The results of our latest poll indicate that the inbound tourism sector is starting to witness a decline in demand from luxury, high-spend travellers.
After several years of strong performance from the high-end market, geopolitical and economic uncertainties, together with the rising costs of an African safari, may be having a dampening effect on travel to the continent.
When asked whether they are seeing a decline in demand from this segment, 64% of poll respondents said “Yes”. Just under a quarter of respondents (22%) said demand has remained steady while only 13% said they are seeing more enquiries than usual.
What are your views on mandatory travel insurance?
Tanzania’s plans to introduce a mandatory travel insurance fee have drawn the ire of operators following the controversial introduction of a similar insurance fee in Zanzibar.
“This is not the policy of a country that wants to encourage tourism,” commented Richard Trillo, East Africa Manager at Expert Africa. Trillo said the scheme introduced in Zanzibar is “widely seen as a money-making operation”.
“If Tanzania and Zanzibar’s governments need the money but want to encourage tourism, my suggestion would be to scrap the mandatory insurance – all but a handful of visitors will already be covered by their own travel insurance and, I assume, being doubly insured raises issues for the underwriters. Also scrap the tiresome visa requirement and just take a tourist tax on arrival,” Trillo said.
We’d love to hear your views on whether mandatory travel insurance has a significant impact on tourism demand.
Our poll question this week is:
