The biggest crisis in the history of travel and tourism continues into a second year. Between January and May, international tourist arrivals were 85% below 2019 levels (or a 65% drop when compared to 2020). While there are little flashes of recovery here and there, the continued imposition of restrictions in some parts of the world, vaccination apathy, and the emergence of new variants of coronavirus, are weighing on the recovery of international travel.
In Africa, tourism made up 6.9 percent of Africa’s gross domestic product or $169 billion in 2019, contributing 24.7 million jobs, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), but when international travel reduced significantly, the weakness of the regional travel market, in comparison with most parts of the world, became apparent. In 2019, domestic travel in Africa made up just 55 percent of travel spending, while Europe recorded 64 percent and North America, 83 percent.
This year, destinations such as Rwanda and Egypt are enjoying the restrictions in international travel, as tourists who would otherwise travel to Europe, North America or places like Dubai are staying within the continent. According to the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), several tour operators confirmed Egypt as the leading destination for Nigerians this year, followed by Mauritius, Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana and the Gambia. The major hurdles to international travel and tourism recovery is lagging vaccine distributions, vaccine apathy and the emergence of new variants of COVID-19. Also, tourism experts do not expect a return to pre-COVID travel levels until 2023 or later. While these hurdles remain, there is an opportunity to maximise the growth of domestic tourism on a regional level, as well as national and local.
According to the United Nations (UN), the impact of COVID-19 on tourism will cost the world economy $4 trillion. Developing countries will be among the most affected ones. However, there is a chance to rethink the future of tourism. Leveraging its unique ability to ensure no one is left behind, tourism can help Africa achieve inclusive growth, with the restart of tourism expected to help kickstart recovery and growth.
Inclusive Growth
Inclusive growth is economic growth that is distributed fairly across society and creates opportunities for all. It is the growth that comes with benefits widely and fairly enjoyed.
As the world recovers from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, equitable employment is key to improved social inclusion, peace and security. With tourism responsible for 10% of the world’s GDP, 7% of global trade and as many as one in every 11 jobs globally, no sector has a better potential to ensure inclusive growth. Beyond its direct impact, tourism have an indirect impact on other sectors, with a multiplier effect along different value chains. It is estimated that every job in the core tourism sector creates about 1.5 indirect jobs in the tourism-related economy.
Also, target 8.9 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 8 sets as an objective: “By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products”; an objective that recognises the transformational potential of tourism to improve livelihoods, especially in rural communities. This is not limited to providing access to decent employment, but also helping local industries to thrive.
Based on the the Hausmann Rodrik and Velasco (HRV) Growth Diagnostic (Hausmann et al., 2005)1, Bakker (2019)2 adapted the Tourism-driven Growth Diagnostic (T-DIGD) framework to the tourism sector, based on three pillars: Growth of productive employment opportunities, Equal access to these opportunities, and Equal outcome of tourism opportunities ( both income and non-income). These pillars are further broken down into specific factors that could hinder the tourism sector from encouraging the growth of inclusive employment opportunities.
Every factor under each of the pillars above play a major role in how inclusive tourism-based growth would be. It is not difficult to see how impactful tourism could be in ensuring no one is left behind. For example, where local communities become sole providers of tourists’ needs (accommodation, food and beverage, transport, guiding services), backward and forward linkages are easily generated, helping to expand the local supply chain and encouraging the rise and growth of new businesses in tourism.
There are lots of examples around us, from fishing communities employing their skills, knowledge and equipment to offer different services to tourists. These services range from fishing trips, snorkelling tours, to diving expeditions and water taxi. There are also others who have guest houses and restaurants serving tourists. As home-sharing becomes more popular across the world, we are also seeing more people across Africa listing their properties on platforms like Aura by Transcorp Hotels for short lets.
To take full advantage of tourism’s capacity to ensure inclusive growth, it is important to invest more in tourism education and training, as well as building public policies that lead to job creation. The current education and skills/knowledge gap needs to be addressed, not only by the government but also major players in every subsector of Tourism. From internships to specialized education and training, we all need to do more to build capacity in our local tourism sector as we work towards growing domestic tourism and stimulating the sector for inclusive growth.
The 2021 World Tourism Day is another wakeup call for everyone to do our best to promote domestic tourism and contribute our quota in ensuring that everyone benefits from its growth.
1 Hausmann, R., Rodrik, D., & Velasco, A. (2005). Growth diagnostics. Center for International Development, Harvard University.
