Tourism Development in Sub-Sahara Africa and Impact on Regional Airline Business Models

Tourism in Africa has experienced not only strong growth in terms of arrivals, but also in terms of expenditures and revenues and this has been driven primarily by a high number of international arrivals. The chapter examines some of Africa's high growth tourism markets with the largest international tourism receipts and compounded growth of approximately 6% per year. The chapter examines the multiple types of tourism and its economic benefit in terms of supporting national gross domestic product (GDP) growth. Tourism should be developed for its potential to enhance economies. Important aspects amongst tourism's benefits are that;it boosts economic regeneration;it offers a future, meaning that it holds out a promise for growth;it is one of the fastest growing economic activities;and it is a key driver towards economic growth. The tourism industry can provide considerable benefits to host communities through economic development, infrastructures development and as a medium for protecting the environment and culture. The chapter concludes by examining the future growth of the aviation industry, discusses international regulations and how this will affect tourism within the African region. The impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sector is revisited and discusses the overall impact on the travel and tourism industry. Finally, analysis on climate and environment is discussed and the International Civil Aviation Organization provides recommendations for the air transport industry to combat climate change and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

COVID-19 and tourism: What can we learn from the past?

The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on tourism flows is without precedent in terms of speed and severity. In this paper, we try to infer a possible future scenario for the tourism sector, evaluating the medium-term effects of past pandemics on tourist arrivals. We find that pandemics lead to a persistent decline in tourist arrivals, with the effects being larger in developing and emerging countries. Interestingly, the effects are heterogeneous across countries and episodes, and depend on several economic conditions such as the overall health system performance, the severity of the shock, and the uncertainty induced by the pandemic event.

Holistic approach supporting mental wellbeing of people in enforced quarantine in South Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: To report the experience of quarantine for international arrivals to South Australia requiring quarantine in a medi-hotel setting during the COVID-19 pandemic and to describe the range of evidence-based support services to mitigate the mental health impacts of quarantine. METHODS: A range of services targeted at physical and mental wellbeing were provided. Data from 533 adult respondents out of 721 passengers were included. The Kessler 10 was used to measure psychological distress at two time points. RESULTS: About 7.1% of respondents reported psychological distress at time one, reduced to 2.4% at time two. There was no significant difference in psychological distress by gender at either time point. The mean K10 score at time one was 13.6 (standard deviation=5.2) and the mean score at time two was 11.5 (standard deviation=3.1), with a significant reduction in mean scores (p<0.001) between the two time points. CONCLUSIONS: The level of psychological stress in repatriated Australians was low at arrival and improved further at the time of release from quarantine. Implications for public health: A collaborative multi-sector approach to provide support services for individuals in quarantine can mitigate risks to mental wellbeing.