Over the past 20 years, tourism has become vital to African economies. In 2023, the contribution of travel and tourism to Africa’s GDP was forecast to reach around $183 billion. The sector is also essential for employment, providing livelihoods to 25 million people, equating to 5.6% of all the jobs in the region. At its Global Summit in Kigali in November 2023, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), in collaboration with VFS Global, revealed that the African Travel & Tourism sector could add $168bn to the continent’s economy and create over 18 million new jobs. According to the report, ‘Unlocking Opportunities for Travel & Tourism Growth in Africa,’ this potential growth depends on three key policies to unlock annualized growth of 6.5%, reaching a contribution of more than $350bn.

In July 2020, the African Union estimated that Africa lost nearly $55 billion in travel and tourism revenues and two million jobs in only the first three months of the pandemic. The International Monetary Fund predicted that real GDP among African countries dependent on tourism shrunk by 12% in 2020. 2022 was a significant year that marked the robust revival of Africa’s tourism industry which was almost gobbled up in the throes of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council’s latest Economic Impact Report (EIR), the African Travel and Tourism sector’s GDP is estimated to grow 6.8% annually between 2022 and 2032, creating 14 million new jobs. In July 2022, the number of tourists arriving in Africa from overseas increased to around 5.1 million, significantly higher than the number in the same period in 2020 and 2021. This was due to the effects of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic on the tourism industry. Also, in 2022, the continent recorded its highest monthly count of international tourists in July.

Tourist arrivals in South Africa demonstrated a positive trend, with improvements in the numbers recorded from month to month from 2021 to 2023. In December 2023, 3.5 million travelers were recorded at South African ports of entry/exit, surpassing the figures for both November 2023, which stood at 2.6 million, and December 2022, at 2.9 million. In 2021, the number of international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) was 77,9% lower than the pre-pandemic levels of 2019, declining from 10,23 million tourists in 2019 to 2,26 in 2021. In 2022, there was a slight recovery in the number of tourists (approximately 5,70 million) at 44,3% lower than pre-pandemic levels. At 8,48 million tourists in 2023, there was a notable improvement, where the total tourist arrivals were 17,1% below the pre-pandemic levels, moving from 10,23 million in 2019 to 8,48 million in 2023. However, the December 2023 number (862 460) remains 41,8% lower than the pre-pandemic figure (1 481 183) recorded in 2019. A year-on-year comparison between 2022 and 2023 for quarter four shows that the number of overseas tourists increased by 17.8% (from 501,627 in quarter four of 2022 to 591,011 in quarter four of 2023). Comparisons between the fourth quarters of 2022 and 2023 show that the number of SADC tourists increased by 32.5% (from 1,273,947 in quarter four of 2022 to 1,687,754 in quarter four of 2023.

Revenue from tourism in Kenya jumped nearly a third in 2023 over the previous year beating the pre-pandemic numbers, according to the tourism ministry. Kenya has been a major tourist destination in East Africa traditionally attracting visitors from across the world to its wildlife parks and Indian Ocean beaches. A ministry report seen by AFP on Sunday said revenue rose 31.5 percent last year to hit 352.5 billion shillings (nearly $2.7 billion). But per capita spending in dollar terms by the 1.95 million visitors fell. Before the coronavirus pandemic, tourism brought in about $2.24 billion in 2019 from two million visitors, or about 10 percent of GDP. Americans accounted for the largest number of 2023 arrivals at 265,310, followed by Ugandans (201,623), Tanzanians (157,818) and 156,700 from the United Kingdom.

According to an early December report focusing on West and Central Africa, air ticket reservations to West Africa in the First Quarter of 2023 were 25% higher than in the first quarter of 2019. While countries like Nigeria (+19%), Ghana (+7%), and Senegal (+2%) were the three most popular travel destinations throughout the region, Côte d’Ivoire (+41%) emerged with a good deal of progress, sitting comfortably in 5th place behind Cabo Verde. The Travel & Tourism market in Nigeria is expected to experience a significant rise in revenue in the coming years. By 2024, the projected revenue is estimated to be US$3,312.00 million, with an annual growth rate of 11.23%, resulting in a projected market volume of US$5,639.00 million by 2029. The largest segment within this market is the Hotels sector, which is projected to have a market volume of US$1,444.00 million in 2024. Additionally, the number of users is expected to reach 18,780.00k by 2029, with user penetration increasing from 11.3% in 2024 to 13.0% by 2029. The average revenue per user (ARPU) is expected to be US$127.80. Furthermore, by 2029, 70% of the total revenue in the Travel & Tourism market in Nigeria will be generated through online sales.

Egypt’s tourism revenues reached a record high of $15bn in 2023, surpassing the previous records of $12.5bn in 2010 and $13bn in 2019, before the January Revolution and the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively. This was revealed by Said El Batouty, Professor of International Macroeconomics and Tourism Economics at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany, and Member of the Advisory Group of the European Commission, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and the European Travel Commission (ETC), in an interview with Daily News Egypt. Egypt welcomed a record number of 14.9 million international tourists in 2023, exceeding the peak year of 2010 (14.7 million) and the pre-pandemic year of 2019 (12.9 million). Following a strong performance in 2023, international tourism is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024, according to the first UNWTO World Tourism Barometer of the year. International tourism ended 2023 at 88% of 2019 levels, with an estimated 1.3 billion international arrivals. The factors that will support the full recovery include the release of pent-up demand, increased air connectivity, and a stronger rebound of Asian markets and destinations.

Morocco announced that its revenues from the tourism sector reached $10.5 billion in 2023, for the first time in the countrys history. After receiving a record number of tourists in 2023 with 14.5 million tourists, tourism revenues from hard currency (foreign exchange) recorded a record high of 105 billion dirhams ($10.5 billion), which represents growth by 12% compared to 2022, the Moroccan Ministry of Tourism said in a statement.

According to the new tourism trend and statistics report 2024, Uganda’s international tourist receipts grew by 48.5 percent to reach $1.025 billion last year, representing 83.4 percent of the $1.6 billion recorded in 2019. The authorities attribute the growth in both numbers and revenue to arrivals from Africa and some key overseas markets including the United Kingdom, United States of America and India. In the last three years, Uganda has been aggressively marketing its destinations in southern and western Africa. The latest data from the Bank of Tanzania reveals that tourism has staged an impressive recovery, contributing over 3 billion dollars to foreign exchange earnings in 2023, compared to $1.95 billion in July 2022. The recovery in the tourism sector is highlighted by a 37.2% increase in foreign arrivals.

Africa’s tourism sector has persevered largely without the financial relief governments provide in wealthier, more developed regions, with the continent’s smaller businesses in the sector most affected. The crisis has also exposed Africa’s dependence on foreign travelers. This is especially true for countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, which have developed significant leisure and safari-oriented facilities that appeal to European, American, Asian, and other visitors. South Africa, which welcomed 10 million international tourists in 2019, made local tourism in 2020 a focus of its recovery plan.

Africa’s growing middle class, its soaring population of young travelers hungry for adventure, and the recently launched African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the world’s largest free trade area by the number of participating countries, are among the pillars seen supporting the future growth of domestic and regional tourism in the continent. With its abundant wildlife and varied landscapes, Kenya is a leader in Africa in promoting local tourism. The country’s beaches have been busy again following Covid-19’s initial shock. Even before Covid-19, Kenya enjoyed a 55% rise in bed night occupancies by domestic tourists between 2014 to 2018, according to official data. The growth has been credited to digital campaigns, growing disposable income among Kenyans, and efforts to promote affordable alternatives to five-star resorts.