African Hospitality and Tourism Federation
(AHTF)
Strategic Plan
AHTF has the following objectives:
·
To network
and represent African national hospitality and tourism industry associations.
·
To foster
international cooperation among hospitality and tourism industry associations
in Africa.
·
To
provide a forum of sharing ideas, concerns and address mutual challenges facing
the African private sector hospitality and tourism associations.
·
To
promote and coordinate activities of hospitality and tourism associations in
Africa for the attainment of high standards of hospitality services.
·
To
promote and represent African national hospitality and tourism private sector associations
to international organizations and meetings.
·
To
provide educational programs and organize conferences, workshops and seminars
for quality standards of hospitality and tourism services in Africa.
·
To
form a planning system for the private sector hospitality and tourism industry
associations in Africa.
·
To
establish links and collaborations with international organizations dealing
with hospitality and tourism industry.
·
To
provide advice on hospitality and tourism affairs to hospitality and tourist
institutions in Africa.
·
To encourage
investment in training, service quality, environmental standards and industry
codes of practice complainces.
Background
Tourism: Growth sector creating
jobs, wealth and African understanding
It is tourism that brings the people
of Africa together in appreciation of the richness of Africa’s heritage and
each other's culture. Tourism's contribution to Africa’s employment and GDP is
crucial and growing.
- More than 7% of Africa's GDP comes from tourism
- Tourism accounts for 20% of African jobs.
- Africa only accounts for less than 5% of world tourism
- The African tourism sector has shown a growth rate of 7.8 %
- Africa covers 11% of the total employees in the Hotel Industry Worldwide
- The tourism industry is predominantly made up of the private sector and SMEs.
Creating Employment: Realizing
tourism's potential
The creation of employment is a
major policy objective for Africa - tourism is a key sector for job creation. But,
to create those jobs, African policy must recognize the needs of the industry.
- Whilst African tourism industry is growing, Africa is needs to strengthen its market share. Poor regulation, administrative, economic, fiscal and social measures impose unnecessary burdens on the African tourism industry. This inhibits the performance of the sector in its ability to create jobs and wealth.
For tourism to realize its potential
to create jobs, there needs to be closer consultation between industry, policy
makers and consumers to ensure African policy promotes tourism enterprises.
AHTF strives for the creation of an
improved market in tourism services, both within Uganda and throughout Africa
within different policy framework.
Stimulating Growth: Realizing tourism's
potential
The impact of African measures on
tourism must be assessed before they are introduced. Responsibility rests with
the African Tourism Program to assess the impact of initiatives through
cost-benefit analysis.
The African Ministers for Tourism
should meet at least once in a year, to identify and review the impact of
African measures on tourism.
The program services should be
responsible for all issues related to tourism, including:
- Co-ordination of all tourism policy issues within the region.
- Reviewing all proposed African measures in order to identify those which may impact on tourism.
- Consulting systematically with industry representatives, associations as well as consumers and social partners. This consultation process should include cost-benefit analysis of all proposed measures. The procedure should be transparent, publicly accountable and enshrined in legislation.
- Communicating the progress if policy proposals through the AU to the industry.
All program services should be
readily accessible, transparent, and open to continuous and constructive
dialogue with the tourism industry.
The entrusted Task Committees should
be encouraged to consult fully all affected parties prior to the publication of
Opinions and Recommendations.
There should be a Regional Tourism
Platform, which brings together members and representatives of the tourism
industry, consumers and social partners, should be promoted and strengthened by
the African Institutions.
Environment
AHTF calls African tourism to work
in partnership to address the Earth Charter's challenge to acknowledge
"responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life and to
future generations" (Rio Earth Summit 1992) The protection of the natural
environment and the creation of more sustainable destinations is a priority for
everyone in tourism.
AHTF invites all African tourism
industry entrepreneurs to place the principles of sound environmental
management at the heart of their agendas when they formulate their business
plans.
African Hospitality and Tourism Federation
(AHTF)
P.O.Box 29324 Kampala,Uganda.
Email: afritours@yahoo.com
, ahtfed@gmail.com , africanhospitality@aircraftmail.com
Tel: +256 704 762575, +256 794 632211
UCA Building, Mezzanine Floor, Suite
108, Nkrumah Rd.
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