Tag: green world africa

Italian tourism in Africa: popular destinations and trends

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Art in Tanzania internship by Dilyara Shantayeva

While the COVID situation across the world begins to ease, travel agencies are starting to promote the most popular destinations around the world, including Africa. In this article the most popular destinations for Italian tourists in Africa, as well as the main observed trends.

Concerning specifically Italy, the country still maintains its state of emergency, and entry from abroad remains heavily restricted. Complete information is available on the Italian Foreign Ministry website. Entry from most of Europe is allowed in principle but persons arriving from these countries must provide a negative COVID-19 test result taken within 48 hours upon entry, undergo a five-day quarantine, and present another negative test after five days. This regulation runs until mid-May. Then a national “green vaccination passport” is to be introduced to be able to travel freely within the country. Italy is gradually easing the restrictions within the country where a traffic light system is in place.

The traffic light system mentioned above is a set of maps published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in order to provide travelers in Europe with a better overview of the COVID infection situation and possible restrictions. Before going anywhere out of your home country, it is necessary to remember to submit a negative PCR Covid test, ensuring that you are not a carrier of the aforementioned disease. Fortunately, some of the tour operators offer packages with pre-planned PCR testing, so travellers can get back safely to their countries.

The most visited country in Africa is Morocco. This Northern African nation saw a whopping 12.3 million visitors in 2019, making it the most visited country on the entire continent. Some of the highlights of Morocco include Marrakesh, one of the most chaotic and charismatic cities in the world. Then, of course, there is Fes, a historic city with so much culture you could spend a week here and not scratch the surface. If you’re taking a tour of the country, consider stopping by Essaouira as well. This beautiful beach town has a European feel to it, with all the rugged charm of Northern Africa.

In 2019 there were an impressive 11.3 million visitors to Egypt, making this the second most visited country in Africa. The main draw cards in Egypt are of course the Egyptian pyramids, the pharaoh’s tombs and the Luxor temple dating back thousands of years. Egypt is popular not only for the European tourists, but also for tourists from the CIS countries due to comparatively low prices and good transport connectivity.

One of the destinations in Africa that has a potential of growing as a huge honeymoon market not only for the Italian couples, but for the newlyweds around the world is South Africa. Even though there is not much research in this area, the paper by Andrea Giampiccoli from the Durban University of Technology “The Italian tourism market and South Africa: an initial investigation on the potential honeymoon market” starts a discussion about the opportunity arising. According to the researcher, the demand of the Italian young couples is met by the supply offered by the destinations of South Africa, therefore establishing a popular route for the honeymoons. The abundance of beach resorts, spa hotels and the availability of the so – called “honeymoon packages” are what makes South Africa so popular. It is not only the leisure and relaxing that the couples could do in South African destinations, but also many captivating activities in the fascinating African nature. Adventurous couples can choose from a traditional safari within a private game reserve, white-water rafting through the bush or turtle spotting at a beachfront lodge. Places like Franschoek in Cape Town, Queenstown in Eastern Cape, The Garden route in Western Cape and Elephant coast in Kwazulu Natal seem to be the most visited destinations by Italians.

The next prominent destination is Northern Sudan. It is an independent country since July 2011, it has a stable political situation and it is safe to travel, particularly between Khartoum and the Egyptian border. After the separation from the South, Northern Sudan is still a very large and diverse country. The astonishing landscape of the three deserts, associated to the beauty of the Nile Cataracts, the hidden Nubian villages and the welcoming people make of this place an innovative, unexpected destination. There are companies that provide tours for the Italian people, tailor made safaris, escorted tours etc. Travellers can choose preferred locations as well as the duration of the holiday, the organizers claim that every individual’s demands will be met.

Tunisia is also a quite popular place, because the flow of tourists is going not only from the international airport travel, but also from the cruise ships that dock in the nearby port. Particularly, the Holland America Line cruise company has several cruise ships that visit Tunis in an ordely manner. The tourists are able to get acquanted with the hospitality of the region as well as to visit the ancient Carthage ruins.

