The World Travel & Tourism Council’s latest Economic Impact Report (EIR) reveals the African Travel & Tourism sector is expected to create almost 14 million new jobs over the next decade.

The positive forecast from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), which shows an average of 1.4 million new jobs every year, also reveals the sector will lead the economic recovery in the region, with its annual GDP growth set to outpace the overall economy for the next 10 years.

According to the report, Travel & Tourism’s GDP is forecasted to grow at an average rate of 6.8% annually between 2022-2032, more than twice the 3.3% growth rate of region’s overall economy, to reach nearly US$ 279 billion (7.2% of the total economy).

The sector’s contribution to GDP is expected to grow 20.5% to US$ 144 billion by the end of 2022, amounting to 5.1% of the total economic GDP, while employment in the sector is set to grow by 3.1% this year to reach nearly 22 million jobs.

The global tourism body’s annual report also shows further optimism for the region’s Travel & Tourism GDP, which could approach pre-pandemic levels by 2023 - just 9% below 2019 levels.

Julia simpson
Julia Simpson.

“Africa is clearly bouncing back and is set to experience a significant recovery over the couple of years and looking ahead over the next 10 years, the sector could create almost 14 million jobs,” said Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO.

“However, last year the recovery was significantly impacted by Omicron, which saw many countries reinstating severe and unjustified travel restrictions on several key African destinations.”

Before the pandemic, the Travel & Tourism sector’s contribution to the region’s GDP was 6.8% (US$182.4 billion) in 2019, falling to just 3.8% (US$96.5 billion) in 2020 when the pandemic was at its height, nearly halving the contribution of such a crucial sector to the economy with a 47.1% decline.

The sector also supported more than 25 million jobs across the region, which after a 22.9% drop, fell to just 19.6 million in 2020.

However, looking back at 2021, WTTC’s latest EIR report reveals a year in which we saw the beginning of the recovery for the region’s Travel & Tourism sector, Travel & Tourism’s contribution to GDP increased 23.5% year on year, to reach more than US$119 billion.

It also saw a recovery of 1.6 million Travel & Tourism jobs, representing a positive 8.2% rise to reach more than 21 million.

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ALSO READ: WC agriculture extends MOU with commodity organisations for 3 years

Officials from the Western Cape Department of Agriculture (WCDoA) and commodity partners met last week to extend their Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) for another three years.

This sets the platform for commodity organisations to continue to support new farmers with advice, mentorship, training, inputs, market access, and mutual in-kind contributions. Agreements were signed with the National Wool Growers Association (NWGA), Deciduous Fruit Producers Trust (DFPT), Vinpro (Wine), South African Table Grape Industry (SATGI), South African Poultry Association (SAPA), Potatoes SA,Raisins SA, and Grain South Africa.

Strategic partners key in agriculture

Commenting on the signing of the MOUs, Western Cape Minister of Agriculture Ivan Meyer said that the WCDoA recognises strategic partnerships as the key to addressing the agricultural sector’s complex challenges.

“The department of agriculture has developed strategic partnerships over several years. These partnerships complement our work and enhance the impact of our service delivery initiatives. One such initiative is the Commodity Approach, which, over the past decade, has contributed significantly to the success of our commercialisation programme,” says Meyer.

According to Dr Mogale Sebopetsa, head of the department of the WCDoA, the partnership with commodity organisations aims to promote capacity building, mentorship, market access and resource mobilisation.

“The commodities also have the liberty to participate in the Commodity Project Allocation Committees (CPACs), which are crucial in the appraisal of farmer applications processed and oversight thereof. With the commodity approach, the Department can augment its resources by leveraging the industry’s expertise and financial resources, thus improving our service delivery to the farmers. The WCDoA will also sign with the Citrus Growers Association, South Africa Pork Producer Organisation (or SAPPO), Ruminants (Red Meat Producers), and Berries SA,” says Sebopetsa.