African tourism put to the test by the pandemic
Audio 48:30
Nadia Fettah Alaoui (photo credits: Violaine Gouel), Souadou Niang and Isabelle Durant.
© Violaine Gouel / Souadou Niang / Isabelle Durant
By: Dominique Baillard Follow
60 mins
The last issue of the season of Eco from here eco from elsewhere has a holiday flavor: we take you on a trip across the African continent.
Tourism in Africa often rhymes with exoticism for Western travelers.
On the back of this somewhat outdated postcard, there are men and women who are making a better and better living from this industry, and there are also new customers.
Their common point: they are nationals of the continent.
But the Covid is putting a strain on an activity that has become vital for the growth of the continent.
Publicity
Will Africa recover?
How to reconcile health and economic interests?
How can the pandemic disrupt this industry on the continent?
Because women are the majority in this sector, often in executive positions, we have chosen to favor female guests to answer these questions.
But unlike the majority of employees in the sector, our guests are powerful women, very committed or concerned by the fate of this industry in Africa.
► In Kenya, where tourism accounts for 10% of the GDP and employs two million people, the months of July and August traditionally mark the peak tourist season.
This summer, foreign visitors are rare, too rare for the players in the sector.
Report from our correspondent in Nairobi,
Albane Thirouard
.
EDI EDA 31.07 REP / Kenya: tourism OK
► Interview with Prince Emmanuel de Mérode.
The Belgian anthropologist is the curator of the Virunga park, where the last mountain gorillas live.
This park, the oldest on the African continent, is the jewel of the Congolese tourist industry.
Its closure for health reasons has devastating consequences for its employees, its inhabitants, as well as for the local population who depend on it.
EDI EDA 31.07 Emmanuel de Merode CLEANED
With :
•
Isabelle Durant,
Acting Secretary General of UNCTAD, the United Nations agency specializing in developing countries.
•
Nadia Fettah Alaoui,
Minister of Tourism of Morocco.
•
Souadou Niang,
director of the Palms Luxury Hotel in Dakar.
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