Tourism Trend and Performance in East Africa
Tourism trend and performance in East Africa: In order to ensure fairness, member nations of the East African Community (EAC) are obliged by Article 115 of the Treaty to coordinate tourism strategies and foster regional collaboration. In order to properly inform decision-making, a consistent strategy to the collection and analysis of tourist data is still required, despite recent efforts in relation to tourism trend and performance in East Africa.
The EAC Tourism Barometer Report was finalised during a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, from April 3–5, bringing together tourism specialists and statisticians from the regional member states. To assess and evaluate tourism performance and trends throughout the area, the EAC Tourism Barometer is a useful instrument. It provides insightful information about the tourism environment in East Africa by capturing important metrics, including visitor arrivals, profits, and purpose of visit.
The barometer helps stakeholders with strategic planning by providing useful information on tourist performance and prospects through frequent updates and a confidence index.
Besides the tourism trend and performance in East Africa, the summit focused on the recovery of East African tourism and its potential prospects. Experts from every Partner State provided information on the industry’s performance, including the volume of visitors. It was reported that visitor arrivals to nations like Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda increased significantly in 2023. With most visitors coming for leisure and wildlife experiences, East Africa’s tourism sector brought in a large amount of money and helped the continent gain its image as a top safari destination. It became clear from the conversations that Kenya and Tanzania had recovered from the pandemic quickly.
Tourism Trend and Performance
The study conducted on tourism trend and performance in East Africa for the first barometer issue showed that, in 2023, total tourism receipts to the EAC region had fully recovered and were 24% greater than pre-pandemic levels. With recovery rates of 53% and 30% above pre-pandemic levels, respectively, Kenya and Tanzania reported the highest recovery rates. In 2023, Burundi also reported a complete recovery of receipts. Uganda’s tourism revenue regained 83% of the levels observed in 2019, while Rwanda’s restored 97% of the pre-pandemic level. EAC tourism earnings topped US$7.7 billion in 2023. Compared to 2022 (US$5.9 billion) and 2019 (US$7.2 billion), this represented a 30.9% rise.
Comparison on tourism trend and Performance
Based on tourism trends and statistics from 2019, Insight Travel Advisors suggests that the region is doing well in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. With $2.62 billion in tourism-related income, Tanzania outperformed her peers, Kenya ($1.76), Uganda ($1.4), and Rwanda ($0.64). Despite the significant revenues, the tourist sector’s GDP contribution indicates that there are still gaps and room for improvement. Tanzania has the highest contribution of tourists to GDP (17.1%) among East African nations, followed by Rwanda (10%). Uganda is at 5.6%, and Kenya is in third place with 9.7%. Additional proof of these variations is the revenue per guest for 2019.
Tanzania made $1800 more per tourist than any other country, with 1.4 million visitors. However, Uganda and Kenya, with 1.5 million and 1.9 million visitors, respectively, reported spending $900 on each visitor. At $400 per visitor, Rwanda, with 1.5 million visitors, earned the lowest revenue per visitor. Based on these figures, it is clear that improved experiences, services, and marketing strategies would encourage visitors to spend more money and support tourism in East Africa.
From 33.2% in 2019 to 45% in 2020 and 2022, the share of intra-regional tourism (EAC) increased before marginally declining to 40% in 2023. Some partner states highlighted these travel developments while also pointing out the difficulties they are having gathering comprehensive statistics. In order to improve and facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the tourism industry and trends throughout the EAC area, the EAC promised to assist these nations in strengthening their data collection initiatives.
Among the other important topics covered at the conference was the extension of the Tourism Barometer to monitor the performance and efficacy of the “Visit East Africa—Feel the Vibe” tourism brand. This will make it possible to gauge how well EAC’s marketing initiatives are working to increase tourism to the area as a whole.
Ultimately, the draft report was approved by the meeting, and it was to be forwarded to the East African Community Sectoral Council for final approval. By June 30, 2024, the Partner States also agreed to update tourism-related data on the EAC Open Data Portal, while maintaining accessibility and transparency for all parties involved.