AABF V Policy Recommendation

Forging Business Linkages for Sustainable Tourism Development in Africa

At AABF V Plenary Sessions, representatives of public and private sector as well as the civil society and international organizations together discussed the issues and challenges currently confronting the tourism industry across Africa from various aspects. 

Salient points of the Policy Recommendation prepared by the Chair of the AABF V include:

  1. There should be a concentrated focus on the development and promotion of tourism from Asian countries, including Japan, to Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and beyond;
  2. There should be a targeted marketing strategy based on analysis on trends, profile and orientation of potential inbound travelers to Africa;
  3. Various funding facilities available under the Yokohama Action Plan and other cooperation programmes are encouraged to be utilized to carry out programmes/projects/activities aimed at promoting tourism as an element of boosting economic growth and poverty alleviation while enabling conservation and environmental protection in Africa
  4. There should be support to the African tourism industry through capacity building, forging of business linkages and public-private partnerships, and access to financial facilities;
  5. FDI on the building of international standard hotels and lodges, restaurants, airline services and value addition to African commodities as well as an enabling environment in terms of policy, legal and regulatory frameworks should be promoted;
  6. Inter-African cooperation including strengthened regional capacities of all five sub-regions of the continent should be encouraged to promote tourist attractions in the region in clusters;
  7. There should be further efforts to improve Africa’s image and promote greater awareness of the continent’s many tourism attractions.