Summary: investment opportunities within tourism in Africa
In association with Virke – the enterprise federation of Norway, NABA hosted a morning seminar on April the 30th where great presentations were shared by Mr. Rolf Forsdahl, Travel Trade Director at Virke (see photo), Ms. Elin Ersdal, Head of Industrial Partnerships at Norfund, Mr. Svein Wilhelmsen, founder of Basecamp Explorer, Mr. Trygve Sunde Kolderup, Managing Director of Hvitserk and Eventyrreiser and Mr. Marc Myers, investment adviser on tourism in African markets.Tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing sectors of the world economy and tourism in Africa has a great potential for investments and development. Mark Myers presented positive development on the African continent and especially solid economic growth in East Africa with real GDP growth of over 6 percent predicted for 2014.Mark Myers highlighted 10 reasons to invest in tourism in Africa:
- Ground floor opportunity
- Strong growth expected
- Demand for commodities
- Increasingly less volatile
- Infrastructure spending
- Low debt
- Growing investments abroad
- Attractive valuations
- Young demographics
- Contribute to sustainable development policies/adaptable economies with the focus on tourism in Africa. Key facts, valuable information
Mr Rolf Forsdahl from Virke emphasized the opportunities in the Norwegian market: among 5 million inhabitants, 65 percent goes abroad during their main holiday (June-August) and travels during winter (November-March) are increasing. The Norwegian leisure is looking for content, experience and a good story to tell, something a travel to an African country can provide. Market segments that Central/South Africa will appeal to are among many: Nature based/outdoor activities, climate, wildlife, culture and exotic experiences spread over a wide range. Although there are great opportunities on the African continent, the continent is still looked upon as «down there» for many Norwegians, mainly due to a one-sided picture in the Norwegian media. Forsdahl therefor pointed out that travel agencies would profit better if Scandinavia were looked upon as a whole market when marketing travels to African countries.Hvitserk, Basecamp and Norfund have all on-ground experience with adventure travels and investments within tourism in Africa on different levels. Svein Wilhelmsen from Basecamp pointed out that there has been challenges in relation to distribution and hiring management with the right skills, but they have succeeded and some of the key factors to success have been local cooperation and long-term thinking when doing business. There are great opportunities within tourism and the tourism sector in Africa is ripe for development.