Africa Earned $35 Billion in International Tourism Receipts in 2016

International tourist arrivals in Africa went up by 8% in 2016 according to UNWTO Tourism Highlights 2017 Edition, which cites comparatively limited data available to date. This represents a strong rebound, following two years (2014 and 2015) of weaker performance due to various geopolitical, economic, and health challenges.

As compared to 2015, 2016 saw a 4 million increase in international tourists, to reach 58 million (5% of the world total). This earned the region US$ 35 billion in international tourism receipts (3% share), representing an increase of 8% in real terms. 

The report further indicates that Sub-saharan Africa led the continent’s recovery by +10%. Attributed partly to simpler visa procedures, South Africa recorded a 13% growth in international arrivals, with Kenya and Tanzania also enjoying double digit growth of +17% and +16% respectively in 2016. 

Yet, domestic travel spending still had the biggest share according to a Jumia Travel Hospitality Report for Africa, generating approximately 64% of Africa’s Tourism GDP. This is in comparison to 36% of foreign visitor spending in 2016.

UNWTO notes among others strengthening of security, improved air and sea connectivity, and the redirection of tourism flows from other troubled destinations, as major contributors to the improved tourism performance in most African countries. “An ever-increasing number of destinations worldwide have opened up to, and invested in tourism, turning it into a key driver of socio-economic progress through the creation of jobs and enterprises, export revenues, and infrastructure development.

Over the past six decades, tourism has experienced continued expansion and diversification to become one of the largest and fastest-growing economic sectors in the world. Many new destinations have emerged in addition to the traditional favourites of Europe and North America,” reads the UNWTO report.

According to the same report, tourism has boasted virtually uninterrupted growth over time, despite occasional shocks, demonstrating the sector’s strength and resilience. International tourist arrivals have increased from 25 million globally in 1950 to 278 million in 1980, 674 million in 2000, and 1,235 million in 2016. Likewise, international tourism receipts earned by destinations worldwide have surged from US$ 2 billion in 1950 to US$ 104 billion in 1980, US$ 495 billion in 2000, and US$ 1,220 billion in 2016.

The report states that tourism is a major category of international trade in services. In addition to receipts earned in destinations, international tourism also generated US$ 216 billion in exports through international passenger transport services rendered to non-residents in 2016, bringing the total value of tourism exports up to US$ 1.4 trillion, or US$ 4 billion a day on average.

The UNWTO notes that International tourism represents 7% of the world’s exports in goods and services, after increasing one percentage point from 6% in 2015. Tourism has grown faster than world trade for the past five years. As a worldwide export category, tourism ranks third after chemicals and fuels and ahead of automotive products and food. In many developing countries, tourism is the top export category.

“International tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) in 2016 grew by 3.9% to reach a total of 1,235 million worldwide, an increase of 46 million over the previous year. It was the seventh consecutive year of above-average growth in international tourism following the 2009 global economic crisis. A comparable sequence of uninterrupted solid growth has not been recorded since the 1960s,” reads the UNWTO report.

It states that the demand for international tourism followed the positive trend of previous years, with many destinations reporting sound results, while a few faced security incidents. Some redirection of tourism flows was observed, though most destinations shared in the overall growth due to stronger travel demand, increased connectivity and more affordable air transport.

“By UNWTO region, Asia and the Pacific led growth in 2016 with a 9% increase in international arrivals, followed by Africa (+8%) and the Americas (+3%). The world’s most visited region, Europe (+2%) showed mixed results, while available data for the Middle East (-4%) points to a decline in arrivals. International tourism receipts grew by 2.6% in real terms (taking into account exchange rate fluctuations and inflation) with total earnings in the destinations estimated at US$ 1,220 billion worldwide in 2016 (euro 1,102 billion).”

France, the United States, Spain and China continued to top the international arrivals ranking in 2016. In receipts, the US and Spain remain at the top, followed by Thailand, which climbed to number 3 last year, and China, which is fourth. France and Italy moved up in receipts to 5th and 6th position respectively, while the United Kingdom, Mexico and Thailand moved up to 6th, 8th and 9th place in arrivals. China, the United States and the Germany led outbound tourism in their respective regions in 2016, and continue to top the expenditure ranking in that order.

Long-term outlook

International tourist arrivals worldwide are expected to increase by 3.3% a year between 2010 and 2030 to reach 1.8 billion by 2030, according to UNWTO’s long-term forecast report Tourism Towards 2030. Between 2010 and 2030, arrivals in emerging destinations (+4.4% a year) are expected to increase at twice the rate of those in advanced economies (+2.2% a year).  

The market share of emerging economies increased from 30% in 1980 to 45% in 2016, and is expected to reach 57% by 2030, equivalent to over 1 billion international tourist arrivals.

Source: weekendpost.co.bw