Tourism is an important economic sector for many countries in Africa. There are many countries that benefit heavily from tourism like Uganda, Algeria, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana and Tanzania. The touristic particularity of Africa lies in the wide variety of points of interest, diversity and multitudes of landscapes as well as the rich cultural heritage. Also, an ecotourist industry is present in some African countries (e.g., South Africa, Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda, Zambia, Uganda, Mozambique, etc.).
Overview
Countries in Africa started investing in their tourism markets since the late 1960s and 1970s and are at different levels of tourism development.Countries in the continent of Africa are typically categorized using Butler's 1980 Tourist Area Life Cycle (TALC) model which is a common model that describes six specific stages of tourism development for all countries worldwide: exploration, involvement, development, consolidation and stagnation.
However, a World Bank study in 2011 classified also African countries in to 4 categories based on performance.These performance groupings were based on indicators such business environment; tourism regulation, infrastructure, resources, tourism income, number of visitors and the potential growth of the market.
“pre-emergent”: Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Comoros, Togo, Guinea, Chad, Guinea Bissau, Niger, Central African Rep., Congo D.R., Liberia, Somalia, Sudan, Congo, Rep., Equatorial Guinea “potential”: Madagascar, Ethiopia, and Gabon, Mauritania, Mali, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Benin, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Lesotho, Angola, Swaziland,Cameroon, and Gabon “emerging”: Rwanda and the Seychelles, Zambia, Uganda, Rwanda, The Gambia, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Malawi, and Mozambique, Seycehlles “consolidating”: Morocco, South Africa, Mauritius, Tanzania, Kenya, Cape Verde, Ghana, Namibia, Botswana tourism destinations.
Tourism sectors
Ecotourism
Ecotourism is the concept of responsible trips and travel to areas that might be protected and especially fragile. The intent is to create as little detrimental impact on the environment as possible. In some locations (such as Gorongosa National Park) where the wildlife has previously been decimated, rewilding has been done and much of the wildlife has been brought back (along with vegetation, thus allowing the environment to sequester more carbon then what was previously the case). This return of wildlife has created tourism opportunities (wildlife viewing, safari trips) allowing to bring in financial revenue. It also requires personnel such as park rangers, to be present, thus creating local employment opportunities. Historical sites and monuments Africa has many historic structures that have survived from ancient civilizations as well as more recent structures of interest to tourists. Ancient historical sites include the Pyramids and temples in both Egypt and Sudan; The Obelisk of Axum from Ethiopia; the ruins of ancient Zimbabwe's trading city, Great Zimbabwe; and the Palace of Emperor Fasilides in Ethiopia.https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/116 https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/364/ More recent structures that attract tourism includes the old slave castles in Ghana, Elmina Castle and Cape Coast Castle, which are also sited for heritage tourism. It also includes the highest monument in the world, the African Renaissance Monument in Senegal.
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Marijuana tourism
Africa is home to a large marijuana industry and is famed for Marijuana tourism destinations that were part of the African "hippie trail" which saw many young people in the 1970s and 1960s traveling there for marijuana use, largely in North Africa (Morocco) but some made it to southern parts of Africa to countries like Malawi. In more contemporary times, many countries in Africa are still destinations known for their marijuana. South Africa is considered the gate way to Africa's marijuana tourism industry due to the popularity of "Durban Poison" Marijuana there is legal for private recreational use Malawi is another country that is known for its marijuana industry and tourists there are known to shop for marijuana or "Malawi Gold". The quality of Malawian cannabis has led it to out-perform marijuana sales in other markets that its been introduced in. Morocco is a country that is also world renowned for its marijuana and attracts tourists in search for its popular marijuana.