African middle class to become the niche market for tourism, ECA study shows.

Kigali, Rwanda (ECA) -A study commissioned by the UN Economic Commission for Africa states that Africa attracts only 5.1 percent of international tourists, mostly from outside the continent. These generate US$ 33.6 billion, which is only 3.1 percent of international tourism receipts, with South Africa accounting for 30 per cent.

Africa is still miles away from competing other regions such as in Europe and Asia.

This study entitled: “Upgrading Rwanda's Tourism Value Chains” suggests that Rwanda and other countries in the region should put emphasis on capturing the growing regional middle class market segment and strengthening the linkages between the tourism sector and other sectors of the economy. “This would to create multiplier effects that would not only generate additional revenues, but would also contribute to job creation”, the study shows.

During the validation workshop of the above-mentioned study, Mr. Antonio Pedro, Director of ECA in Eastern Africa said that creating the needed linkages between tourism and other sectors would require concerted efforts to address the challenges that local producers face, such as, low level capacity to produce high quality products that meet the high standards that the tourism industry often demands

Pedro called the tourism experts to transform this industry by orienting it mainly towards the African market. “International trends indicate that 80 per cent of international arrivals travel within their regions”, he said. “There are over 353 million people in Africa that can be classified as being middle class and who are potential tourists”.

Pedro appealed Tourism professionals and government officials to make Rwanda a deliberate tourism destination and ensure that the passengers of Rwandair, the national carrier, decide “to spend more nights in the country because of its attractiveness and the various tourism products that exist.”

Pedro acknowledged Rwanda for the progress that was achieved in tourism sector having increased revenues “from just US$ 44 million in 2004, to US$ 350 million – almost a tenfold increase” and reiterated that there still a room to grow.

Tourism industry is now one of leading employers, proving 7.9 % of the total employment in Rwanda, which is about 176,000 jobs.

Ambassador Yamina Kayitanyi, the Chief Tourism Officer at Rwanda Development Board (RDB), thanked ECA for its support and noted the importance of the study for the development of the tourism industry. She pointed out that Rwanda’s tourism sector is the number one foreign exchange earner, thus “there is high expectations for the industry to further contribute to economic growth and development in the future. A common and integrated approach to tourism development and other sectors is absolutely vital”.