African Unification Front
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ECOTOURISM IN THE AFRICAN UNION
TOURISM POLICY AND STRATEGY
Tourism is the world’s largest growth industry. Receipts from international tourism have increased by an average of 9 per cent annually for the past 16 years to reach US$476 billion in 2000. During the same period, international arrivals rose by a yearly average of 4.6 per cent to reach 698 million in 2000.
WTO forecasts that international arrivals will top one billion by 2010. Likewise, earnings are predicted to grow to US$ 1,550 billion by 2010. International and domestic tourism combined generate up to 10 per cent of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and a considerably higher share in many small nations and developing countries.
International tourism is the world’s largest export earner and an important factor in the balance of payments of many countries. Foreign currency receipts from international tourism reached US$476 billion in 2000, outstripping exports of petroleum products, motor vehicles, telecommunications equipment, textiles or any other product or service.
Building on the Osaka Declaration, the African Union must become the driving force behind the improvement and implementation of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, and also work to create a global tourism industry that is community friendly and environmentally sustainable. Although, closer and more integrated coordination of toursim policy is a necessity the AU must pursue, the current structure of African representation in CAF is consistent with the approach implicit in the efforts of the African Union.
There are 49 constituent republics of the African Union that have always participated in the World Tourism Organization's Commission for Africa CAF. It is necessary to expand the structure, in order to give more access to local communities in the management of policy that impacts local community tourism resources.
Aims must include developing new and better standards for the measurement and management of the impacts of tourism, development and management of human resources in tourism, and new methods and community friendly terms of tourism marketing, and harmonization between tourism and the environment.
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