By Hafsa Obeng, GNA
Accra, May 25, GNA – Mr Emmanuel Frimpong, a Tourism Consultant, has described tourism and hospitality as critical tools for driving African integration, economic transformation, and the achievement of the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
He said Africa possessed enormous tourism potential capable of positioning the continent as one of the world’s leading tourism destinations if governments and stakeholders invested strategically in the sector.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the backdrop of the African Union (AU) Day, celebrated annually on May 25, Mr Frimpong said tourism had become one of the strongest sectors that could help realise the vision of “The Africa We Want” under Agenda 2063.
He noted that over the past two decades, several African countries, including Ghana, Rwanda, South Africa, Kenya, Morocco and Egypt, had demonstrated how tourism could contribute significantly to economic growth, employment creation, cultural preservation, and international visibility.
According to him, Africa had gained global recognition in areas such as eco-tourism, wildlife conservation, cultural and heritage tourism, medical tourism, business tourism, sports tourism, festivals, gastronomy, and hospitality innovation.
Mr Frimpong said the hospitality industry across the continent had also witnessed rapid expansion through the growth of hotels, resorts, airlines, restaurants, tour operations, digital booking platforms, and tourism training institutions.
“International hotel brands continue to expand into African cities while local hospitality entrepreneurs are creating uniquely African experiences that celebrate culture, music, food, fashion, and indigenous traditions,” he said.
He, however, observed that despite Africa’s rich culture and natural resources, the continent still attracted a relatively small percentage of global tourist arrivals.
Mr Frimponga, also the Founding President of the Africa Tourism Research Network, attributed the challenge to poor transportation connectivity, high intra-African airfare costs, restrictive visa regimes, inadequate tourism infrastructure, insecurity, and limited investment in tourism marketing and research.
“Many Africans still find it easier and sometimes cheaper to travel outside the continent than to travel within Africa. This reality undermines the spirit of African integration envisioned by Agenda 2063,” he said.
The tourism consultant stressed that tourism should not be viewed merely as a leisure activity but as a strategic economic and diplomatic tool capable of promoting African unity and development.
He explained that increased intra-African travel would deepen cultural understanding, strengthen regional cooperation, and promote Pan-African identity.
Mr Frimpong commended efforts towards simplifying visa systems across the continent and referenced Ghana’s e-Visa initiative as a positive step towards improving mobility and tourism integration.
He said tourism and hospitality also presented major employment opportunities for Africa’s youthful population through sectors such as hotels, transportation, tour guiding, event management, culinary arts, digital tourism marketing, creative arts, and handicrafts.
“Africa’s youthful population presents both a challenge and an opportunity. Tourism and hospitality are labour-intensive sectors capable of creating millions of jobs,” he said.
Mr Frimpong noted that tourism could significantly contribute to women’s empowerment because women formed a substantial part of Africa’s hospitality workforce.
He called for greater support for women-owned tourism enterprises, restaurants, craft businesses, and community tourism initiatives to enhance economic inclusion and gender equality.
Mr Frimpong also highlighted the role of tourism in preserving African culture, languages, festivals, monuments, and indigenous knowledge systems.
He urged African countries to intentionally protect and promote their cultural identities while showcasing them proudly to the global community.
The Tourism Consultant said tourism offered Africa the opportunity to reshape global narratives about the continent by highlighting innovation, creativity, resilience, and opportunity instead of conflict and poverty.
He cited initiatives such as the ‘Year of Return’ as examples of how cultural tourism could reconnect the African diaspora to the continent while generating substantial economic benefits.
To maximise tourism’s contribution to Agenda 2063, he called on African governments, private sector players, academia, and regional organisations to strengthen collaboration.
He advocated improved intra-African air connectivity, implementation of visa-free travel policies, investment in tourism infrastructure, promotion of domestic tourism, support for tourism education and research, and the adoption of digital innovation and sustainable tourism practices.
Tourism must no longer be treated as a peripheral sector but recognised as a continental development priority capable of connecting Africans, empowering communities, and creating prosperity, he noted.
“Indeed, the road to ‘The Africa We Want’ can be built through tourism,” he said.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
Reporter: Hafsa Obeng
[email protected]