CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
For the past three years, international tourism has been booming. According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO, 2009), International tourist arrivals reached 922 million in 2008, up 18 million over 2007, representing a growth of 2%. International tourism receipts rose by 1.7% in real terms to US$ 944 billion (642 billion euros). Following four years of consecutive strong growth, an abrupt shift in trend occurred in the middle of the year, with tourism demand falling significantly under the influence of an extremely volatile world economy (financial crisis, commodity and oil price rises and sharp exchange rate fluctuations), the evolution of the influenza A (H1N1) outbreak, and above all the fair of terrorism. International tourist arrivals have continued to grow – from 25 million in 1950, to 277 million in 1980, to 438 million in 1990, to 684 million in 2000, and reaching 922 million in 2008 (WTO, 2009). Africa has been one of the strongest growth markets, with most destinations showing consistently above average increases in arrivals and receipts. Between 2000 and 2005, international tourist arrivals to Africa increased from 28 million to 40 million – an average growth of 5.6 % a year, compared to a worldwide 3.1 % a year. In the same period Africa’s International tourism receipts doubled from US$ 10.5 billion to US$
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