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Travel and Tourism are Vital to Africa’s Economic Growth, but are they Properly Marketed
By Rachel Irvine, CEO, Irvine Partners
When it comes to boosting Africa’s economic growth, tourism is among the lowest of low-hanging fruit. The continent is home to some of the most spectacular landscapes on the planet, offers unparalleled wildlife experiences, and has an incredibly diverse array of cultures and heritages. You could spend a lifetime exploring it and still encounter new things every day.
Building up a tourism industry also means bringing in foreign currency, helping to stabilise economies and reduce the reliance on other export sectors. That’s to say nothing of the many direct and indirect jobs it creates, which are so desperately needed in countries across the continent.
Of course, many African countries have recognised the potential of tourism and have mature tourism industries which contribute significantly to their economies. According to Statista, tourism added approximately US$182.6 billion to Africa’s overall gross domestic product (GDP). But the sector could be much bigger too. According to a report by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), in collaboration with VFS Global, the African Travel & Tourism sector could bring in an additional US$168 billion to the continent’s economy and create over 18 million new jobs over the next decade. Effective marketing and communication will be critical to its ability to do so.
Growing competitiveness in global tourism
On the face of it, that might sound strange. Those of us who know the continent and who have experienced even a fraction of what it has to offer are already sold on it. A part of us might even believe that the continent should sell itself.
But for many of the world’s biggest travel markets, travelling to Africa requires at least one long-haul flight, if not more. That means people have to spend significant amounts of time and money to get there. While at the extreme end of things, a direct flight from New York to Cape Town means spending close to 15 hours in the air, for instance.
That means even countries with well-established tourism sectors must work hard to keep people coming back. Those with emerging tourist industries, meanwhile, must work even harder to entice visitors in the first place. Crucially, African countries are having to put this work in at a time when the global tourism space is more competitive than ever.
Countries that weren’t previously thought of as tourism hotspots and which are much closer to key markets have become seriously competitive players in recent years. Montenegro, for example, saw a 7% year-on-year increase in tourist visits in June, following a 5.1% increase the month before. It also happens that Londoners can reach its spectacular coastline with little more than a three-hour flight.
The right marketing matters
If African countries are to be competitive in that kind of landscape, it’s therefore critical that they market themselves effectively. That means telling the right kind of stories to the right kinds of people, on the right channels, at the right time.
But it also means recognising that today’s travellers and their needs are more diverse than ever. Trying to sell your country purely on stunning sunsets over the savannah or unspoiled, sandy beaches just isn’t going to cut it anymore. Make no mistake, those kinds of things are still important drawcards, but for country tourism boards in particular, appealing to urban sophisticates and foodies is just as important as appealing to nature lovers and adventurers.
While specific destinations can afford to be a little more focused, they shouldn’t shy away from demonstrating their diversity. How could a Cape Town hotel or Kenyan lodge, for instance, convince families that there is as much to attract their 17-year-old thrill-seeker son as there is for their more culturally inclined 75-year-old grandmother? How can they appeal to group, solo, and family travellers simultaneously? And what about the business travellers who increasingly tack on a few days of leisure to their travels?
The right partners matter
Key to getting that diverse appeal right is identifying and engaging with the right marketing partners. That means finding partners that understand which traveller archetypes you’re most likely to appeal to and how to reach them. But it also means finding partners that understand and have feet on the ground in your most lucrative target markets.
These partners should be able to tell your ever-evolving story in ways that mean you’re not just an option but somewhere they yearn to visit, high up at the top of their bucket list. And they should demonstrate that they can evolve with you and take the strategic lead wherever necessary.
Of course, there are other things – such as improvements in infrastructure, visa facilitation, and intra-African flights – which would all make a tangible positive impact on Africa’s tourism sector. But the best way to get action on those things is to build up demand and nothing creates demand like effective marketing.
The World Bank in its latest Nigeria Development Update (NDU), has said that more than half of Nigeria’s population lives in poverty.
The report titled ‘Staying the course: Progress amid pressing challenges,’ World Bank said about 129 million Nigerians are living in poverty.
The Washington-based institution also said the country needs to create productive jobs to reduce poverty.
“Without jobs, poor Nigerians will not be able to escape poverty. Poverty is high and rising in Nigeria,” the World Bank said.
“More than half of the population lives in poverty. This partly reflects the modest overall pace of economic growth, which is insufficient to compensate for the erosion of purchasing power brought about by inflation.
“With growth proving too slow to outpace inflation, poverty has risen sharply. Since 2018, the share of Nigerians living below the national poverty is estimated to have risen sharply from 40.1 per cent to 56.0 per cent.
