Cultural tourism in Africa: Strategies for the new millennium |28 May 2015

Promoting a culture-based tourism

How to promote and market culture-based tourism in Africa and the Indian Ocean was the focus of a symposium held this week.

The Minister for Tourism and Culture, Alain St Ange, has described the symposium on ‘Cultural tourism in Africa: Strategies for the new millennium’ as a means to bring together scholars in tourism and heritage studies and other related areas of Africa and from the Indian Ocean region.
It formed part of activities organised for this year’s FetAfrik.

Apart from identify existing hiddens in the development of culture and culture-based tourism in those two areas of the world, Minister St Ange said the symposium also brought forth innovative and creative strategies for the development and promotion and marketing of culture-based tourism in those regions.

Besides Seychelles, delegates from Madagascar, Reunion, Zambia and Ghana also took part in the symposium which was also attended by the principal secretaries in the departments of tourism and culture, Anne Lafortune and Benjamine Rose respectively, as well as high officials from tourism, culture and the Seychelles Heritage Foundation.

“This symposium is a good meeting point between academies and practitioners in the tourism and heritage sectors from different parts in Africa and the Indian Ocean,” said the minister.

With natural resources of more than 50 countries and a population of 700 million people, the African continent has numerous potential for the development of the vibrant domestic industry, Minister St Ange said.

According to the World Tourism Organisation, over a billion international tourists travelled globally in 2014 and the industry generated well over 800 million in revenue, which makes tourism a principal industry in the global economy.

“However Africa’s present share of the global tourism industry with approximately five percent of the total tourism figure is significantly below its potential in contributing to the sustainable economic development of the continent,” he said.

“We must all learn to respect our culture and to showcase it with pride so it becomes our key asset. When we all place our culture at the centre of our tourism industries, we will be putting our people at the centre of our development,” said the minister.
 
In her presentation on the importance of cultural tourism and its benefits, Bernice Elizabeth, director for policy, strategy and research in the tourism department, said: “Safeguard our culture – Share it with visitors – Reap the economic benefits out of it.”

As for Maxwell Julie, project manager of the Seychelles Heritage Foundation, he elaborated on the role and importance of our heritage, a major component in cultural tourism.