#AfricanUnion to hold meeting of tourism ministers in #Nairobi

AFRICAN UNION MINISTERIAL SUB-COMMITTEE ON TOURISM

(Posted 02nd October 2018)

On the sidelines of Kenya’s annual international tourism trade show, the Magical Kenya Travel Expo or in short #MKTE, will an African Union one day committee meeting take place in Nairobi, chaired by Kenya’s tourism and wildlife cabinet secretary Najib Balala.
The First Ordinary Session of the Sub-Committee on tourism of the Specialized Technical Committee on Transport, Transcontinental and Interregional Infrastructures, Energy and Tourism (STC-TTIET), organized by the Department of Infrastructure and Energy of the African Union Commission (AUC), in collaboration with the Government of Republic of Kenya, will discuss key challenges with the view to aligning national tourism strategies to Agenda 2063. The main objective of the First Ordinary Session of the Sub-Committee on tourism, therefore, is to review the status of implementation of the Lomé Plan of Action for Tourism with a view to identifying achievements, challenges and charting the way forward to enhance the realization of established goals.
The expected results of this STC-TTIIET session include the dissemination of the outcome of the Assembly decision of July 2017, establishing the functioning of the Sub-Committee and its Expert working group and, a Ministerial Declaration with recommendations for the acceleration of the Lomé Tourism Action Plan 2017-2019.

Tourism is one of the most promising sectors in Africa. The value of the industry now stands at over USD 165 billion accounting for 7.8% of the continent’s GDP, which exceeds the contribution from manufacturing and the banking sector. The industry accounts for more than 6.2% of total investments valued at USD 28.5 billion and employs over 20 million people hence accounting for 6.5% of the total workforce. It is further projected that at 5%, the tourism industry will grow much faster than forecasted 4.8% economic growth rate for the continent over the next ten years.
In line with the developed Tourism action plan with the view to optimize the role of Tourism as an engine and catalyst for economic development and growth in Africa through the establishment of a conducive environment, regional cooperation advocacy and stakeholder participation a communique was adopted by the AU Ministerial Working Group on Tourism in March 2014. The communique’s recommendations were made by the AU Ministerial Working Group on Tourism with the view of taking actions on the strategic measures to strengthen the contribution of the tourism sector in Africa within the context of the AU Agenda 2063.
Building on the NEPAD Action Plan and the Seychelles Communique, the First Ordinary Session of the AU Specialized Technical Committee on Transport, Transcontinental and Interregional Infrastructure, Energy and Tourism (STC-TTIIET) was held in March 2017 in Lomé, Togo. The STC-TTIIET in accordance with its rules of proceedings, adopted the creation of three sub-committees including: (a) Sub-Committee on Energy, (b) Sub-Committee on Transport and (c) the Sub-Committee on Tourism. The STC-TTIIET also adopted Plans of Actions for the various sub-sectors. The outcomes of the Lomé STC-TTIIET were considered by the AU Summit in July 2017, with recommendation for the AUC to implement the recommendations of Lomé STC-TTIIET (Ex.CL (1024(XXXI)).

This first STC-TTIIET ordinary session will bring together Ministries and Experts responsible for Tourism sectors in all African Union Member States, the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the Regional Development Banks and Financial Institutions, the continental specialized organizations, Academia, Private Sector and Civil Society as well as Development partners and International organizations involved in tourism development.

Meanwhile is the 2018 edition of MKTE kicking off tomorrow, Wednesday morning at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in the heart of Nairobi and will then run concurrently with the Africa Hotel Investment Forum or in short #AHIF, which is also taking place at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Nairobi this year, until Friday 05th of October.