Tanzania is also a very popular destinations among the Italian tourists. Such famous attractions as Serengeti National Park, mount Kilimanjaro, the Ngorongoro crater attract the adventurous travellers, while wild and fascinating beaches attract the connosieurs of leisure and relaxation.

Serengeti great migration safari in Tanzania, Africa. Suuri massavaellus Serengetissä, unohtumattomat seikkailu safarit.

The next promising tourist attraction for the Italians is Zimbabwe.There are many reasons to visit Zimbabwe, but most of them start with safari and end with the Victoria Falls. This landlocked country in Southern Africa is still one of the most popular choices for safari goers in search of the big five. The game viewing in Zimbabwe is second to none, but the Victoria Falls are unlike any other. As one of the world’s largest waterfalls, they extend some 1,708 metres in length.

This article has outlined several most popular destinations for Italian tourism in the African continent, as well as the latest changes that happened due to the current pandemic situations. Each country has its own regulation regarding the COVID, but most of them should soon be available for the vaccinate tourists or for a person with a PCR test.


Access to Drinking Water in Africa

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By Atilla Cermikli – Art in Tanzania internship

According to a report in 2018, nearly half of the population in East Africa could not access drinking water and Tanzania caught the average with 49.2% accessible rate.

The main problem is basically investment. Installing the pipe to transport the water needs large investments and since it does not seem profitable by the investors, governments step into funding to cover expenses through supplying bonds. Nevertheless, most of the countries in Africa could not find enough amount of financing. For instance, one report in 2014 indicates that Tanzania has less than 50% of the funds needed to meet Millennium Development Goals (MDG) requirements but have a high-level capacity for investment and it makes Tanzania one of the most applicable countries in Africa.

The latest Glaas report shows that Tanzania is located in the most aided region and got 316 million USD financial aids in 2017, ranked 3rd in Sub-Saharan Africa. Also, Tanzania prepared its financial plans and these financial plans consistently using in the decision-making process. Furthermore, the country has the data for decision-making such as resource allocation, sector review and/or planning processes, national standard or regulation development, targeting surveillance activities both in water-sanitation and drinking water areas.

To reach the national goal Tanzania needs a budget of 237 million USD dollar annually and government finance 154.2 million USD which means Tanzania needs to increase its funding approximately by 35%. Financing of the investments for drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are met between 50%-75%. Tanzania also pursuing regulations and standards in order to attract investors such as on-site sanitation and drinking water standards, audited by the governmental bodies and also by independent observers. Although a sufficient budget is clearly indicated in the plan the government could only bear the implementation expenses between 50%-75% due to lack of foreign-domestic private investments.

Another problem is in the human resources sector. Because of the lack of education in maintenance, designing and construction Tanzania has only between 50%-75% of needed human resources.

Related to water sector development plan for 2018, the approved budget is 319.5 million USD and 42% of the shares are funded by foreigners while 58% of the shares belong to local funders.

           As explained by the numerical data above, Tanzania has to foster investments in every area of the water supply and sanitation such as maintenance, protection of the water resources, management and development.

           The type of investment might be diversified. For instance between 2018-2020, a project led by Water and Development Alliance (WADA) and its key partners in order to provide safe water access through solar power systems.

To sum up, Tanzania is getting more and more attention by years but still, the country struggles with investments and educated human resources and government seems to be the only investor but it is not enough to bear all the expenses. Although Tanzania published guidelines in WASH investment plans, due to lack of profitability it does not attract private investments. USAID defines the reason, while the legal framework is well-defined implementation is not effective at all. Also, investment should be focused on sanitation as well as a water supply but research shows that it is biased in favour of water supply. So it is important to invest in water sanitation since it has added value potential. Performance-based investment plans would run to expand sanitation services. Another reason could be collaboration intention of public agencies with private sector investments. The government enjoys from private sector contemporary technologies and provide technology transfer. Due to lack of integration of water sanitation with healthcare, nutrition and food security investments were not fully effective. For example, water sanitation ameliorates food security so it helps to reach Tanzania Development Vision 2025.