Promotion of Tourism: How To Capitalise On CEMAC Intercommunity Opportunities

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Promotion of Tourism: How To Capitalise On CEMAC Intercommunity Opportunities

07 avril 2025 03:13

The tourism industry in CEMAC sub-region is laden with great potentials for growth and development. The six countries that make up the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) presents a myriad of tourist opportunities with the lush equatorial rainforest in the Congo Basin, beautiful beaches along the coast of Atlantic Ocean, highest peak in Central-West Africa (Mount Cameroon, Mandara Mountains), wildlife and national parks, exotic hotels as well as a rich and mosaic cultural heritage. However, tourist destinations to Gabon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Congo, Central Africa Republic and Cameroon still leave much to be desired. The promoter of the Cameroon International Tourism Fair, Agatha Iyok, while addressing the audience during the 4th edition of the tourism fair last November in Limbe, South West Region, lamented that the central Africa does not benefit much from the global tourism industry like other parts of the continent, with less than 5 per cent of the international tourist visiting the sub-region. Compared to East and Southern Africa where the tourism industry is a major driver of the economies due to its developed sector, the central Africa is still lagging behind in harnessing its tourism potentials. The governments of the six CEMAC countries must therefore take measures to capitalize on the tourism potentials in order to monetize it for the betterment of the local economies. The sub-region could borrow a leaf from the West African economic bloc (ECOWAS) which has elaborated and adopted a regional tourism policy which targets 10 million tourists into the sub-region by 2029. CEMAC member States must therefore take urgent measures to foster the tourism industry to its full potential so as to have a ripple effect on the sub-regional economy. There is the need to improve on transport network. Enhancing road, railway and air connectivity within and between CEMAC countries would significantly boost tourism activities. Also, CEMAC countries must as a matter of urgency develop tourism infrastructure. Investing in tourism infrastructure like hotels, resorts and other tourism facilities to...