by Francesco Abbate, University of Turin and OEET
Sintesi
Dopo aver documentato l’importanza che il settore turistico riveste per il continente africano, il contributo ne discute le principali debolezze . In particolare, vengono evidenziate le ancora scarse connessioni intersettoriali, dal momento che la maggior parte dei servizi correlati al turismo – come linee aeree, strutture ricettive e tour operator- è di proprietà straniera. Alla luce di queste valutazioni, il contributo presenta i quattro principali suggerimenti che sono stati proposti dall’UNCTAD nel Report “Economic Development in Africa” del 2017 al fine di rafforzare il settore turistico africano e sfruttarne appieno le potenzialità: consolidamento delle connessioni intersettoriali; intensificazione della capacità turistica per sostenere una crescita inclusiva; sfruttamento del potenziale turistico intra-regionale; promozione della pace e della stabilità politica.
Since 2000, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has been deepening its analysis of Africa’s development challenges and key policy issues by publishing annually The Economic Development in Africa Report. The theme of the 2017 issue is Tourism for Transformative and Inclusive Growth (http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/aldcafrica2017_en.pdf). The report contains many interesting findings, some of which are contrary to common perceptions, as well as important policy recommendations for enhancing the benefits Africa is reaping from tourism.
Tourism in Africa (including not only visitors for leisure but also for business, health, education and other purposes) is a thriving sector which generates more than 21 million jobs, or 1 out of 14, in the continent. Between 1995 and 2014, the industry registered strong growth, with international tourist arrivals and tourism revenues growing annually at 6 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively. As a result, tourism currently represents roughly 8.5 per cent of Africa’s GDP and as much as 46 per cent of the continent’s services exports.
In small island countries, tourism is the economy’s driving force, with a contribution to national GDP ranging from 27 per cent in Mauritius to 62 per cent in Seychelles. Tourism is also an important sector, accounting for more than 10 per cent of GDP, in 13 other non-small island economies, including those from Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Tanzania and Zimbabwe), Northern Africa (Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia), Southern Africa (Botswana, Namibia and Lesotho) and Western Africa (Gambia and Senegal). Interestingly, Central Africa does not appear in this list, while Western Africa is hardly represented. Unsurprisingly, the oil-exporting countries (such as Algeria, Angola, Gabon and Nigeria) are among the least dependent on tourism.
Geographically, tourist arrivals are highly skewed. Northern Africa is the most popular destination, receiving about half of tourists visiting the continent in 2011-2014. Four countries, namely Egypt, Morocco, South Africa and Tunisia, accounted for more than 60 per cent of arrivals over the period.
Africans themselves are increasingly stimulating tourism demand in Africa. Four out of 10 international tourists originate from the continent and the ratio rises to two out of three in sub-Saharan Africa. This finding should not appear as surprising because, as with merchandise trade flows, proximity is one of the main determinants of visitor origin. Furthermore, intra-regional tourism has been spurred by a rise in the continent’s disposable income and a growing middle class.
In African economies, growth in tourism earnings is negatively correlated with the share of agriculture in GDP, suggesting that tourism growth is associated with structural transformation. As tourism has relatively few entry barriers for labour and low capital requirements, it may in fact provide new opportunities allowing countries to diversify away from agriculture. Tourism is also contributing to achieving gender equality in the continent. More than 30 per cent of tourism businesses are run by women, against an average of 21 per cent for all sectors. In addition, women make up 46 per cent of employees in hotels and restaurants.
Despite tourism’s potential to foster sustainable development, the industry generates weak intersectoral linkages, because of limited domestic productive capacity. Airlines, tour operators, travel agencies, and hotel chains are mostly foreign-owned, while tourism establishments heavily depend on imported inputs. This situation results in an extremely high degree of leakages. These are the different ways in which revenue generated by tourism is lost to other countries' economies. As an example, in South Africa, about half of final demand by hotels and restaurants is met by imports, compared to only 20-25 per cent in Indonesia and Thailand.
Although visitor arrivals have been adversely affected by a number of economic, political and health upheavals, such as the global financial crisis, the Arab Spring and the Ebola outbreak, tourism receipts show a lower degree of volatility than other external flows, namely foreign direct investment and workers’ remittances. However, the Ebola crisis shrank tourism across Africa, even in countries where there had been no cases of the disease.
In the light of these findings, the UNCTAD report puts forward a panoply of well-thought and feasible recommendations to policymakers at the national and regional levels, focusing on the following four major challenges:
(a) Strengthening intersectoral linkages at national and local levels, so that a greater share of the value added generated in the sector is retained by the destination country. Put it differently, the message is: “From leakages to linkages.” Attention should be given not only to better-known linkages between tourism and sectors like agriculture and infrastructure, but also to different market segments such as ecotourism, cultural tourism as well as medical and business travel. All these linkages can play a key role in promoting diversification and structural transformation. The UNCTAD report’s focus on tourism’s contribution to structural transformation should be read against the background of “growth without industrialization” prevailing in Africa and the new thinking on this issue by John Page of the Brookings Institution, among others, who stresses the importance of tradable, labour-intensive activities “without smokestacks”, like cut flowers, call centres and tourism itself.
(b) Enhancing the capacity of tourism to foster more inclusive growth. Tourism can play an important role in poverty reduction and inclusion by creating employment opportunities among vulnerable groups such as the poor, women and youth. Tourism is a labour-intensive sector in which expenditure is more likely to reach the poor. Linkages between tourist operators and rural communities providing popular tourism products such as music, handicrafts and tours must be fostered to better integrate the poor into the tourism value chain. Generating jobs for young people will require strong efforts to promote tourism and hospitality schools as well as vocational skills training, such as informal apprenticeship schemes. Boosting female participation in tourism and improving their working conditions can enhance tourism product diversification and the protection of local cultures and environments.
(c) Tapping the potential of intraregional tourism through deepening regional integration. A shift in focus is required to target African tourists who have more similar tastes and greater demand for local products than those from other continents, while their arrivals are less susceptible to seasonality. Further progress on free movement of persons and liberalization of air transport services within the regional economic communities and throughout the continent are instrumental to future expansion of intraregional tourism. In this connection, it is interesting to note that three years after abolishing visa requirements for East African Community nationals, Rwanda had registered a 70 per cent growth in the number of intraregional tourists. In addition, African States are invited to implement the Yamoussoukro Decision to deregulate air services and open regional air markets to competition within Africa, and to establish a single African air transport market. Furthermore, within the current negotiations for the establishment of a Continental Free Trade Area for goods and services covering all 54 African countries, special attention should be devoted to tourism, given its lion’s share in Africa’s services exports. Finally, although currency restrictions and the lack of currency convertibility hamper intraregional tourism, the report itself recognizes that the removal of these obstacles depends on broader macroeconomic policies.
(d) Harnessing peace and stability for tourism. One of the main messages of the report is that, while peace is essential for tourism, the development of tourism can foster peace. African countries with tourism potential are thus urged to implement policies strengthening the sector as they will contribute to both peace and development. Stronger regional efforts to achieve peace are important, as the effects of political unrest on tourism can reach beyond national borders. African Governments should consider implementing strategies that help address negative perceptions of the continent in global public media which adversely affect tourism development. At the national level, countries should design comprehensive planning and crisis management procedures involving the public and private sectors and include tourism in disaster management plans.
