Africa

African countries have been investing in their tourism markets since the late 1960s and 1970s, with different levels of development. The Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) model categorizes these countries into exploration, involvement, development, consolidation, and stagnation stages. A 2011 World Bank study classified African countries into four performance groups based on indicators such as business environment, tourism regulation, infrastructure, resources, tourism income, number of visitors, and potential market growth. The countries are categorized as “pre-emergent,” “potential,” “emerging,” and “consolidating.” Pre-emergent countries include Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Comoros, Togo, Guinea, Chad, Guinea Bissau, Niger, Central African Rep., Congo D.R., Liberia, Congo Rep., Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Mali, Benin, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Lesotho, Angola, Swaziland, Cameroon, and Gabon.