The Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has paid a first visit to an African Member State since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The three-day official visit to Namibia reaffirms UNWTO’s commitment to the continent and featured a series of high-level talks aimed at strengthening existing partnerships and looking to a sustainable, resilient future.

One of the main attractions of Liberia is its coastal tourism product. In recent years, several initiatives have been undertaken to develop and diversify Liberia’s tourism product, based on the country’s natural and cultural heritage. In particular, surf tourism has been identified as a niche market that has a high growth potential in the country, with the destination of Robertsport as a site with excellent geographical features for surf tourism development in West Africa.

Member States from across Africa have shared their priorities for tourism against the backdrop of COVID-19. As with every other global region, African destinations have been hit hard by the restrictions on travel introduced in response to the pandemic. The sudden and unexpected drop in tourist arrivals has placed many millions of jobs at risk and threatened to roll back the progress made in sustainable development.