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“This agreement will allow UNWTO and
Casa Africa to reinforce Africa’s capacity to employ tourism as an
effective instrument of socio-economic development and poverty
reduction,” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, signing the
agreement alongside Casa Africa Director-General, Santiago
Martínez-Caro.
“Activities will be undertaken to
support better tourism policies in Africa, as well as to create
employment opportunities through increased investment in, and marketing
of, African destinations,” he added.
The agreement formalizes the already
on-going collaboration between UNWTO and Casa Africa, which stretches
back to 2010 with the creation of The Tourism Investment and Business
Forum for Africa (INVESTOUR). Held annually at the
international Spanish tourism trade fair FITUR, in the capital Madrid,
INVESTOUR aims to increase the visibility of Africa as a tourism
destination and mobilize investment for sustainable tourism projects in
the region.
“There are huge business opportunities
in the Africa tourism sector,” said Mr. Martínez-Caro. “This initiative
allows Spanish businesses to sit down with their African counterparts
and invest in viable tourism projects in Africa.”
To date, over 40 African countries have
participated at INVESTOUR, opening up their destinations to the Spanish
outbound and investment market. The 4th edition of INVESTOUR will take place on 31 January 2013.
International tourism in Africa has
almost doubled since 2000, growing from 26 million international tourist
arrivals to 50 million in 2011. International tourism receipts, a vital
source of foreign exchange in the region, tripled in just one decade
(from US$ 10 billion in 2000 to US$ 33 billion in 2010).
Source: UNWTO
