There is cause for optimism as the African continent’s tourism recovery is performing comfortably above the global average, according to a report from global analysts, ForwardKeys.
However, southern Africa’s recovery is slower than that of its continental counterparts – mainly due to the fact that many countries in this region were still on many global red lists due to the impact of the omicron variant early this year.
ForwardKeys based its latest projections on air ticketing data, highlighting that while international travel is currently 30% less than pre-COVID levels, in Q4 of 2022 Africa is just 19% under 2019 levels. The outlook for 2023 is even more promising, at just 11% fewer international arrivals than pre-COVID.
Travel recovery and growth are being led by West and Central Africa, at -6% and +10% for Q4 travel compared with 2019 levels. At a country level, the best performer in Q4 of 2022 is Cape Verde, +10% followed by Ivory Coast, -3% and Ghana, -9%.
“West and Central Africa benefit from VFR travel from Europe and North America. Our data shows growing interest from Portugal and Spain for Cape Verde, while the improved seat capacity from the US to Ghana is attracting a more premium travel crowd,” said Gordon Clark, VP of Business Development at ForwardKeys.
“Southern Africa has been recovering more slowly due to the impact of omicron early in the year,” he added.
Looking ahead at Q1 2023, Clark said Central and West Africa would continue to drive the recovery. East Africa will come close to 2019 levels due to strong demand from leisure travellers from Western Europe.
He said air connectivity would continue to play a pivotal role in tourism recovery in the region.
