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

4. The challenges facing tourism in BurundiThe development of tourism in sub-Saharan Africa is typically hampered by several categories ofobstacles. These often include an unpredictable business environment, poor transport infrastructure andutility networks, inadequate access, institutional weakness, price/value mismatch, etc. At each stage oftourism development, different types of constraints are likely to be the most binding for continuedgrowth of the sector (figure 7.2). According to the classification of African countries as tourismdestinations established by the World Bank (cf. annex 5 in Volume II), Burundi belongs to the group ofcountries in the process of initiating tourism. This means that, in addition to the weakness of the tourismsector itself, several other general obstacles reduce the chances for a take-off of tourism in Burundi inthe short run.Figure 7.2: Pyramid of tourism destinations and typical constraints to growthSource: adapted from World Bank (2011a)3. Deepeningsustaining success2. Scaling-up Tourism1. Initiating Tourism•Low quality products•Low tourism skills•Social/environmental impacts•High operational costs•Poor access to land and finance•Red tape and bureaucracy•Instability / insecurity•Inadequate access, poorinfrastructure and utilities•Lack of public, privateand community supportfor tourismAs described in details in the national tourism strategy, constraints directly related to the tourismsector in Burundi include:- the weakness of the regulatory and institutional framework (cf. above)- the lack of tourism facilities, total investment in the sector being estimated at less than USD 40million over the past twenty years (as noted above this should change with the increased numberof investment projects in recent years);- the absence in practice of quality standards for tourism facilities;- the limited number of trained workers in hotels/restaurants/tour operators and of professionalguides (there is currently no dedicated tourism training facility in the country);In addition to this, several more general obstacles will most likely hamper the development of tourism:i. The political instability, security situation, corruption and health concerns. In the words ofNovelli and coauthors (2012), “the guarantee of tourists’ personal safety is perhaps the mostimportant prerequisite for any aspiring tourism destination” These are currently considered seriousconstraints to the development of the sector in Burundi (World Bank 2009a). If the “risk of renewedconflict at the regional level” is envisaged in the national tourism strategy (p.11), the strategyemphasizes the increased stability since the end of the war and the necessity to improve thecountry’s image accordingly. Notwithstanding the major progress achieved in the years following139 / 153