Africa Set To End 2023 Close To Pre-Pandemic Levels

An indication that Tourism Opens Minds?

According to the latest (Nov 30, 2023) data from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), tourism in Africa is on track to recover almost 92% of pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year.

From an international perspective, the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer estimates that 975 million tourists travelled between January and September 2023, an increase of 38% on the same months of 2022.

Compared to 2019, however, the international change shows 20% with Africa still recovering at -8% for the January to September 2023 period.

The Tourism Barometer also indicates that international tourism receipts could reach USD 1.4 trillion in 2023, about 93% of the USD 1.5 trillion earned by destinations in 2019.

Tourism Opens Minds

In case you're wondering what the pattern overlay in the header image of this week's newsletter represents, it's the Tourism Opens Minds symbol, which is apparently inspired by the flag colours of every country in the world.

This initiative aims to encourage governments and the tourism industry to pledge towards working with the UNWTO in helping to cater to and foster an environment that compliments lesser-known destination trips.

To show your tourism organisation's commitment to the pledge, there's a downloadable toolkit with logo, application examples, and comprehensive guidelines on the website at https://www.unwto.org/the-tourism-opens-minds

Well, the majority of African countries certainly qualify as "lesser-known" destinations, so let's hope that Africa's inbound source markets take heed and make the pledge.

If you know of any tourism organisations using the Tourism Opens Minds logo on their marketing collateral, please comment with a link to serve as inspiration.