The tourism sector is being urged to place digital transformation at the centre of its post-COVID-19 resurgence after the virus abruptly halted operations in the industry.

The sector has been under strain due to the COVID-19 pandemic, although some countries are now slowly beginning to reopen, as lockdown rules are being relaxed.

The Pan African Chamber of Commerce believes the revival of the hospitality industry can be hastened with ICT as an enabler.

“Digital transformation will have a great impact on the tourism industry. It’s no secret that the tourism industry, on a global scale, has been impacted and we now need digitally-driven, innovative solutions,” says Phumza Dyani, chief innovation officer at the Pan African Chamber of Commerce.

“Solutions such as the rising number of connected devices have caused a complete shift in the way the world approaches tourism.”

COVID-19 has placed the whole world on lockdown, with new research from the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) showing that 100% of global destinations continue to have restrictions on travel in place, and 72% have completely closed their borders to international tourism.

Out of 217 destinations worldwide, 156 (72%) have placed a complete stop on international tourism, according to the data collected as of 27 April by WTO. In 25% of destinations, restrictions have been in place for at least three months, while in 40% of destinations, restrictions were introduced at least two months ago.

For Africa, Dyani says despite the impact of the virus, tourism remains one of the critical industries with the potential to accelerate economy and this could help upgrade the continent’s position on the global market.

“Africa’s travel and tourism industry is set to spur more economic growth for the continent and employ millions of people in the near future.”

The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness report for 2019 indicates Sub-Saharan Africa outpaces the global average for growth in tourism receipts and arrivals, with the island nation of Mauritius (54th) outscoring last year’s top performer South Africa (61st) to rank as top scorer in the region.

The report says Sub-Saharan Africa shows great untapped potential for natural tourism, which can be better utilised with more development and investment.

“Some of the region’s greatest improvements came from areas where it traditionally has trailed, including ICT readiness, international openness and price competitiveness.”

Turning to the digitalisation of the sector, Dyani says, in fact, before the COVID-19 pandemic, “the industry had started harnessing big data to improve the customer experience. An example of this would be a hotel’s ability to save guests the time and effort of having to undergo an entire booking process by harnessing Internet of things data to pinpoint guests who frequently vacation there.”

Additionally, she notes, African countries need to improve and expand the tourism sector through creating flexible policies, “establishing strong political support for developing the industry, collaborating with the private sector for investment to help finance and sustain the industry and to have one authentic and compelling narrative to market Africa”.

To date, Dyani says Africa’s tourism potential has largely gone untapped and unexploited, but can take steps to close the gap with other regions.

“Given the continent’s endowment and cultural resources, as well as business activity, the fundamentals are in place for tourism growth. Africa can claim its fair share of world tourism.

“Africa has a comparative advantage over other continents and it needs to take advantage of this in order to pull itself out of its current predicament and go on to become an upper-middle-income economy continent.”