African tourism flourishes

After being severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, international tourism in Africa is on the path to recovery and has returned to pre-crisis growth levels in the first quarter of 2024, according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

In the first quarter of this year, Africa welcomed 5% more international visitors than in the same period in 2019, and 13% more than in the first quarter of 2023. This positive growth puts the continent back on an upward trajectory after reaching a 96% recovery compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2023. Some countries with outstanding results, far exceeding the continental average, include Tanzania, Morocco and Algeria.

According to UNWTO data, North Africa recorded the best performance in Q1 with 23% more international arrivals than Q1-2019, followed by Central America with a 15% increase, and the Caribbean and Western Europe with 7% each. However, in Africa, the recovery of international tourism is showing uneven trends between the growth of arrivals and revenues. This discrepancy is explained by factors such as average length of stay, average expenditure per visitor and customer composition.

SOUTH