MEDI1TV Afrique : Afrique-développement : comment promouvoir davantage le tourisme sur le continent ? - 02/12/2024
Category
🗞
NewsTranscription
00:00Thank you for joining us on La Pan-Africaine à Média.
00:19With its enchanting landscapes and exceptional tourist sites,
00:24Africa attracts an increasing number of visitors each year.
00:28Tourism is a key economic activity for the continent
00:33and many actors are working for its promotion
00:36in order to strengthen the added value in the tourist chain.
00:41It is in this dynamic that some African leaders
00:45take initiatives to develop the sector.
00:49On their side, the actors of tourism contribute to this mission,
00:53each bringing their stone to the building.
00:56According to experts, the arrivals of international tourists in Africa
01:02are expected to increase sharply in 2024
01:07compared to the years 2021, 2022 and 2023.
01:11How can we promote tourism in Africa more?
01:15We talk about it in this show, in this new issue of Tonk Afrique.
01:19We welcome on this set Mrs. Hawa Geyasso,
01:22President of the Senegal Tourism Actors Collective.
01:26Thank you for accepting our invitation.
01:29In front of you, we have Mr. Abdelaye Thiappe,
01:32specialist in tourism, designer of Villages du Futur
01:35and several films on the horizon of the Senegal destination.
01:40Thank you for being here.
01:42Thank you, Madam.
01:44The pleasure is all mine.
01:46We continue our show in 2021
01:49After a significant drop due to the pandemic,
01:52the tourism sector has shown signs of recovery
01:56with a progressive increase in international arrivals.
02:00After several countries have restarted their tourism activities,
02:05according to you, Madam, what are the results today?
02:10It's quite promising,
02:12because we have lived three years without activity
02:15and the restart has been made little by little.
02:18I think we are on an upward slope.
02:21It's going well, but there is still a lot of effort to be made.
02:25We have not yet reached our goals,
02:28and we are on the right track.
02:30When you say you have not yet reached your goal,
02:32you are talking about Senegal.
02:34Yes, particularly Senegal, where I am an actress,
02:40an actor of tourism.
02:42Because the crisis has been so profound.
02:45Staying three years without activity,
02:48you can see that it disrupts the entire ecosystem of activity.
02:53We have lost jobs, we have lost clients,
02:57so we had to reposition the destination on these axes.
03:02It's a long-term work that will last several years
03:08before we really get back to the years before the pandemic.
03:14And as an actress, how did you manage these difficult times?
03:19To adopt a resilience attitude,
03:23because we were also a little accompanied by our governments.
03:27Thanks to ANDA, we were able to manage these difficult times.
03:33We were able to adopt a new style of work with teleworking,
03:39reducing costs, trying to train ourselves.
03:43So we did a lot of things to try to turn things around
03:47and let the storm pass.
03:49It's true that we are in 2024.
03:51It allows us to remember this period.
03:54It wasn't easy, but today there are still programs
03:58that the African leaders have put in place.
04:02I would like to turn to you, Mr. Thiam,
04:05to maximize its potential.
04:07Do you think that Africa should invest more
04:10in international marketing?
04:12Infrastructure, for example,
04:14or also professional training in the tourism sector?
04:19Of course, I think that a reality is there.
04:24We in Africa, most often,
04:28rely on international tourists.
04:32Obviously, it is not a question of tiring
04:36this important segment of our clientele.
04:40We don't care.
04:42But we should simply think of the African clientele
04:47that already exists,
04:49which is where we learn in our jargon
04:51internal tourism,
04:53which brings together all nationalities,
04:56not only, but also foreigners who live among us,
05:01universities,
05:08the small national stock exchange,
05:10to offer them to know their country,
05:13their land, their culture.
05:15And even the diaspora,
05:17we could think longer,
05:19by bringing our children to visit their country
05:23and learn about their culture.
05:26It is also a way to value our culture.
05:29Absolutely.
05:31This means that many opportunities
05:33are offered to our countries.
05:36It is up to us, in any case,
05:38supported by the states,
05:40to develop these forms of tourism.
