Tourism for Economic Development in Africa

Tourism should be a growing area of economic potential and interest to African countries. Tourism development in Africa could be pursued within an overall services development strategy that builds complementarities and linkages with other productive sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing and that contributes to jobs and exports. Given the complexity of Africa's development challenges and the necessity to create formal jobs to reduce poverty, as illustrated in the African Union Agenda 2063, African countries should exploit all economic opportunities including harnessing the potential of tourism as a driver for economic growth and sustainable development. Policies are needed in four key areas in Africa to foster the development of tourism: improving tourism competitiveness, engaging in source market diversification, developing "brand" or niche tourism with local community involvement and integrating into the global tourism value chain, through greater use of ICT.