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Interesting memo from Kenya's Ministry of Tourism. Argues that if you assume intl tourists and their coin aren't coming back soon, African tourism industry (when the present crises abates) must *aggressively* develop the domestic and regional tourism market in order to survive. https://twitter.com/tunajibu/status/1248858050540326912
Something about this - especially regional tourism - has been scratching at the back of my mind ever since 2019's Year of Return in Ghana. I personally know many dozens of friends from Lagos who made the trip to Accra for Afropolitan Vibes.
Other friend groups mentioned that there was apparently a large contingent of young people from Abidjan who also came. I don't know the numbers and I know nothing about tourism, but this felt....really important? For about a week it felt like everyone I knew in Lagos was in Accra
Like, for a brief moment in time Accra was a focal point of so many young people from across the region.
It felt like a huge cosmopolitan moment and I can't shake the feeling that we didn't take enough advantage of the moment to really deepen these relationships?
It felt like a huge cosmopolitan moment and I can't shake the feeling that we didn't take enough advantage of the moment to really deepen these relationships?
Did new friendships form? Did new relationships emerge in the form of creative collaborations or business partnerships? I don't know because I'm a homebody and I refused to see anyone 
But let's walk through this thought experiment...
But let's walk through this thought experiment...
Many events have been postponed to the end of the year. We can assume that the "shelter in place" orders in Ghana and Nigeria will extend to most of Q2, which means that by the end of year people who have been cooped in for at least 3 months will be hungry to be outside the house
Again, assuming that the pandemic abates within Q2, AND assuming that there are jobs to return to (both big assumptions), it feels like there're multiple prospective opportunities for someone.
Still thinking about this: what types of organizations are best positioned to build out an enduring, genuienly interesting African regional tourism network that has something for different types of people? It's not obvious to me that it's the Tourism ministries in each country
Not to say they don't have a role, but that feels too top-down and prospectively not in tune enough with the actual things that gives gives a Lagosian a good enough time in Accra to make then excited to return every year.
Current uninformed guess: I suspect regional tourism succeeds on the back of the energy and creativity of literally thousands of sub-culture advocates and their ability to organize with members of their extended community across borders.
Let me try and give a few half-baked examples: Each of us are into multiple interests: we contain multitudes. Yes, a Nigerian comes to Afropolitan Vibes, and has a good time for an afternoon. But how do they spend the rest of the 3 to 5 days they're around?
If they're really into music/play an instrument/belong to a collective back home, maybe @ko1apo + @CoolFMNigeria somehow find @EDWVN and @kobbyagraham who help organize listening parties so different creatives can hear what each other is working on.
If they're really into food, maybe @Kitchnbutterfly and @MidunuGhana provide a food experience for audiences of both countries that both introduces new flavours while providing an education on how seemingly common ingredients are wrapped in issues of history and even politics.
If they're into theater, maybe Terra Kulture and @InfoNubuke can create opportunities to satisfy that craving
You get the gist of it. Basically I suspect the thing that makes regional tourism happen is having members of various communities help each other introduce themselves to their respective audiences. That cross-pollination gives their communities reasons to visit.
@uberJJ Yuuuup! I wonder whether local airlines will be motivated to reduce prices in an attempt to stimulate demand after the crisis. But this is a strong impediment to regional tourism. If the MoTs want to grow domestic markets, must help address this https://twitter.com/uberjj/status/1248896509447491584?s=21 https://twitter.com/uberjj/status/1248896509447491584
Anyway, fingers crossed there're smart people working on this. If you are, I'm rooting for you. Please let me know if there's anyway I can help.
If the last few years have shown us anything it is that noone is coming to save us.
If the last few years have shown us anything it is that noone is coming to save us.
We must learn more about, communicate more, and trade more with each other. Everything good is on the other side of this cross-pollination.
We must become more legibile to ourselves.
We must become more legibile to ourselves.
