7 Most Visited African Countries by International Tourists, According to Latest Available Stats

Industry News 7 Most Visited African Countries by International Tou Available Stats

By Emmanuel Abara Benson

Tourism is quite the revenue driver for many African countries. However, the sector has taken a major hit over the past two years, no thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic.

At the height of the global health scare in 2020 and even through to 2021, virtually all African countries were forced to shut down their land and sea borders as part of a global restrictions on travel aimed at curtailing the spread of virus. Unfortunately, this measure had inevitably shut down global tourism. And billions of dollars were lost in the process.

To show just how severe the pandemic’s impact on Africa’s tourism sector was, we obtained statistics from the UN World Tourism Organisation which show that international tourism receipts (i.e., expenditures by international visitors in Africa) dropped significantly by 62.7% from $39 billion in 2019 to $14 billion in 2020.

But there is some good news. According to the UNWTO’s tourism recovery tracker, international tourist arrivals in Africa stood at 69% as of January 2022. Travel restrictions across the continent have also dropped to 9.43% from a high of 84.91% in June 2020. International tourist

This is not to say that everything is back to normal. As a matter of fact, the number of international tourist arrivals in Africa is still very abysmal compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Based on available data from the UNWTO, a total of 18.5 million international tourists

visited Africa in 2021 compared to 68.2 million

in 2019. This is indicative of a 72.9% decline year on year.

Based on the 2021 stats, below are the seven African countries with the highest international tourist arrivals. Now, it is important to bear in mind that the UNWTO emphasized that its ranking

urists, According to Latest

t arrivals in selected African countries between 2019 and 2021 (Source: UNWTO)

is subject to change, as time lapses and more updates become available.

► South Africa: A total of 2.3 million international tourists arrived this country in 2021. ► Tanzania: A total of 900, 000 international tourists arrived this country in 2021. ► Ethiopia: A total of 500,000 international tourists arrived this country in 2021. ► Reunion: A total of 300, 000 international

tourists arrived this country in 2021. ► Eswatini: A total of 200, 000 international tourists arrived this country in 2021. ► Seychelles: A total of 200, 000 international tourists arrived this country in 2021. ► Mauritius: A total of 200, 000 international tourists arrived this country in 2021. https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/ lifestyle/7-african-countries-with-the-highestinternational-tourist-arrivals/6gycsb0

Travel Influ

By Jasmine Osby

Known for his vibrant and authentic social media content, travel infl uencer and clinical pharmacist Cedric ‘Cedtripping’ Woods has never really been a fan of group trips.

One of the most popular male, travel content creators on Instagram, Woods didn’t take his fi rst international trip until 2012. A few years later, after a trip to France with some friends, an ever-burning passion for travel was lit within him; leading him to over 50 countries to document and curate content surrounding his travel experiences.

However, Woods still wasn’t sold on group excursions.

“I generally don’t like going on group trips,” Woods said. “I’ve done a couple, and you’re not able to do what you want to do. Sometimes the experience and accommodations are not at a certain level or are like on a level of mid-luxury to full luxury.”

Nevertheless, Woods’ high-quality, engaging content continued to entice his social media friends and more people began requesting to accompany him on his international quests.

“A lot of people were interested in traveling with me, so they could see what it was like to be a travel content creator and capture beautiful photos,” he said.

Finally, Woods gave in and began planning a voyage to Zanzibar, Tanzania for a group of his loyal social media followers. The 20 traveler experience sold out in one month, and guests were excited to enjoy the rich travel experience only Cedtripping could provide.

“I wanted everyone to have the authentic feel of a Cedtripping trip,” he said. “I can truly say that the Zanzibar trip was a complete success. I was just blown away.”

For fi ve days in March 2022, Woods and his guests explored the turquoise waters and white sand beaches of Zanzibar. Their hotel was right on the water and guests woke up to ocean views each morning. Suddenly, the photos they’d doubletapped on Woods’ Instagram page became their reality, and the African horizon served as the perfect backdrop.

“African destinations are destinations that resonate with me more than others,” Woods said. “There’s something special about Africa and for