Nomad_Africa_Edition12

The beautiful island of Mauritius is a safe year round
destination with beautiful beaches, warm sunshine and
outstanding service.
Tourism in Bénin is in its infancy, so being here at this event gives us a
broader perspective on the way tourism is progressing in the world. We will take
everything that we have learnt here and implement it in Bénin. Not long ago, we
obtained the digital code for our country and we are one of the few countries in
West Africa that has this. This will enable us to use digitalisation in tourism and
this is the reason why I have come here, to take advantage of the experience of
Mauritius and all other participants of this conference.”
- Mrs Gbian Moukaila, Technical Advisor to the Ministry of Tourism,
Culture & Sport of the République du Bénin
The minister said this is all the more relevant
since Ghana is emerging as a tourist destination.
“The new government that has come
into office has seen the potential of tourism
as a tangible product that will outlive recession.
With the younger generation and middle
income spending power that is coming
into the continent (Africa), we see tourism as
a viable economic growth curve and if we
put resources into it, it can and it is already
generating jobs. It is a policy and a sector
with a lot of focus now by the current government.”
Addressing digitalisation, the conference
achieved various objectives, specifically also
launching an appeal to create a Working
Group on Digital Platforms aimed at “identifying,
analysing and proposing a balanced
approach, exchanging best practices and
helping in developing regulatory framework
and policies to create a level playing
field for tourism service suppliers”.
What this means is that digitalisation will be
key in how the tourism industry conducts itself,
insofar that all stakeholders will have to
eventually transition themselves into a digital
environment. It is not a question of if, but
of how best can this be achieved within a
new gigantic digital matrix that needs to be
carefully managed and steered well into the
future by all.
It was also very significant and notable that
the conference resolved “to ensure compliance
with the General Data Protection Regulation
of the European Union” and that the
“Travel and Tourism Industry shall take
proper steps in collecting consumers’ data
with their explicit consent and protecting
same during any transfer from Europe to any
countries”.
This is seen as being very important in abiding
and supporting the trends that were already
investigated and adopted a while ago
by the EU whose countries are now having
to co-operate on a grand scale digitally with
regard to servicing the tourism industry.
The Mauritius conference on Digitalisation
and Sustainable Tourism certainly has paved
the way forward in a very positive and optimistic
manner for international delegates and
specifically African countries to go back to
their countries and lay the groundwork and
plug-in mechanisms that will ultimately secure
their own tourism sectors into the future.
Issue 12 | ...Celebrating the world’s richest continent | www.nomadafricamag.com | 87