BY OWN CORESPONDENT
As the 7th Africa Tourism Leadership Forum gets underway in Gaborone, Botswana, stakeholders from across the continent are highlighting the urgent need for visa-free travel to unlock Africa’s vast tourism potential.
“The current visa restrictions are a major barrier to tourism growth in Africa,” said Botswana’s Vice President, Slumber Tsogwane, in his keynote address on Wednesday. “We need to liberalize travel and trade to harness the full potential of what our continent has to offer.”
Takaruza Munyanyiwa, Zimbabwe’s head of delegation and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, echoed this sentiment.
“Visa-free travel is essential for promoting tourism in Africa. It’s time for us to open our borders and welcome the world to our continent.”
The forum highlighted the importance of a unified approach to driving Africa’s tourism growth.
Emily Mburu Ndoria, Director of Trade in Services at AfCFTA, said, “The AfCFTA Agreement’s role in economic integration and its impact on tourism cannot be overlooked. Visa-free travel is a critical component of this agreement, and we must work together to make it a reality.”
Participants agreed that expanding visa-free access and improving air travel connectivity are critical steps towards achieving this goal.
Currently, only four African countries offer visa-free access to all Africans, and expanding this approach is seen as vital to unlocking Africa’s full tourism potential and driving significant economic growth and integration.
The Africa Tourism Leadership Forum will continue from September 3 to 6 in Botswana, focusing on opportunities for driving Africa’s future growth through intra-African travel, tourism, and hospitality innovation, education, and investments.