05:44And what investment strategies
05:46could our authorities
05:48implement in the basic infrastructures,
05:50Mr. Etienne?
05:53I often think that
05:56it should not be exclusive,
05:59but we have to think of national bourgeoisie,
06:03as I just said.
06:05We have national businessmen
06:07who only ask to be organized,
06:09perhaps, and sensitized
06:11to see the risks in tourism,
06:13especially in investment,
06:15and allow tourism products
06:19to be better valued.
06:21I believe that if we can
06:23sensitize them,
06:25work with them,
06:27support them at the state level,
06:29but Mrs. Sow will not say otherwise,
06:32and these private operators
06:34only ask for this.
06:36At the level of infrastructures,
06:38at the level of hotels,
06:40of the construction of hotels,
06:42at all levels,
06:44we will be able to really
06:46value our products,
06:48especially in the cultural field.
06:50We have a lot of products
06:52in the cultural field
06:54that are not known,
06:56but because they are not
06:58simply for tourism.
07:00Tourism supposes,
07:02first of all,
07:04an identification,
07:06then a structuring,
07:08a regulation.
07:10We have to regulate the sector.
07:12We have to regulate it up to here.
07:14We have to regulate it.
07:16Well, we are doing it so far.
07:18The Ministry has a direction
07:20that takes care of that,
07:22but that means
07:24adapting it to the new context
07:26with the pre-pandemic.
07:28Regulation,
07:30you know,
07:32also has a vocation
07:34of securitization.
07:36We will talk about securitization.
07:38We will then talk
07:40about commercialization.
07:42Valuing,
07:44commercialization.
07:46Mrs. Sow talks about regulation.
07:48Earlier, he also talked
07:50about sensitization.
07:52Do you think that Senegalese
07:54need to be more sensitized
07:56if we take the case of Senegal?
07:58So, in Senegal,
08:00at the Ministry of Tourism,
08:02there is indeed a direction
08:04of regulation,
08:06but that has put
08:08a device
08:10just at the level of three professions.
08:12Hotels,
08:14travel agencies,
08:16and tourism.
08:18And if you count the number
08:20of profiles,
08:22of actors who work
08:24around tourism,
08:26directly or indirectly,
08:28and who only live from tourism
08:30and who do not depend on the Ministry of Tourism,
08:32you see all the work that will have to be done.
08:34So, for example, I always give the case
08:36of these pirogues
08:38that are, for example,
08:40at the level of the Saloum Islands,
08:42who go for walks to discover
08:44the Ministry of Maritime Economy,
08:46while they are not
08:48in the field.
08:50They are on the waterfront,
08:52but the activity
08:54does not serve the maritime.
08:56It serves much more the tourism.
08:58You see, even at the level
09:00of transport,
09:02the tourist transport
09:04depends on the Ministry
09:06of Land Transport.
09:08You see, the Ministry of Tourism
09:10must therefore expand
09:12all these regulatory aspects
09:14to be able to
09:16strengthen
09:18connectivity
09:20and interactivity
09:22between the sector
09:24of tourist activity
09:26and the other sub-sectors.
09:28So there is work to be done.
09:30Earlier, I raised the point
09:32about professional training.
09:34What about qualified
09:36workforce?
09:38Yes, well, we are aware
09:40that we must always train
09:42to strengthen the capacities.
09:44Even those who are already trained,
09:46even us who are old,
09:48we still need to be
09:50up to date because tourism
09:52is a dynamic, it does not stop.
09:54The market has always changed,
09:56the needs have changed,
09:58the way of consumption
10:00has changed, so we must always be
10:02up to date.
10:04There are many schools,
10:06many tourism schools,
10:08but we must also show
10:10that at the Ministry level,
10:12we are bringing back the direction
10:14of training that no longer exists
10:16because the training is dedicated
10:18to the level of the Ministry
10:20of Professional Training.
10:22So you see, there are all these
10:24things that may need to be put
10:26into coherence to better boost
10:28the tourism sector.
10:30And Mr. Thiam, you are a specialist
10:32in tourism, a designer of the
10:34future and several films
10:36that would be the most effective
10:38to change the international perception
10:40and make African tourism
10:42more competitive
10:44worldwide.
