The Competitiveness of Travel and Tourism Industry of Sub-Saharan African Countries in the World Market

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate competitiveness of Travel and Tourism industry of Sub-Saharan African countries in the world market. The study used Normalized Revealed Comparative Advantage (NRCA) and Relative Trade Advantage (RTA) indexes as a measure of competitiveness based on secondary data from ITC trade database covering between 2000 and 2019. The findings of the study revealed that SSA countries like Mauritius, South Africa, Seychelles and Namibia have competitive T&T industry consistently in the years between 2000 and 2019. However, SSA countries such as Botswana, Tanzania, Senegal, Kenya and Rwanda have competitiveness vary by years. Moreover, South Africa has highest comparative advantage followed by Tanzania and Mauritius. The study provided valuable information to industry leaders, policy makers, business owners and international organizations such as UN and UNESCO to design appropriate strategies and systems aiming to sustain and improve travel and tourism industry competitiveness in SSA countries. It is the first study in applying NRCA and RTA indexes to investigate the competitiveness of T&T Industry in SSA countries. Keywords: Competitiveness; export; import; performance; tourism; travel