Addis Ababa — Africa registered a 10 per cent plus in tourism flow in the year 2004, a senior official with the World Tourism Organization (WTO) Commission for Africa said here on Wednesday.

This was stated at the conclusion of a three-day regional forum under the theme:"Tourism Destination Management: Routes to Success" late on Wednesday in Addis Ababa.

In his report to the Forum, Mr.Ousamane Ndiaye, WTO Regional representative for Africa said the world had registered a significant tourism flow in the year 2004 where Africa took the leading.

"In 2004, we witnessed a spectacular jump in tourism flows with growth of 10% corresponding to 70 million additional visitors compared with 2003," Ndiaye said.

According to the regional representative, "This highly encouraging result was achieved during a period of turbulence, which prevailed during the past several years. We are talking about a not- insignificant increase of 100 million additional arrivals in three years," he said.

Ndiaye also indicated that all the regions of the world contributed to this increase with growth rates above the world average in all regions of the globe, except for Europe, which grew +4.3%. .

Accordingly, Africa was the continent that grew the fastest, (at +10.1 %,) followed by Asia and the Pacific, +7.4% the Middle East +6.9% and the Americas, +5.8%, according to the WTO Regional representative.

"The distribution of tourism flows was uneven, with a strong concentration in Europe, the most visited region with a 55% share, followed by East Asia and the Pacific with 19%, the Americas with 16%, with the Middle East and Africa each accounting for 5% of world tourism," Ndiaye said.

Ndiaye however remarked that due to man made and natural disasters around the world from- Europe to Asia, world tourism suffered during the past five years.

This period was marked with turbulent political, economic, natural and social developments.

"The tragedy of 11 September, the war in Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, among others, have created a climate of insecurity and uncertainty. Tourists have become targets of terrorist groups seeking publicity for their despicable acts perpetrated against them. Major cities and world-renowned tourist destinations have not been spared, like Madrid, London, Cairo, Istanbul, Sharm el-Sheikh, Djerba, Mombassa and Bali," Ndiaye added.

Natural disasters such as the SARS epidemic, hurricanes in the Caribbean, floods in Central Europe, the earthquake in Pakistan and the Indian Ocean Tsunami were also among others reported to have been challenges to the world tourism over the past five years.

According to data's obtained from WTO, Africa's share of international tourist arrivals is only 4 % and its share of worldwide receipts is even less, only 2 %.