ATTA® Welcomes data revealing Africa as one of the world's fastest growing regions and visa free travel across Africa
Virginia Messina, Group CEO of ATTA® said:
“WTTC’s latest Economic Impact Research reinforces Africa as a major global player within travel and tourism, and one of the fastest growing regions following Asia and the Middle East.
"International visitor spending to Africa was up by 5% in 2025 and the continent is outperforming mature markets like Europe (+1.3%) and North America (still below pre-pandemic levels).
"According to the report, Travel & Tourism contributed a total of $211 billion to the region’s GDP in 2024, representing 7.8% of the African economy which was an increase of 9.8% compared to 2019. The sector also supported 27.9 million jobs across the continent, a share of 5.6% of total employment.
"We were also pleased to see this week that Rwanda has joined Ghana, Kenya, Seychelles, Benin, The Gambia and Tanzania to allow visa-free travel for Africans, which heralds a new era of free movement for the continent.
Domestic tourism is critical for the continent with 60% of all spend coming from intra-African travellers. Domestic spending totalled $106 billion in 2024 and international visitor spending to the continent was nearly $72 billion. These policies herald new seamless mobility across the continent, which other regions in the world have long benefited from. Africa is at the beginning of its journey to unlock this advantage and easing movement will accelerate growth and opportunities across the continent and position travel & tourism as a strategic sector for the African economies.”
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