Tourism in Africa

Tourism in Africa

IAIN T. CHRISTIE,
Consultant, Private Sector and Finance, Africa Region, The World Bank
Email: Ichristie@worldbank.org
Doreen E. Crompton,
Consultant, Tourism and Environment
Email: Cromptonde@aol.com

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
i. The purpose of this paper is to assist the Africa Region to determine whether the Bank can play a more strategic role in tourism. Africa is recognized internationally for the quality of its resource endowment for tourism, and yet it has not managed to realize its full potential. This paper argues that, if African countries can better cater to consumer preferences in originating markets, tourism could have a strong impact on economic growth. Essentially a private activity, tourism is highly dependent on public support. Working within a comprehensive macroeconomic framework, governments will have to support tourism through improvements in policies and elimination of critical constraints. In parallel, the competitiveness of private tourism enterprises needs to be enhanced through better management, technology transfer and professional development. This illustrates the inter-dependent responsibilities of the public and private sectors for the success of the tourism sector.

http://www.worldbank.org/afr/wps/wp12.pdf