Loading ...Francesco Frangialli, secretary-general of the UNWTO plans to visit Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire and Mauritania, where the countries’ tourism industries are ready to expand once again. Conditions in the developing countries have improved significantly, allowing officials to relaunch the tourism industries there. In 2007, there was an 8 percent increase in tourists visiting Africa overall, meaning 44 million additional visitors visited the continent. The UNWTO’s World Tourism Barometer shows that tourism in Mauritania can be a great earner for a country that now relies heavily on iron exports and local agriculture.
Frangialli says, “These figures prove that tourism has the potential to foster sustainable development and Africa as a whole is among the top growing regions. But many countries who have experienced less favourable developments in the recent past have now the opportunity to regain tourism strength.”
Cote d’Ivoire, mostly associated with war and political turmoil, is coming into its own and tourism is a real possibility for the country to put itself on the international map. Kenya is also back on course after political troubles kept most tourists away at the end of 2007.
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