Ministers of Tourism of Botswana, Kenya, Sierra Leone,
Eswatini and South Africa called upon African countries to unite as a single
brand and promote tourism through a common marketing campaign. This campaign
could be kickstarted at the African Carnival in Botswana which will be held in
September.
Close to 1.3 billion Africans are keen to discover their
continent’s 54 different countries, gastronomies, music, and cultures. However,
to achieve a flourishing regional African tourism industry, several obstacles
need to be addressed. These obstacles include visas and air access, amongst
others.
Najib Balala, Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife of
Kenya, explained that only 26 African cities are currently connected through
international flights. If African countries develop a co-ordinated and
harmonised COVID-19 regional framework, improve their air connectivity, and
open the skies, travel will become more accessible and affordable for African
citizens.
“Africa drew 70 million tourists to its shores in 2019. We
can get to 200 million visitors easily if we address these key issues”, stated
Najib Balala.
For her part, Philda Kereng, Minister of Environment,
Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism of Botswana, pointed out that green
tourism should be fostered. “We have to conserve and preserve national
resources, on the base of which we are developing and serving products”. She
highlighted the fact that her country has revised its tourism policy to make it
resilient to climate change. “Going green is the way for tourism development
that is based on the natural resources,” she added.
The Chairman of ITIC and former Secretary-General of UNWTO,
Dr Taleb Rifai, set the tone for further discussion panels by saying that
“Africa is the future – without doubt. We’re all Africans. We all came out of
Africa but Africa cannot be what it should be if the continent doesn’t work
together.”
On the third and last day of the Summit, tourism project
owners/ developers (from Botswana, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, South Africa, Zanzibar)
were able to connect with investors. ITIC will continue to provide consultancy
support for additional capital raising.
ITIC Group CEO Ibrahim Ayoub welcomed the collaboration from
industry leaders at the Summit and called for the establishment of a Tourism
Resilience fund to cater for future crises and to assist businesses while
saving jobs.
He thanked all the Ministers, Speakers, Moderators, sponsors
for their valuable contribution, with a special word to members of the audience
for their participation and their successful networking with the different
stakeholders.