Tourism Safety and Security: Strategies Adopted by some African Economies

Abstract

Most African countries depend on tourism for job creation and income generation; and in order to attract more international tourists, Africa should provide a safe and secure environment for visitors. Safety and security are significant towards quality tourism and should be regarded as a key objective especially in Africa where tourism competitiveness is weak. This issue deepens the need for policy reforms and improvement in this area. The aim of this study is to establish the tourist safety and security strategies adopted by four African countries namely, Mauritius, Egypt, Tanzania, and Botswana. The study adopts a literature review approach to gather data, and an analysis of the data is used to establish similarities and differences in the strategies utilised by the four benchmarking countries. The outcome of this study reveals that strong collaborations between the public and private sector in ensuring safety and security in the tourism sector is critical. Intra-governmental collaborations are also essential in facilitating and promoting cooperation to provide safety and security for tourists. An investment in modern technology and development of relevant laws and regulations are also key in providing a secure and safe environment for tourists. The study further develops medium-term and short-term strategies to guide other African economies for improving safety and security for tourism purposes. Keywords: tourism, safety and security, Africa, strategies, policy