TRAVEL AFRICA

The best places to go to in Africa

Dubbed as the Mother Continent due to it being the oldest inhabited continent on Earth, Africa is still the Earth’s hidden gem with great lakes, crystal blue beaches with pearly white sands, jaw-dropping flora and majestic wildlife and mountains within its borders.

According to the 2014 UN World Tourism Organization report, Africa achieved a 2% increase in tourism in 2014 reaching an estimated $36 billion in revenue from $1 billion the previous year. International tourist arrivals in the African region were highest in sub-Saharan Africa with an average 3% increase from the previous year. This was higher than the North African region, which only increased by 1% due to geo-political conflict and the Ebola virus as the main curbs to growth.

The World Travel and Tourism Council reports that tourism and travel contributed 8.5% to the continent’s GDP, which is an average amount of $177.8bn, and it also contributed to 2.9% of employment in hotels, travel agents, airlines and other passenger transportation services, restaurants and leisure industries. Leisure is the main reason that tourists visit Africa.

Intra Africa travel is relatively popular on the continent; however the majority of visitors traveling to the continent are visitors mainly from North America, Asia and Europe. Intra Africa travel occurs regionally mainly due to the close proximity of countries, and also, visa requirements among regional countries are not as stringent as requirements for nationals outside the specific regional bloc. It is also cheaper to visit neighboring countries or countries within a regional bloc in terms of traveling transportation.

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By: Lebogang Matshego

www.africa.com

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