10:46I think
10:48you are talking about the village of the future.
10:50Indeed,
10:52it's a bit of my data
10:54because it's a
10:56design that I made
10:58on the occasion of the Universal Expo
11:00in Hannover, Germany
11:02in 2000. It was the
11:04first time that I had built
11:06myself.
11:08At that time,
11:10I was talking about
11:12clandestine emigration,
11:14agricultural emigration,
11:16because young people did not have
11:18jobs in their territories.
11:20So we had to find
11:22jobs,
11:24spaces,
11:26I'm even talking about land reserves,
11:28give the land to young people and women,
11:30retain them in place
11:32to avoid the agricultural emigration
11:34that necessarily results
11:36in clandestine emigration
11:38that we will never be able
11:40to deplore enough
11:42with the number of deaths there are,
11:44thousands of deaths
11:46in Africa.
11:48So that was a small parenthesis.
11:50On the other hand,
11:52as far as
11:54the promotion of
11:56African design is concerned,
11:58there are two sides. There is a promotion
12:00maybe institutional, as we say,
12:02that states should
12:04organize themselves
12:06in A to A,
12:08administration to administration,
12:10but also facilitate
12:12to the
12:14commercial sector
12:16the B to B.
12:18The B to B at the internal level
12:20of the countries, but also at the level
12:22of Africa,
12:24within the community.
12:26Then the B to B with
12:28international
12:30foreign tour operators.
12:32This would allow us
12:34to capture
12:36the maximum possible flow
12:38at the international level,
12:40at the African level
12:42and at the level of our countries,
12:44within our countries.
12:46I believe that these three formulas,
12:48if we manage
12:50to structure them,
12:52to make projects
12:54and execute them,
12:56we will achieve something
12:58for our tourism.
13:00I want to quote
13:02in the context of community promotion.
13:04At the time,
13:06I organized
13:08Senegambia on Parano in Italy,
13:10near Rome.
13:12We had already decided
13:14to work together,
13:16to have the same
13:18tourism promotion program,
13:20Senegambia and Senegal.
13:22This must be promoted.
13:24With this new
13:26product that they just launched,
13:28which is
13:30a first in Africa,
13:32south of the Sahara,
13:34the Salon du Tourisme
13:36du Littoral et de la Croisière.
13:38Five countries are already there,
13:40who are
13:42members
13:44of the organization,
13:46plus two visiting countries.
13:48I want to quote the five countries.
13:50It's Cape Verde,
13:52Gambia,
13:54Kinafaso,
13:56Guinea-Bissau.
13:58They are not member countries.
14:00Guinea-Bissau
14:02is Mauritania,
14:04and Senegal
14:06is the organizing country.
14:08The challenges of the organization
14:10have been really raised
14:12as challenges of participation.
14:14It has launched a lot.
14:16In any case, it is a movement
14:18that the operators,
14:20the states have,
14:22to develop a form of community tourism,
14:24especially in the field of
14:26marketing and promotion.
14:28I would like you to
14:30address
14:32this satellite aspect,
14:34which is precisely the first
14:36Salon du Tourisme.
14:38Several countries
14:40have participated in this Salon.
14:42The goal, I think,
14:44was to promote
14:46tourism. Are there
14:48other goals?
14:50Did you also reach
14:52these goals?
14:54As I said
14:56earlier,
14:58this first edition
15:00is a prefiguration edition.
15:02As the president
15:04of the scientific committee said,
15:06we had to launch the idea.
15:08Because
15:10we have in Senegal
15:12700 km of coastline,
15:14from Saint-Louis
15:16to Casamance.
15:18In Mauritania,
15:20I think they are also
15:22around 700 km.
15:24You see?
15:26There is all this potential,
15:28this maritime facade
15:30that can be exploited
15:32by putting in place
15:34tourist products such as
15:36the cruise ship,
15:38other products, even river tourism.
15:40Because next to these coasts
15:42there are also estuaries
15:44and rivers and all that.
15:46So there is a whole program to put in place
15:48to better boost
15:50this form of tourism that has always existed
15:52but which was not highly valued.
