Tourism

The Beatles hit song about getting by “with a little help from my friends” could well become a theme tune for kick-starting the recovery of Egypt’s tourism sector after more than three years of battering. By 2012 the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) was already appealing to Arabs in the Gulf region to spend their vacations in Egypt to help compensate for the disappearing...

With an eye to the future, Egypt’s Tourism Development Authority (TDA) is concentrating on what seems at first sight some of the world’s most unlikely investment projects. While the tourism industry has been suffering body blows since the revolution of January 25, 2011 – and subsequent upheavals – the TDA has been seeking out investors for major tourist development...

In 2013 South Africa climbed three positions from 37th to 34th in the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) global ranking of business tourism destinations. Amongst long-haul destinations, the country placed an even more impressive 11th, and topped the rankings for Africa ahead of Kenya and Morocco. Broken down by cities, South Africa claimed half of...

In the two decades since the fall of apartheid and the introduction of democratic rule, the South African tourism sector has been a major benefactor of the opening up of the economy and the country’s reintegration with the global community. Foreign arrivals have tripled over this period and the number of hosted meetings recognised by the International Congress and...

The number of foreign visitors was up in 2013, according to South Africa Tourism, the official tourism marketing body. International arrivals reached 14.8m in 2013, a 7% increase year-on-year over 2012, with tourists comprising 9.6m. Visitor numbers from outside Africa rose 7.1%, led by Asia (9.2%), Central and South America (8%), and Europe (7%). The largest non-African...