Today, tourism constitutes over 10% of foreign exchange earnings in more than half of African countries for which data are available. In 2006, the international tourist arrival in the Sub-Saharan Africa grew by 11.1%. This growth was the second highest globally. Countries such as Tanzania, South Africa, Senegal and Ghana have invested heavily in the tourism industry. It is estimated that international tourism to the continent will continue to increase over the next decade.
While the Caribbean saw exponential growth in its tourism industry in the 1980’s, its growth slowed in the 1990’s and began to contract in the first years of this century. However, recently there has been an expansion in the growth of international luxury resorts in the Caribbean – a harbinger of stability for the tourism industry in that region.