The most visited countries in Africa

As reported by the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

international tourist arrivals in Africa, 2019

International Tourist Arrivals

The UNWTO focuses on international tourist arrivals, which typically refer to visits to a country by non-residents for tourism purposes. The definition of “tourist” may vary between countries but often involves a minimum duration of stay (e.g., 24 hours or more).

Reporting Period

The statistics are typically compiled for a specific reporting period, such as a calendar year (e.g., January to December). This allows for consistent comparisons across countries and years.

Methodology

The UNWTO employs standardized methodologies and definitions to ensure consistency and comparability of data across countries. This includes adhering to internationally recognized guidelines, such as those provided by the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) framework.

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10. Botswana

9. Kenya

8. Ivory Coast

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7. Mozambique

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6. Zimbabwe

5. Algeria

4. Tunisia

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3. South Africa

2. Morocco

The UNWTO statistics reflect the African countries with the most international tourist arrivals during 2019. In other words, pre-COVID-19.

The UNWTO stands for the United Nations World Tourism Organization. It is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting responsible, sustainable, and universally accessible tourism. The organization serves as a global forum for tourism policy issues and acts as a source of knowledge and expertise in the field of tourism.

It’s important to note that COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, was not prevalent in 2019. The first cases of COVID-19 were reported in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The disease rapidly spread globally in 2020, leading to the declaration of a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020.

The outbreak of the world’s COVID-19 pandemic skewed tourism impressions for 2020, 2021, and even 2022 to a lesser degree. Thus our focus was on the 2019 results because tourists traveled to places that were ‘open to travel’ and not necessarily according to their bucket lists.