02 Nov 2016

Africa is the least benefactor of the total revenue generated from the industry as she retains less than 30 percent of the total revenue generated.

Speaking on the sidelines of the State of KAZA Symposium at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe on Tuesday, Prof.Joseph Mbaiwa, a researcher at the Okavango Research Institute, said research had indicated that Botswana was no exception since it retained 25 per cent of the total revenue generated from tourism industry within its borders.

Prof.Mbaiwa said all this loss was, despite the fact that the tourism industry kept growing in terms of revenue generated annually and employment creation even in the face of the global economic recession.

He cautioned that if Africa was serious about retaining benefits from the tourism sector, it should take control of three vital aspects being the revenue and airline sectors as well as taxation of the tourism industry.

He said there were still disturbing trends where foreign companies do business in Africa only to bank outside the continent, a practice that he said makes it difficult to audit such companies to check whether they pay the right tax.

Prof. Mbaiwa said the airline industry is also a notable player that should be addressed to maximise profits for KAZA and Africa in general.

“At the moment most African airlines are making a loss with the only notable exception being perhaps the Ethiopian airways. The rest are struggling and some are even close to liquidation. This is despite the fact that the basic mode of transport for tourists is flying. Most tourists fly into Africa using foreign airlines,” he said.

Prof. Mbaiwa also said that the other challenge that Africa should address is poor facilities such as hotels and roads.

“The general tourism sector in Africa, including in the KAZA area is poorly organised and facilities such as hotels are of low standards but at the same time are very expensive. This is demoralising for tourists,” he warned. ENDS