biggest bane of the continent’s travel and tourism sector, and countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, Tunisia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Egypt are the biggest victims.

According to the report which was presented to the media and major stakeholders in the travel industry recently in Lagos by the managing director of the company, Kushal Dutta, the terrorists’ attacks in these countries have impacted negatively on their tourism revenue.

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