The Minister of Tourism and Culture Honourable Hamat NK Bah on the recently attended the Tourism Recovery Summit co-hosted by the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife of the Republic of Kenya and Ministry of Tourism of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The meeting held at the Villa Rosa Kempinski Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, follows in the footsteps of the Tourism Recovery Summit held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in May, 2021.
The high-level Summit focused on the new era the tourism sector is entering and will explore ways of rebuilding the African tourism sector that is negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the opportunity for stronger partnerships between African countries and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to mitigate these effects. Therefore, bringing together select group of policymakers will provide the space to explore tangible opportunities for collaboration and deliberate innovative solutions to successfully restart the tourism industry.
As there is an urgent and pressing need to improve the capacity of operators in the tourism and hospitality value-chain, with a focus on youth and women segments of our communities thus it could be recalled that the African Union Ministerial Declaration on Air Transport and Tourism as well as Tourism Ministerial declaration in Lusaka, Kinshasa, Lome and Nairobi (2017) acknowledged that it is the responsibility of Africa states to promote and protect the African Brand Market international.
Therefore, the Nairobi Action Plan for Africa Tourism Recovery calls on Ministers responsible for tourism in Africa to take lead and initiate appropriate actions in their respective governments on the following action plan; vaccination, break barriers for travel within Africa, sustainability and biodiversity conservation, refocus on tourism and its recovery, youth tourism, special fund for tourism, Africa as a domestic market, investment in human capital development and conducive environment.