Member States of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Commission for Africa (CAF) have identified five key areas among the “UNWTO’s Agenda for Africa -Tourism for Inclusive Growth” for scaling up COVID-19 recovery plans. The Organisation’s 10-point Agenda for Africa comprises a set of guidelines aimed at developing, growing and promoting tourism on the continent.
The top five on the agenda that were recognised by CAF members in a recent survey by the world tourism body includes: Unlocking Growth through Investment Promotion and Public Private Partnerships, Promoting Innovation and Technology, Promoting Travel Facilitation (Connectivity / Visa), Fostering Resilience (Safety + Security, Crisis Communication) and Advocating the Brand Africa.
Among these areas however, respondents believe Fostering Resilience needs to be re-aligned to ensure a swift recovery response to COVID-19.
Crisis management and communication, Marketing and promotion, post-crisis Health protocols, Developing domestic travel Innovation & entrepreneurship, and Environmental Protection & Biodiversity conservation are some of the key areas CAF members want UNWTO to build capacity on through online training.
On a sub-regional scale, the number one priority of UNWTO Agenda for Africa – Tourism for inclusive growth which was repetitively ticked by the Member States is as follows:
Northern Africa
Expanding of Capacity Building incl. Training Facilities
Eastern Africa
Promoting Travel Facilitation (Connectivity / Visa) & Unlocking Growth through Investment Promotion and Public Private Partnerships
Central Africa
Strengthening Tourism Statistics Systems
Southern Africa
Advocating the Brand Africa
Western Africa
Unlocking Growth through Investment Promotion and Public Private Partnerships
In addition to this the survey has revealed a tendency to put an emphasis on the creation of a new (sub-) key area of the existing Agenda which is tentatively named “Promoting intra-regional and domestic travel”
The UNWTO says the survey is “to help us better respond to the new realities of the tourism sector, so as to ensure an appropriate response to their priority needs in the Covid-19 recovery plan.”
