Objectives

The first objective of this edition of the International Congress on Desert  Economy,  is to complete some aspects of the previous cited studies in the Call for Papers section, taking into account, aspects that have not yet been dealt with in detail. It will focus, in particular, on economic flows, especially in tourism, rather than institutional aspects of intra-African integration.

The second objective is to analyse the key features and pattern of intra-African regional integration in these areas of tourism and its related investment, and identify some of the key opportunities that African countries could exploit or capitalize on, for their development, particularly, desert tourism (Saharan tourism) as a typical example, which in fact does not require much means and resources in terms of investment, and yet, it is promoter as a niche tourism and compatible with the qualifications, specificities and the know-how of desert regions populations.

The third objective is to bring together specialized academic researchers, tourism practitioners and economic actors in general, as well as, politicians and development experts, to enrich the debate, on the potential role that tourism could play in the economic integration of the African continent, and shedding light on the tourism economy, as a promoting lever of development, particularly in desert regions.

The forth objective is to share experiences and opinions allowing to innovate and to propose new processes and creative ideas in tourism, adapted to the African specificities and able to meet the needs and expectations in terms of development in Africa.

The debate will, therefore, focus on issues related to the following assumptions:

• Tourism can serve as a critical driver of inclusive growth, job opportunities and wealth creation, through industry and services trade and strengthening intersectoral linkages.
• Tourism can foster greater economic diversification and enterprise development, which can increase resilience to external economic shocks.
• African countries can implement national long-term economic diversification plans, including tourism, within the context of the structural transformation of the economy.
• African countries can reduce and remove visa constraints to foster deeper regional integration.
• Regional economic communities should enhance efforts to foster joint marketing, packaging and promotion of cross-border attractions.
• Regional economic communities must build on existing efforts to foster joint projects for infrastructure development and investment, such as promoting cross-border investment in hotels, airports and roads, for example, and at the national level engage multiple stakeholders in capacity-building for those working in the tourism industry.
• Africa must optimize the role of tourism as an engine and catalyst for regional integration and inclusive growth through deeper regional cooperation.