Africa Travel Destination Industry News & Information by Skift

South Africa Will Overhaul Its Visa Rules to Woo Visitors

Paul Vecchiatto, Bloomberg

Easing entry restrictions for business travelers could help boost South Africa's effort to be a meetings and conventions center as the government targets more visitors to revive a flagging economy.

13 hours ago

South Africa to Ease Visa Rules to Boost Tourism

Sam Mkokeli, Bloomberg

These measures sound like an effective solution to dipping visitation. Hopefully Cape Town will be able to accommodate these potential tourists with the ongoing ramifications of its water crisis.

5 days ago

Trafalgar and Sister Brands Expand Into Southern and Eastern Africa

Richard Holmes, Skift

The Travel Corp. is taking three of its core brands to Africa for the first time. It’s a savvy move, leveraging the local knowledge and infrastructure of its sister companies on the continent, with the feel-good upside of boosting inbound tourism to Africa.

4 weeks ago

Thomas Cook Evacuates 300 Customers From Red Sea Hotel

Sylvia Hui, Associated Press

Thomas Cook only recently returned to Egypt and the Red Sea so it was wise for CEO Peter Fankhauser to speak out, vow to find out what happened, and to relocate guests as a precaution. Egyptian tourism, too, finds the tragedy a very unwelcome development.

1 month ago

Africa Needs More Than Visa-Free Travel To Lure Chinese Tourists

Jing Travel

Despite a visa policy that seeks to encourage Chinese tourists to visit, African countries are not seeing great success. As this story points out, there are few direct flights, and the message promoting Africa's destinations is not getting through.

3 months ago

African Tourism Boards Often See the American Traveler as White

Dana Givens, Skift

While there’s interest among African tourism boards in marketing actively to black Americans, these boards are missing opportunities by not diversifying their strategies.

4 months ago

No Travel Restrictions Yet After Congo Ebola Outbreak

Katherine Tam, Bloomberg

The Ebola outbreak in the Congo in Central Africa doesn't appear to be widespread at this point, but health authorities will need to provide aid quickly, and travel companies will have to monitor the situation.

5 months ago

Cape Town’s Water Crisis: What the Tourism Industry Can Learn From the Myth and the Reality

Rebecca Stone, Skift

The Cape Town water crisis has more to do with improper water management and inaccurate, inconsistent messaging than the city actually being in completely dire circumstances. That's why collaboration matters, between huge global organizations all the way down to individual travelers and locals, to promote the reality of international issues and the benefits tourism can have if done in a sustainable way.

5 months ago

First Unified Tourism Voice for Africa Faces Challenges

Richard Holmes, Skift

Is the formation of a pan-African tourism body the solution to boosting the continent’s tourism numbers? With industry players slow to sign up, the new African Tourism Board initiative from the International Coalition of Tourism Partners has its work cut out for it.

5 months ago

Thomas Cook Sees Tunisia Bookings Jump as Fear of Terror Attacks Wanes

Christopher Jasper, Bloomberg

It's been a long road to recovery for Tunisia, Turkey, and Egypt, and we know from history that tourism does indeed rebound after terror attacks and other violence. As Spain keeps getting pricier, that recovery will only get stronger.

5 months ago

Morocco Joins Long List of Destinations Looking to Regulate Airbnb

Souhail Karam, Bloomberg

It's no surprise that Morocco, which has a huge tourism industry, is looking to crack down on Airbnb and Booking.com. This is the new normal around the world as the so-called sharing economy changes the way people travel — and longstanding travel companies suffer.

5 months ago

U.S. Removes Chad From Travel Ban List

Ken Thomas, Associated Press

It seems like Chad's inclusion was down to a bureaucratic mix-up rather than anything more strategic. All eyes are now on the Supreme Court for the impending decision on the overall legality of President Trump's travel bans.

6 months ago