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Africa: What Covid-19 Travel Bans Have Done to Conservation Tourism
The Conversation Africa, 19 October 2021
It's been over 20 months since the World Health Organization announced COVID-19 as a global health emergency and pandemic. It's estimated that the resulting reductions in travel in… Read more »
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Seychelles: Seychelles Re-Opens Doors to Travellers From South Africa
Seychelles News Agency, 14 September 2021
Visitors from South Africa are again allowed to enter Seychelles, as of September 13, after the Ministry of Health removed the country from its restricted list. Read more »
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South Africa: SA Tourism Minister Questions UK's Covid Red List
New Era, 24 September 2021
Recently-appointed Minister of Tourism, Lindiwe Sisulu, has brought a bit of respite to the issue around South Africa being red-listed on the UK's traffic light system for… Read more »
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South Africa: Africa Ramps Up Drive to Revive Tourism
SAnews.gov.za, 21 September 2021
Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu says she is pleased that discussions are underway to find ways of getting the country and the continent out of the pandemic and revive the tourism… Read more »
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Africa: Covid-19 - Tourism Not Out of the Woods Yet
East African, 14 July 2021
There is no light at the end of the tunnel for tourism globally. The latest United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) report shows that the losses occasioned by the… Read more »
What Covid-19 Travel Bans Have Done to Tourism in Africa
It's been over 20 months since the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Covid-19 as a global health emergency and pandemic. It's estimated that the resulting reductions in travel in 2020 alone wiped U.S.$4.5 trillion from the global tourism economy and cost millions of jobs. In Africa, half of all the people working in tourism lost their jobs, write Alexander Richard Braczkowski and Duan Biggs for The Conversation.
African tourism recovery will depend on the progress made with vaccination rates, not only of international tourists but of the citizens of African countries. Currently, African countries suffer from the highest rates of vaccine inequality anywhere in the world. Addressing this inequity is not only a global ethical issue but will allow for a relaxing of travel restrictions linked to the spread of the coronavirus. Without it, global herd immunity remains out of reach and so does the recovery in tourism that Africa so desperately needs, says Braczkowski and Biggs.
A number of strategies have been tried by different stakeholders to strengthen protected areas and related livelihoods in response to the pandemic. These include: domestic tourism; contactless and virtual tourism; and novel conservation financing such as direct payments for wildlife conservation. Many countries are encouraging residents to travel locally and visit national parks.
InFocus
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Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has thanked the German government for removing South Africa from the Covid-19 red list. This means that the country is no longer deemed a "high ... Read more »
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The novel coronavirus pandemic has all but crippled the tourism sector. But vaccines offer hope for the industry. Its recovery must begin with domestic tourism which ... Read more »
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Until the first case of the Covid-19 pandemic was reported in that East African region in March 2020, tourism was the leading economic sector in the region. A study that can give ... Read more »
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In the summer of 2019, Timilehin Ajiboye became intrigued with the idea of building a travel app after conversations with a circle of friends, writes Tage Kene-Okafor for ... Read more »
Top-left: Fishermen in Mauritius. Top-right: The coastline in Essaouira, Morocco. Bottom-left: Safari in the Serengeti. Bottom-right: A tourist dances along to a cultural song in Ethiopia.
