Africa needs new image to boost tourism - experts

Speaking at the forum, Seiko Hashimoto, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs in Japan said; “I believe greater effort should be put into image improvement strategies and equipping all stakeholders with better knowledge about Africa.”

During the conference it was noted that travellers from Asian countries and Europe shun Africa's destinations because of the negative publicity on global news channels. Hashimoto added that Africa too needs to promote greater awareness of the continent's many tourism attractions and improve the image of the continent.

300 delegates from 20 African nations and six Asian countries gathered in Kampala for the event. The participants were discussing how to develop, market and promote Africa and Asia's tourism.

Professor Lawal Mohammed Marafa, a director of a postgraduate programme on sustainable tourism at the Chinese University of Hong Kong added that Africa needs to rethink the way it packages its tourism destinations. “In order for tourism to be relevant and beneficial, products must be indentified, branded and marketed,” he said.