Kenya signed an agreement with South Africa on Tuesday to encourage tourism investment in both countries and share data from the sector to maximise revenues.
The two nations have traditionally been seen as competitors seeking to cut into each other’s share of Africa-bound visitors.
But Kenyan Tourism Minister Najib Balala and his South African counterpart Marthinus Van Schalkwyk said that was short-sighted, and that there were many areas for cooperation.
They included the development of sustainable tourism, strategies to address challenges including climate change, and efforts to ”re-brand” Africa by dispelling negative perceptions, the two ministers said in a statement.
”Africa is truly blessed with diversity in wildlife, rich culture and history, music and dance, variety in cuisine, colour and beauty, scenery and magical sights,” they said. ”This is what we should collectively project as the image of Africa.”
Kenya’s government said it hoped to learn from South Africa’s experience developing mid-range accommodation, domestic tourism and its hosting of the 2010 football World Cup.
On Monday, Balala was quoted as saying Kenyan tourism was recovering from post-election crisis at the start of 2008 and visitor numbers this year could top one million. — Reuters