15:54And so the goal
15:56of this Salon is really
15:58to stop and say,
16:00indeed, Senegal received this year
16:02in 2023
16:04more than 23 cruise ships
16:06that arrived and toured
16:08more than 10,000 passengers.
16:10Quebec received
16:12much more,
16:14around more than 35,000 passengers.
16:16So it's still something
16:18to value. So we had to stop
16:20and think about
16:22a common strategy
16:24between these countries and see what
16:26we can put in place as a tourist product.
16:28And precisely, since we are talking
16:30about promotion, there are some countries
16:32that take initiatives like Rwanda.
16:34I have learned
16:36that within
16:38the framework of tourism promotion,
16:40it is important to receive
16:42few tourists
16:44but you have to
16:46win better or win a lot.
16:48You will tell me a little more.
16:50Mr. Thiam, in relation to this,
16:52how do you find this strategy?
16:54If we say today that the country has received
16:56200 million visitors
16:58and in the end we do not have much cause?
17:00This tourism
17:02is simply
17:04not contributive.
17:06This is what we learn in our jargon,
17:08contributive tourism.
17:10It is the one that manages
17:12to boost the national economy
17:14and all sectors,
17:16as you know,
17:18tourism is a transversal sector.
17:20It acts on buildings,
17:22on agriculture,
17:24on commerce,
17:26on the
17:28promotion, everything you want.
17:30When tourism goes in our jargon,
17:32everything goes.
17:34So now,
17:36two useful passages.
17:42It's a bit like
17:44what we say,
17:46try
17:48to observe
17:50a mass tourism
17:52cluster.
17:54Because in fact,
17:56people at the time
17:58found it as a gift.
18:00It is tourism that does not contribute
18:02in terms of currency,
18:04but in terms of money,
18:06quite simply.
18:08So now, what should we do?
18:10If we have a reduced number
18:12of tourists,
18:14but
18:16who bring
18:18income to the place.
18:20This is the trend.
18:24We also talked earlier
18:26about
18:28coastal tourism
18:30and cruise tourism.
18:32I think
18:34for the moment,
18:36it can be a calling product.
18:38But you have to know that
18:40cruise tourism, in general,
18:42does not bring much.
18:44If it is left alone...
18:46It is much more about visibility.
18:48No, beyond all that,
18:50there is a concept that I created
18:52called
18:54continental attractiveness.
18:56You have to make sure that
18:58instead of staying
19:00in the boat,
19:02the cruiser comes out,
19:04discovers,
19:06experiences something else.
19:08And here, we contribute
19:12to gastronomy,
19:14to culture,
19:16to events.
19:18What you say is very interesting.
19:20Let's take the example of the Gulf of Goray.
19:22Yes, that's it.
19:24In the end, it has an effect
19:26on the population.
19:28If you leave the cruiser
19:30to itself,
19:32it benefits
19:34the boat
19:36rather than the population.
19:38That's what I call
19:40a calling product.
19:42What about
19:44La Biennale?
19:46Today, this event
19:48attracts a lot of visitors
19:50to Senegal.
19:52Do you think this event
19:54is a success for Senegal?
19:56Do we have to take into account
19:58what you just said about this strategy?
20:00Is it only about visibility,
20:02or does Senegal also win in some way?
20:04Yes, absolutely.
20:06Currently, people
20:08invest a lot in events,
20:10especially cultural events.
20:12La Biennale is a meeting
20:14that is quite
20:16popular
20:18in the world of culture,
20:20in the world of art,
20:22and all that.
20:24It's an incomprehensible meeting
20:26that people are waiting for.
20:28It strengthens the position
20:30in terms of visibility in Senegal,
20:32and it also allows local artists
20:34to express themselves.
20:36As I said earlier,
20:38the off part
20:40of La Biennale
20:42is much more popular
20:44than the in part,
20:46because for a month,
20:48all the artists
20:50have the opportunity
20:52to go to a hotel,
20:54to a shop, to a gallery,
20:56to a street corner.
20:58It's a popular event,
21:00and people,
21:02without too much publicity,
21:04get involved
21:06in this event.
