(DTIS) Update, Volume 1 – Main report - Enhanced Integrated ...

CHAPTER 7 – Lifting the Constraints to Tourism Development in Burundi1. IntroductionTourism has become one of the world’s fastest growing economic sectors over the past six decades,notably in the South. It currently ranks fourth globally as an export category, after fuels, chemicals andautomotive products (UNWTO 2011). Growth has been particularly fast in the world’s emerging regionssince the 1990s, and well-known examples of success in Africa include countries such as Egypt,Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritius, South Africa, Tanzania and Cape Verde.Tourism is rising in sub-Saharan Africa’s (SSA), and the sector already accounts for half of thesub-continent’s services exports (World Bank 2011a). Though still small (3.4% of world touristarrivals in 2011), SSA’s share of global tourism is rising. While arrival volume widely differs amongAfrican countries, the continent as a whole welcomed over 33 million international tourists in 2011,compared to 6 million in 1990 (UNWTO 2011, 2012). Despite the global crisis and recession,international tourist arrivals to SSA increased by 6% between 2010 and 2011, and the growth prospectsfor the travel and tourism sector is promising. International hotel chains are notably expected to investhundreds of millions of dollars in Africa over the next few years, to meet increased demand from bothinternational tourists and the continent’s own fast-growing middle class (World Bank 2011a). Theavailable data show that, within SSA, East Africa is the best performing region with Southern Africa(table 7.1).Table 7.1: International tourism to sub-Saharan Africa, by region (2010)RegionTotal Tourist Total Long Receipts (USD Average contributionArrivals Hauls million)to GDPSouthern Africa 12,485,000 3,320,676 9,827 3.6%East Africa 12,253,664 4,479,341 6,489 5.1%West Africa 4,630,265 1,764,332 2,790 2.2%Central Africa 1,197,882 730,835 1,063 1.4%Total 30,566,811 10,295,184 20,169 4.0%Source: World Bank (2011a) 108The development of tourism in SSA in general, and in East Africa in particular, suggests that thissector could be a significant vehicle for economic diversification and growth in Burundi. Whiletourism has so far not expanded in Burundi as it has in neighboring countries, developing the sector hasbecome in recent years an explicit objective of the Government, who adopted a national tourism strategyin 2011. However, while most low-income countries include tourism as a potential driver of socioeconomicdevelopment in their development strategies, there is a clear implementation gap, meaning thatobjectives are often not reached. This gap is likely to be even wider in post-conflict countries such asBurundi, due to weak capacity and legacies of violent conflict (Novelli et al. 2012). It is therefore crucialto set clear and realistic goals, and to focus on effective implementation. This chapter presents anoverview of the present state of the tourism sector in Burundi and describes the opportunities andchallenges for its future growth. It proposes recommendations to improve the current situation,complementing those of the national strategy. The main message is that there is now a window ofopportunity to start expanding tourism in Burundi, but that considerable challenges, some of which will108 The four SSA regions used in World Bank (2011a) broadly correspond to the groupings defined by the UNStatistics Division (http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm#africa). “East Africa” is made up of 16countries, including the 5 EAC countries. Within “Southern Africa”, South Africa accounts for 65 percent ofarrivals and 92 percent of receipts. Arrival figure concern overnight visitors only, i.e. they do not include same-dayvisitors.132 / 153