“Combined with population growth, this means that some 129 million Nigerians are living in poverty. This stark increase partly reflects Nigeria’s beleaguered growth record. Real GDP per capita has not recovered to the level it was at prior to the oil price-induced recession in 2016.
“The COVID-19 pandemic compounded this drop in economic activity. Moreover, growth is failing to outpace inflation: large increases in prices across almost all goods have diminished purchasing power.”
The World Bank also said poverty reflects the non-inclusive structure of growth.
According to the World Bank, the best way to share the proceeds of growth is through jobs, however, employment is not enough to lift people out of poverty.
“Even when GDP was expanding more rapidly in the early 2010s, richer households benefited more. Jobs hold the key to sharing the proceeds of growth,” the Bretton Woods institution said.
“However, employment on its own is not enough to lift people out of poverty: Nigeria needs productive jobs, but these are scarce.
“Many jobs are not productive and therefore remunerative enough to afford a life beyond poverty.
“In Nigeria, as in many countries, high employment and high poverty coexist. In-work poverty is common as many jobs do not generate earnings that are high enough to escape poverty.
“Low incomes are symptomatic of low productivity jobs. Nigeria’s labor market is changing – with employment shifting from agriculture to services – but these changes are not increasing overall productivity and living standards, because many of the new service-sector jobs are in low-productivity sub-sectors like retail and wholesale trade.
“Sustained poverty reduction depends on creating wage jobs through macro-fiscal stability, growth, and private sector development, complemented by building human capital.”
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has raised the alarm over the dangers of cybercrime, saying Nigeria lost over $500 million to it in 2022.
Ola Olukoyede, chairman, EFCC, who spoke on Tuesday at a National Cybercrime Summit organised by his agency, said that “Projections by multiple sources show that the global loss to cybercrimes may reach a staggering $10.5 trillion,” the EFCC chief said in Abuja.
“As a matter of fact, the research I did earlier this year confirmed that cybercrime has become the third largest GDP in the world with approximately 2,328 cases occurring daily.
“The implication of all this is that if left unchecked, cybercrimes portend grave dangers to the entire world. Bringing it to Nigeria, in 2022 alone, Nigeria lost over $500 million to cybercrime.”
He said cybercrime accounts for a significant percent of the convictions recorded by the agency since his one year of resuming as the chairman of the EFCC.
“These are the realities stalking the Commission’s fight against these crimes,” he said. “Cybercrime accounts for a significant percentage of the 3,455 convictions recorded by EFCC in my one year as the Executive Chairman of EFCC.”
But Olukoyede said there are plans to rechannel the energies of young people who are mostly perpetrators of cybercrime.
“First, there is an alternative of creative and innovative development of socially beneficial applications that can deliver better prospects than internet fraud,” he told the gathering.
“Today’s event is tailored towards exposing young Nigerians with strong tech skills to the opportunities that are bound in various industries and sectors for legitimate wealth, creation, and honest livelihood.
“These opportunities can be found in the creative industry, tech, ecosystem, financial services sector, medical services, and even law enforcement, your lens.”
Career and entrepreneurship accelerator, ALX Africa, furthered the course for innovative products creation by recently organizing an exclusive product management masterclass for its community members, further cementing its position as a leading tech accelerator on the continent.
The masterclass was designed for learners on the ALX Founders Academy. This comprehensive entrepreneurship program offers participants insights and tools to ideate, develop, and validate their innovative ideas into viable businesses.
The programme engages a vibrant community of peers who gain insights from successful African startup founders with live masterclasses such as this.
The master in this case, Chidi Afulezi, a product specialist, founder, and Managing Principal of redKola Digital Labs, led the session with an in-depth look into the key principles of product development and management.
Emphasizing the importance of discovering and validating the problems and crafting solutions that align with the needs and opportunities of the market.
“Entrepreneurs need to fall in love with the problem they are trying to solve. The entrepreneur’s journey is one of discovery. Discovering the problem, discovering the customers that have these problems, and discovering the solutions to the problem. With this discovery, they can build a product that is viable, feasible, and valuable.” Chidi remarked.
Reflecting on the event, Country General Manager, ALX Nigeria, Ruby Igwe said, “We organize impactful sessions like this masterclass to inspire our learners and give them the tools they need to succeed. Our goal is to ensure that they are equipped with the best resources and knowledge to create products that will shape the future of Africa’s economy.”
ALX Founder Academy has contributed to the success stories of many African startups, including Aquatrack, Luna, and Healthtracka, a digital health platform that raised $1.5m in 2022.
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