Cameroon’s tourism sector in dire situation

The Cameroonian economy is partly affected by attacks of the Nigerian terrorist sect Boko Haram, as it happens in the flourishing tourism sector in the far north of Cameroon where many tourists have recently stopped going because of the frequent incursions into Cameroonian territory by the Islamic fundamentalists.

The first consequence of this situation is the closure or drastic drop of tourism activities, among others, the parks and virtually empty hotels.

We were forced to send more than half of our staff on technical leave, because we are unable, due to drop of activities, to keep them all and pay them regularly as in the past, a Maroua hotels-based promoter said.

According to sources from the relevant section of the Ministry of Tourism and Recreation, the occupancy rate of some hotels fell from 90 percent to 30 percent.

In addition, famous tourist areas like Waza Park and Rhumsiki peaks (far north) are empty of tourists, particularly in the Western region where tourists do not take too much risk to get there for fear of being kidnapped, despite security measures taken by the Cameroonian authorities.

In all likelihood, Cameroon, which was looking good to symbolically reach the threshold of one million tourists this year, against more than 900, 000 tourists in 2013 could still expect the number of tourists in 2014 to be below that of last year.