*Africa accounts for about 15 percent of the world’s population, but receives only about 3 percent of world tourism receipts and 5 percent of tourist arrivals.
* Number of hotel rooms being planned or constructed in Africa from 2013 to 2017: 40,000.
* The top cities for hotel room construction are Lagos, Nigeria (4,080 rooms in development); Cairo, Egypt (2,843 rooms); Hurghada, Egypt (2,221 rooms); Abuja, Nigeria (1,598 rooms); Algiers, Algeria (1,528 rooms); Tangier, Morocco (1,505 rooms); Nairobi (1,437 rooms).
* Africa’s world tourism receipts for 2012 totaled US$43.6 billion.
* Tourist arrivals in Africa totaled 63.6 million in 2012, up from 37 million in 2003, and from 17.4 million in 1990.
* Destinations with the strongest (double-digit) growth in tourist arrivals in 2012 were Cameroon, Cape Verde, Morocco, Egypt, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Tanzania.
* Tourist arrivals in Africa from the United States increased 34 percent between 2006 and 2013.
* The South Atlantic region of the United States accounted for 31 percent of all U.S. travelers to Africa, followed by the Middle Atlantic states at 23 percent, the Pacific region at 14 percent, West South Central states at 8 percent and New England states at 7 percent.
* The top-five destinations in Africa for Chinese tourists in 2012 were Egypt (172,190 visitors), South Africa (145,930 visitors), Ethiopia (128,800 visitors), Algeria (83,040 visitors), and Kenya (44,270 visitors). China is the world’s leading source of outbound tourists.
* Direct travel and tourism jobs in Africa totaled 8.2 million in 2012.
* Tourism accounted for 3.0 percent of total employment in Africa in 2012, against a world average of 3.4 percent.
* In 2012, tourism accounted for 2.5 percent of total employment in sub-Saharan Africa, and 5.7 percent in North Africa.
* African citizens require visas to visit 60 percent of African countries, hence the push for regional single-entry visas.
* The Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo-Kinshasa) was the fastest growing destination by tourist arrivals between 2010 and 2011, with a 129 percent increase year on year.
* Niche markets gaining momentum in African tourism are adventure travel, food tourism, rural tourism, and family and multigenerational travel.
* AfroEats, a new international festival, was launched in 2013 (April 30-May6) in Dakar, Senegal.
* Pearls of Uganda, launched in 2010, is a rural initiative to spur tourism growth in western Uganda
* 15 percent of multigenerational travelers indicated an interest in visiting Africa in the next two years.
* Delta Air Lines, the largest airline operating to Africa from the United States, captured 36 percent of all U.S.-Africa flights in September 2013. Delta’s destinations in Africa are Accra, Ghana; Lagos, Nigeria; Dakar, Senegal; and Johannesburg, South Africa.
* Ethiopian Airlines, (46 destinations in Africa) South African Airways (29 destinations in Africa), and Nigeria-based Arik Air (8 destinations in Africa)) fly directly from the United States to Africa.
MEDICAL TOURISM
* Africa is increasing its market share in medical tourism as both Africans and non-Africans head south for treatment. Egypt, South Africa and Tunisia are key destinations.
* The East Africa Health Federation on Healthcare values medical travel and medical tourism in East Africa at US$60 million annually.
* Rwanda has been investing in its healthcare infrastructure in order to become East Africa’s leader in medical tourism.
* According to Consultancy Africa Intelligence, Ghana’s medical tourism sector is developing fast, and seems poised to become the leader in West Africa. It specializes in cosmetic and other surgery, hydrotherapy and beauty treatments.
* Currently, South Africa is Africa’s top medical tourism destination, with surgery in that country costing roughly one-third of the cost of corresponding surgeries in Britain.
* Clinics in Tunisia offer packages that combine a beach vacation with a little rhinoplasty. Tunisia is known for procedures for cardiology, urology and gynecological complications, as well as plastic and dental surgery.
* Prices for plastic surgery in Egypt are an estimated 60 percent to 70 percent lower than corresponding treatment in the U.S. or Britain.
* Nigeria is taking steps to transform itself into a medical tourism destination. Nigerians traveling abroad for medical treatment contribute to a loss of more than US$500 million to the Nigerian economy.
* Each African who travels overseas for medical treatment spends between US$20,000 and $40,000 per trip.
