AFRICA roars back on global tourism market in 2025

In many ways, the year 2025 has turned out to be Africa's Year, at least on the international tourism market as the continent outpaced every other region of the world in growth in international tourist arrivals for the first half of the year. The growth seems to have continued in the second half, too, and looks certain to continue into the next year as African nations proactively seek to diversify their source markets, with focus on India and China.

- By RANVIR NAYAR

After having lagged the rest of the world in international tourist arrivals ever since the Covid-19 pandemic, the African continent has at last found its mojo as it emerged as the fastest growing region in the world for tourist arrivals between January 1-June 30 this year.

According to data provided by UN Tourism, Africa saw a 12 pc increase in tourist arrivals in January-June 2025 compared to the same period last year. Highlighting that the growth was not in any particular part of the continent, UN Tourism says that both North Africa and Subsaharan Africa recorded double-digit growth this period, rising at 14 pc and 11 pc respectively.

While there is no data across the continent subsequently, individually most African countries have reported that the growth has continued in the second half, which typically is the busiest season for most of the countries here and indications as well as estimates indicate that the momentum of growth is big enough to even continue in the next year, thanks in a large part due to improved air connectivity between Africa and its various source markets.

In the past few months, several international carriers have added flights to the region, notably from Europe, Asia, Oceania and North America. Not just the overseas airlines, but also many African airlines, led by Ethiopian, the largest carrier in the continent, have been adding flights within and outside Africa. South African Airways has also launched new flights to Australia.