The conclusion is contained in a White Paper prepared by the "Central African Experts Network (RETAC)", referring to the current month, and which was published in the online edition of the newspaper Financial Afrik.
According to the report's authors, "monthly revenues are estimated at around 163 million dollars [about 148 million euros] for the tourism sector, excluding the catering sub-sector, whose data is difficult to access".
"The data provided by the African Development Bank (AfDB) point to a global monthly contribution from tourism in the countries of the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC) of around 437 million dollars (close to 397 million euros), figures that can represent covid-19-related losses in just one month, "reads the document.
Foreword by CEEAC Secretary General Ahmad Alam-Mi, the document has a preface signed by the Minister of Tourism and Environment of the Republic of the Congo, Arlette Soudan-Nonault, according to which there is a risk of job losses in the 3 to 23 percent.
The White Paper recalls that around 3,517,380 tourists visited this region in 2016, with a total revenue of around USD 1.5 billion (close to EUR 1.3 billion).
Central Africa has a total of about 6800 hotel establishments of all categories. The average length of stay is about 2.4 nights and hotels totaled about 7.5 million overnight stays in 2016, for a turnover that can be estimated at more than $ 439 million (about $ 399 million) euros), with a monthly average of around 36.5 million dollars (33.20 million euros).
The vast majority of travel agencies are involved in ticketing and, secondly, other activities, such as hotel reservations and airport services.
The data collected point to annual sales of around 1.45 billion dollars (1.32 billion euros), only in ticketing.
All travel agencies are affected by airport closures or airline flight restrictions. The monthly losses are in the order of 80 million dollars (72.7 million euros), read in this White Paper.
The contribution of tourism to the Gross Domestic Product varies from country to country, varying between 3.7 percent in Angola and 24.3 percent in São Tomé and Príncipe. The same applies to tourism's contribution to employment, which varies between 3.2 percent in Angola and 23.3 percent in São Tomé and Príncipe.
The low accommodation capacity of health facilities has forced some countries to request hotels to accommodate the sick or quarantined.
With about 3598 kilometers of coastline bathed by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Central Africa has 163 protected areas, which occupy an area of 727,652 square kilometers, that is, about 11 percent of the territory of this sub-region.
This is the continent's greatest potential in terms of biodiversity. Despite these riches, Central Africa is positioned as the last African tourist destination, with only 5 percent of the flow to the continent.