21:08In a way, it strengthens
21:10visibility.
21:12How can African governments
21:14harmonize their policies
21:16to facilitate intra-African travel?
21:18I can take the example
21:20of public transport.
21:22Are you in a better position to talk about this?
21:24Yes, because
21:26there is always a lot of
21:28harassment when we want to do it.
21:30There was a discussion
21:32yesterday with
21:34Mauritanian friends who came
21:36to this event
21:38and told us
21:40that it would be better
21:42to facilitate
21:44formalities between borders
21:46because
21:48states are aware
21:50of tourism.
21:52For example,
21:54a traveler can
21:56travel to two countries,
21:58Senegal and Mauritania,
22:00or Senegal and Gambia.
22:02So if states
22:04come together to talk about
22:06the obstacles to
22:08crossing borders,
22:10to sit around a table
22:12and try to find solutions,
22:14it will be better because people
22:16will have a bad experience.
22:18So it's not good for the promotion.
22:20So now, with the Internet,
22:22we're going to do lives,
22:24we're going to do a bad buzz.
22:26So all the efforts
22:28that states are making
22:30to invest in promotion,
22:32a small viral video
22:34can spoil
22:36a lot of things.
22:38It's very important.
22:40So we would gain a lot
22:42by setting up mixed communities
22:44between these states
22:46to facilitate crossing borders.
22:48It allows me to talk about
22:50digitization, Mr. Thiam.
22:52What role can digitization
22:54play in promoting
22:56tourist destinations
22:58on the continent?
23:00So, to remind me of my memories
23:02at the International School
23:04of Tourism Sciences,
23:06well, I said that
23:08obviously the Internet
23:10can't be ignored.
23:12We can't do anything
23:14at the moment
23:16without the Internet.
23:18That's the way it is.
23:20We have to accept it.
23:22It facilitates a lot of things.
23:24But I said
23:26in my memory
23:28somewhere
23:30that
23:32the Internet
23:34will never be able
23:36to make
23:38the role of man
23:40disappear.
23:42Indeed.
23:44I was also talking about personalized products.
23:46And now, it seems that
23:48the history is telling me
23:50that it's been a long time
23:52since I wrote that.
23:54So, in fact, with this new concept
23:56of research
23:58and experience,
24:00people want to see
24:02and even want to do
24:04so they wait
24:06for tourists
24:08to do it.
24:10They want to come
24:12and discover it all
24:14by themselves.
24:16And to create and realize
24:18the factual.
24:20Isn't that right?
24:22And the overall concept
24:24is the art of living.
24:26People no longer move
24:28to meet
24:30in groups,
24:32to discover
24:34in masses.
24:36No. Everyone wants their own personal experience.
24:38So, that's what I understood
24:40at the time
24:42by saying that
24:44man should necessarily
24:46keep his place.
24:48Obviously, if you employ
24:5020 people now,
24:52maybe you can get by with 5.
24:54That's a reality.
24:56But in any case,
24:58I think it's the opportunity
25:00to launch this new concept
25:02of marketing
25:04and touristic promotion
25:06based on the art of living.
25:08Very well.
25:10I recall that you created
25:12your collective,
25:14your association,
25:16three years ago.
25:18And you are taking a lot of action.
25:20Unfortunately, we don't have enough time.
25:22Maybe in a few seconds,
25:24what are you taking action on?
25:26So, we created,
25:28three years ago,
25:30it's a professional association
25:32whose mission
25:34is to contribute
25:36to the promotion
25:38and diversification of
25:40touristic offer.
25:42And we congratulate you.
25:44Thank you very much.
25:46At the moment,
25:48you are the president of the collective
25:50Les Acteurs du Tourisme au Sénégal.
25:52Thank you for answering our questions.
25:56Thank you for inviting us.
25:58Etienne, a specialist in tourism,
26:00designer of the village of the future
26:02and of several films
26:04valuing the Sénégal destination.
26:06It was a real pleasure.
26:08Yes, thank you.
26:10Thank you too.
26:12For everything you represent for Sénégal
26:14and the world.
26:16This is the end of this show.
26:18See you soon on Média.
26:20Take care.