Africa at the world tourism market in the context of globalization

Abstract

Tourism is a promising industry in the countries of African continent. It contributes to their economic growth and improves the living conditions of the population. The subject of the study is the tourism market in Africa. The purpose of the article is to show Africa’s place at the world tourism market and to analyze trends of tourist activity in the region in the context of globalization. To achieve the goal, the following tasks were solved: to show factors affecting tourism activities in Africa, to analyze main parameters and trends of international tourism development in the region and its subregions in comparison with the world, to identify the impact of tourism on the economy of African countries. The following methods were used: comparative; historical – to identify trends in development of international tourism in Africa, statistical – to study the interdependence between quantitative indicators of tourism development in African countries; analysis and synthesis – to identify the relationship of processes occurring in tourism markets, systematic approach – to reveal the features of international tourism development in the context of globalization. The following results were obtained: periods of decline and growth of tourism activity in the continent as a whole, its macroregions and individual countries were identified; main areas of tourism and travel, main problems of tourism development were identified; connection between GDP and tourism development indicators in African countries was calculated; impact of COVID-19 on tourism business development in Africa was shown. Conclusions: international tourism is actively developing in Africa, making a significant contribution to GDP and employment. However, level of tourism development depends on a number of internal and external factors and lags behind the world average and other tourism subregions. There is a need to develop effective tourism policies in each country of the continent and its subregions.