UNCTAD: Morocco, the only African country with more than 10 million international tourists in 2015

Morocco was the only African country to receive more than 10 million international tourists in 2015, according to the 2017 report issued by the United Nations Conference of Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on the Tourism Sector in Africa, Wednesday in Addis Ababa.

Moroccan kingdom is the leading African tourist destination with 10,177 million tourists, followed by Egypt (9,139 million), South Africa (8,904 million) and Tunisia (5,359 million), according to the report of UNCTAD entitled "Tourism for Transformative and Inclusive Growth" and presented at a press conference at the headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), by Junior Davis, Head of Section UNCTAD Africa.

In the period between 2011-2014, Egypt (9.9 million), Morocco (9.8 million), South Africa (9.2 million) and Tunisia (6.8 million) recorded The largest number of international tourist arrivals, the report notes, stating that these four countries hosted 64 per cent of all international tourist arrivals in Africa.

Since 2015, the tourism sector has grown strongly, according to the authors of the report, pointing out that the number of tourist arrivals on the continent has doubled, from 24 million in 1995-1998 to 48 million in 2005-2008 and reaching 56 million in 2011-2014.

According to the report, the total tourism contribution to Africa's gross domestic product (GDP) (direct and indirect) rose from an average of $ 69 billion in 1995-98 to $ 166 billion in 2011 -2014, from 6.8% to 8.5% of GDP.

By 2015, tourism's direct contribution to Africa's GDP is $ 73 billion, and is expected to reach $ 121 billion by 2026.