The Tourism sector in Africa has made its mark in recent years. And that's the least we can say given the results faced by the protagonists of this industry. After the difficult period of COVID-19, it is now obvious that the causes of this general slowdown are due to factors rather exogenous to each country on the continent.
The African countries which are getting by as best they can are not struggling any more than in previous years. And this is the case for most countries having understood and developed a corresponding potential for tourist attractions and infrastructure. One can include in the list, notably Morocco, Seychelles, Cape Verde, Mauritius, Gambia, Kenya, South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania.
Most other African countries are lagging behind. They are either lacking the infrastructure or adequate policies to make their potential equally attractive destinations, or victims of their internal socio-political instability. Or even the lackluster image they unfortunately enjoy from the outside.
West Africa is the first region in Africa to experience a notable decline in the level of interest shown by foreign tourists in this continent. The chronic instability that this region has been experiencing against a backdrop of insecurity for some time is the primary reason for this state of affairs. Tourism had already experienced a sharp decline with the appearance of Jihadist attacks or Islamic terrorists. And the socio-political instability characterized by the numerous coups d'Etat that have taken place in the region have only further deteriorated the image of these countries which previously attracted many tourists. This is the case of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Unfortunately, this phenomenon goes further to impact coastal countries which are not as affected. Togo, Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Liberia are some of the examples.
To promote their destinations, several countries have seen it necessary, officially or unofficially, to launch campaigns on social networks. And one has seen the flowering of species of road trips as diverse as they are varied. If the image makes it possible to make a site known and invite you to travel, it is less the tourist attractions of the countries themselves which are most often highlighted. Many Internet users were able to notice that images of young girls in different postures were flooding social networks to promote this or that other tourist site or place. With the stamp of their country or tourist site. As if these images, even if they were taken at tourist sites, were enough to convince people to visit them. Without knowing whether the use of the names of countries or tourist sites, often as if to locate them, came from official agencies. In any case, certain images could even make you uncomfortable in certain cases, or even produce the opposite effect, even though the intentions were good. Because, more than if it is a question of selling the destinations, it is rather the images of those who play the role of influencers that are sold. Rather giving bad images to the country which was thus exposed.
In many countries in Africa, there are tourist sites that are already known. But there are also many sites which are not known to the general public but which are of great interest. It is therefore necessary to know how to reconcile the discovery of the best known with the promotion of the less known. However, it is even more important to strive to discover and make more known these numerous sites that one sometimes tends to forget and which are worth the effort. Indeed, one must never forget that there are very few sites where the simple view is enough. Developing new narratives that are more appropriate with the message we want to convey to potential visitors are just as important as the images of the sites to be promoted. Even more so than the people promoting it.
By Jean Kébayo
