African Tourism Leaders Plan Sector Growth Amid Luxury Tourism Risks

African tourism leaders from Angola, Mozambique, and Egypt emphasized the need for enhanced cooperation, infrastructure development, and harmonized regulations to boost the continent's tourism sector, which is seeing strong growth with 74 million tourists in 2024 and projections of 82 million in 2025. Angola highlighted investments in airports, seaports, and transport corridors as key to supporting tourism expansion. Meanwhile, a study examining luxury tourism in African countries such as Rwanda, Botswana, and Mauritius warns that while luxury tourism attracts high-spending visitors, it often results in economic leakages, environmental harm due to increased carbon emissions from private jets, and exacerbates inequalities and restricted land access for indigenous communities. The study also notes that luxury tourism's promise of being a "high-value, low-impact" strategy is not supported by evidence, raising concerns about its sustainability and economic efficacy. These findings suggest that African nations must balance tourism growth ambitions with sustainability and inclusive economic development to ensure long-term benefits. In contrast to Africa's tourism growth, Hawaii faces challenges in tourism data collection due to disruptions in digitizing visitor surveys, causing gaps in tracking visitor trends and complicating tourism management efforts.