Condé Nast Traveler: Without International Travelers, African Destinations Are Focusing on Domestic

Without International Travelers, African Destinations Are Focusing on Domestic Tourism

As COVID-19 shut borders and grounded planes worldwide, much of the global tourism industry looked inward at their domestic markets. Some destinations, like Vietnam and New Zealand, did so swiftly, launching campaigns to lure locals into hotels and holiday areas with incentives and discounts.

But for others, the immediate shock to the tourism economy highlighted how strongly they depended on those who come in from overseas. In Africa's tourism-reliant countries, largely in the south and east, the closure of borders meant blocking the reported $61.3 billion dollars that international visitors pump into the continent-wide GDP each year, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council—with a domestic market unprepared to step in.

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